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Do you have a funny moment you want to share?
ALS is not funny!! We all can agree to that I’m sure. However, I’ve had some moments that I had to laugh at or I would have cried. Humor helps me overcome the challenging moments, which seem to be increasing. I also use humor to put others at ease around me when I’m struggling to do something that is more difficult than it used to be.
Do you have any moments you can share? Do you use humor as a coping strategy? Does using humor put others around you at ease?
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12 Replies
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After having spent a week at the Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale I received my diagnosis this past July 2023. My partner (who’s got a wicked sense of humor), and I had the dx meeting via ZOOM. We were pretty certain what the news was going to be – several symptoms and 2 EMG test that met the El Escorial criteria, so it wasn’t a big shock to get the official news.
After the serious part, the neurologist asked if we had any questions – his ZOOM background was a beautiful sun drenched picture of the Mayo Clinic hospital entrance. My partner/cALS said, “Yes, how long to you need to work at Mayo before you get an indoor office?”. I thought the Doc was going to fall off his seat laughing.
It’s humor and love that help to get us through this horrible disease. I may be dying, but I still like to laugh.
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Hi Amanda,
One of the things that helped me deal with PLS/ALS is my sense of humor. It is often dark and occasionally gets me into trouble. The following are a few humorous moments that I have had along the way.
When one has a progressive disease, one becomes aware of the energy one expends to do any task and tries to conserve it as best possible. I wore thigh-high compression socks for many years, and getting them on and off was always such a chore. It was even more tiring when I started using a walker, so I adapted the process. The dressing bench where I sat was about ten feet from the laundry basket. At night, I started throwing my socks into the basket to save steps, even pretending I was an NBA star making three-pointers. I was so pleased with my athletic prowess, a small joy in the mundane task of daily living. I was reveling in my newfound game of “Sock Ball.” I tried to make a bank shot off the wall at one point, and they went directly into the toilet! My sockball career was over. I laughed as I fished them out of the commode; what a mess! I was thankful that I had remembered to flush. I grieved the loss, accepted the defeat, adapted using the walker, and then moved on, saying goodbye to my budding career.
I see my Neurologist every six months, and he has helped me a great deal. Sometimes, I tend to be a smart ass; in reality, it is more often. The doctor always came out to the waiting room to greet me and assess how I was walking when I could still walk. He said, “Len, how are you doing?” I usually say “Good” or something along those lines. I was in a good mood, but my dark humor got the best of me. I said, “Hi Doc, well, I’m better than dead, which means I am excellent.” As soon as he heard the word dead, I do not think he listened to the part about me being excellent. He concluded I had significant depression from that statement, and I could not convince him otherwise, no matter what I said. In hindsight, if I were the physician, I would have said the same thing as he did – I had cooked my goose that day! I have suffered from depression, been on medication for it, and gotten off medication a few years back, so I am well attuned to what depression feels like – I knew I was not depressed. Prescription for Prozac in hand, I left the office. My current greeting is, “I am Fantastic!”
I am amazed at how slow I have become. I have often said that I will stand still if I move any slower! On one occasion, I was in the bathroom standing in front of the mirror, and it took 35 steps to make a 180-degree turn with my walker. I immediately thought that would be a catchy title for my next book, “Thirty-Five Steps to the Other Side.” Then, realizing I had not gone anywhere, I changed it to “Thirty-Five Steps to Nowhere!” It will be a best seller.
It should be against the law for any doctor to prescribe Lasix to someone who uses a walker or wheelchair. It is cruel and unusual punishment!
One day at physical therapy, Art asked how I was doing. I replied, “Not so good. The Jockey company canceled my modeling contract for their underwear yesterday. They found out I was wearing Depends!”
As Art, my physical therapist was helping me sit up and stand after laying on a therapy table; my spastic legs were still stiff as a board. He had to push them down to the floor for me to stand. As he hovered over me, always anticipating a fall, I leaned on my walker and said, “You know when I do die, rigor mortis will not be such a big deal!”
One must laugh at life and see the humor in whatever it throws at you. It is very freeing.
Life is good.
Len
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Ha Ha! These are really good ones Len-Jax 🙂
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When I was at Body Science in Miami there was 7 of us with ALS in 1 room with our spouses. We started telling jokes. I told everyone you know Florida is a Republican state. Everyone of course said yes. I then said you know I’m from Calif liberal state. So I said if I drive to Florida with Cali license plate I will put on my back windshield don’t flip me off I’m a Republican lol. Every one started laughing. lol
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I can’t talk (or at least not on the phone) and my husband is partly deaf. This makes us the perfect couple and makes people laugh at our commitment!
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These are awesome!!! We should publish a book! 🙂
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My 3 yr old grandson, in a discussion with his mother, told her; Nana must be a toddler because she is’ learning’ to talk and ‘learning’ to walk….his observation about my declining abilities. It was so sweet and innocent we had to laugh!!
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I love all the posts. What a great idea Amanda. My story comes after a few months of PSW‘s, putting my hair in a ponytail. Some context- I have always in the past highlighted my hair to disguise the gray . I figured now in a wheelchair with ALS-maybe it’s time to just give in and stop colouring my hair. But when my husband saw the halo of gray that now appeared with the ponytails. He suggested that so much is out of my control, why not enjoy things I can control. I thought this to be a profound comment. So my hairdresser agreed to come to my house. We are in the process of creating a main floor, master bedroom, and accessible washroom. We decided to take out the foils and rinse in the new accessible shower. I am blessed to have two buttons, one for the rain head and one for the handheld accessory which my hairdresser used to wash out my hair. I think you can figure out what happened next. Just as we were finishing and she was turning off the handheld accessory, she hit the wrong button and since we both were under the rain head, we got soaked. We couldn’t stop laughing. Fortunately, I was in my shower chair and my daughter was close so she rescued us.Yes ALS sucks but we can choose how we want to deal Laughter is the best medicine.
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In the grocery store one day, I ran into a friend whom I hadn’t seen since my early days with ALS. I was in my mobility scooter.
She came up to me and began speaking in a loud voice and over-enunciating her words. As I sat listening, I wondered if she thought my ALS had made me hard of hearing, or, if she had acquired a speech impediment.
I didn’t want to embarrass her – – but was saved when her husband motioned for her to catch up with him. We waved a quick goodbye… and I’ve always looked back and laughed at that “awkward ALS moment.”
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My grandson, who is four, is learning the ways of the world. He has learned that whenever something is needed, we go to the _____ store. As he watched me attempting to walk, he said, “Papa. We need to go to the Legs Store…” I love his innocence.
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Thankfully my husband and I have very good senses of humour. We’ve had so many laughs about our mishaps. Last week I developed a pressure sore on my bum. My home care nurse asked if we could send her a photo of it. My husband thought it would be easiest to take it with me up on the Hoyer lift. We couldn’t stop laughing which didn’t help keep me still. He accidentally took a video too. So, I’ve texted my first x-rated picture. 😳
Our ALS zoom group shares lots of laughs too. Far too often around toileting issues. Junior high level humour. 🙂 I really believe being able to find the humour in our challenges makes life much better.
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To funny! Great sense of humor for you both!
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