Keeping your sense of humor through it all

One of the key traits to help cope with your ailments is keeping your sense of humor through it all. If you lose your sense of humor, it will become so much harder.

I was reminded of this by this comedian who was treated at Dana Farber and then had a special show for his caregivers at the hospital.
I constantly crack jokes with the medical personnel I deal with. I have to. Otherwise, it would be too depressing. If I cannot see the humor in the number of punctures I get from regular blood tests, I might start oozing blood out all the needle holes.

• I need a frequent parker discount at the hospital's parking lot.
• All the johnnies are designed by Dr. Seymour Buttz. (Sound it out and you will get it.)
• Personally I wished they had ramps at hospitals so I could go on wheelchair rides like Curious George did.

Okay, my sense of humor is not fully developed this morning. Its Monday morning. I have chemo brain and fibro fog.

But I hope you get my point. Never lose your sense of humor. Life would be boring with out it. And cancer would suck even more.

Taking the fun out

"Several studies have linked alcohol consumption to a higher risk of many cancers, including breast, mouth, throat, larynx, esophagus, liver, and colon and rectum. The risk rises with the amount of alcohol consumed."

Alcohol is evil and causes cancer. Great. Thanks. Anything else I need to worry about? Besides walking under ladders, playing in traffic, and walking by yourself in bad neighborhoods.

The latest blog post from Dana Farber's Insight (which is actually a pretty good blog) talks about alcohol consumption and cancer. The American Cancer Society recommends 1 drink a day for women and two for men. An oncologist recommends an occasional drink, if any.

My thought process from being the cancer patient is 'Excuse me I have cancer and my life currently sucks, I might want to drink more often than occasionally.' Whatever happened to the medical advice of hot lemonade and whiskey for a sore throat?

When I was 19 and told I had thyroid cancer, I was told by my doctor that my treatment was done and I should take care of myself, eat healthy, and get plenty of sleep. Thanks. I could have figured that out myself. But I did put a few years of thought into it and decided that I was going to live my life on my terms and not be 'boring'.

I was young and wanted to be a normal person and not 'that girl with cancer' for the rest of my life. So I did things my way. Yes I might drink alcohol. I might have partaken of other substances at different times in my life as well.

I don't want my health issues to rule my life. I want to be normal as much as possible. I want to do the things I want. I may not be able to climb a mountain now or ski down one but I can still go to the beach and out for fried clams. (Eeek! Fried food! Cholesterol alert!) Life requires little indulgences to be fun.

The way I see it, it is my body and my life. If I am not harming anyone else and want to have wine with dinner, I can't see a problem in it. However if you see me on a street corner drinking out of a bottle in a paper bag, feel free to interfere.