ANA Discussion Forum
AN Community => AN Community => Topic started by: ppearl214 on March 17, 2007, 05:36:08 pm
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As to not hijack another thread, Sefra's GK headframe *coff* experience certainly has brought many a laugh:
http://anausa.org/forum/index.php?topic=3227.msg34944#msg34944
so, what AN humourous stories do you have to share? Any worthy of the ANA Forum Hall of shame...er... Fame? :)
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OK I will chip in my 2cs worth:
Long standing joke - "I am not afraid of any surgery or surgeon"
But will go deadly serious about being terrified of any silver instrument
(ie, I maybe a vampire, or a werewoolf, or similar)
So during any pre-surgery consultation
I always warn of DARK consequences of using such an implement....
- usually to the s******s from the doc or nurse filling out the form
I did this a week ago - But the nurse didnt "get it"- and wrote it down
At this mornings "pre-OP" the nurse announced, with some authority,
"So your allergic to silver then ?"
"Thats what its got written here... anyway"
(I made a lunge for the exposed neck
- but in a flash she produced a cruifix - I was done for..)
You know these meds are better than I thought
Yours
Count Alucard....
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Dear Count Tony,
I so want what you have... enjoy the "ride" :)
Cute story!
*tucks away silver*
Phyl
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Yeah Phyl! This by far will be my favorite new thread! Thank you fearless leader! Annie
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thanks annie :D Just doing my job as cruise director around here!
Ok, here's one....
April 7 2006. Good Friday and my last day of CK treatment. So, I bring in this HUGE Easter basket to the CK treatment team (Tom, Shelley and the gang...) FILLED with every bit of candy/sugar you can think of.... Chicken Marshmellow Peeps, Solid Chocolate Easter Bunnies, etc... handed the basket to Tom prior to treatment .... and reminded him NOT to let anyone eat any of the basket during my treatment. I didn't want them on a sugar-overload and just pressing any button they wanted... (ie: "hey, let's try this one on Phyl... she's strong... let's see what happens! :D ).... but, I think they did... we saw necrosis starting at 8 mos post treatment... :D
Phyl
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Well shoot, wish I had something funny to share about my AN experience. I'll tell you a quick story, tho about my girlfriend's little granddaughter. I thought this was worthy of Reader's Digest, myself.
My friend's ex-husband's mother died, and her daughter wanted to do something in honor of her grandmother as there wasn't any service for her. So my friends daughter and her little girls and my friend (so mom, daughter and granddaughters - are ya with me?) went to The Grotto in Portland. They aren't Catholic, but it's a nice place to visit and I guess they thought that would be a nice place to go (they have beautiful grounds to visit) and so they went in and lit a candle for the dearly departed. It was nice and quiet and and daughter lit the candle and then the 3 year old sang, "Happy Birthday to You!" My friend told me this and I thought I would hurt myself laughing so hard. Ahhh, kids say the darndest things.
Sue in Vancouver USA
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Geat one Sue! I'm still laughing!!!!
I went into a café shortly after my diagnosis, and the guy serving the coffee asked me: 'one lump or two?' meaning, lumps of sugar of course! I couldn't drink the coffee, i was laughing too much! :D
And another one: 'Three ears are better than one' said to a doctor to explain why my partner was with me during a consultation.
'The surgical team is really on the ball', somebody said that to me to make me feel better
'Lumpsum', from my accountant
Oh and another one: not sure if you're familiar with a british comedian Spike Milligan, but the epitaph on his gravestone reads: 'See? I told you a was sick!'
Ciao, Lorenzo
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Three years ago I had surgery at House. Unfortunately, I had a CSF leak and got to spend another 6 days in the hospital. It became my routine to ask for a sleeping pill when I was ready to go to sleep for the night. One night, I used my call button to call the nurse about something else. She came in, took care of me, and on her way out closed the door to my room. Unfortunately, she reset my call button incorrectly, rendering it useless. So, I spent a little while yelling, but because my door was closed, nobody heard me. I decided to try to go to sleep. After 2 hours of trying to sleep, I just couldn't get to sleep. Finally, the "lightbulb came on." I picked up the phone and called the front desk of the hospital, asked them to connect me to the 6th floor nurses station, and then asked my nurse to come speak with me. Needless to say, she was a bit apologetic when she came in. I got my medicine and went to sleep.
Later that night, I had a very vivid dream. I had to escape from those annoying things that they put on your legs to keep your circulation moving properly. Also, I had to get my head bandage off. When I woke up, my head bandage was shredded and the leg things were around my ankles. The same nurse came in an taped all of the loose edges of the bandage to around my head. I put the leggings back on. When the doctor came in to see me, he took one look and laughed. I really had tried to escape!
Jeff
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I GOT ONE!! I GOT ONE!! *waving my hand frantically*
So, my best friend (husband was rendered useless in crisis ;)) went with me to the first consultation at Stanford. When we went into the tiny, tiny (really really small) consultation room, afer Dr. Chang (neurosurgeon) delivered his amazing recollection of all the statistics about hearing preservation speech, etc. Dr. Soltys (radiation oncologist) came in followed by 4 very, very young looking white coated teenagers (I think those were the interns). They all have clip boards in their arms, pens ready and poised to write every breath and word down. Serious professional looks on all their faces... hmmmmm.. Now the room was really crowded (me, my friend, Dr Soltys, 4 interns, Dr. Chang's nurse, Dr. Chang). 8 people in a room of probably 10' x 10'. Dr. Chang had to leave.
So when Dr. Soltys asked me to stand up, arms out, close my eyes and take some steps (small steps since the room was very crowded), I winked at my friend before I closed my eyes. Then I started waving side way and back and forth a little. Oh! Boy! You should have seen the fast actions from all the teenagers (had my eyes opened a slit ;)), dropping their clipboards and jumping to my rescue. My friend and I never laughed so much since I found out about my AN!!! Trick'em ;) ;D ::) !!!
Needless to say, I was marked down as the most mischievous patient in their notebooks - diagnosis: "something got into her head!!"
*seriously - everything is true except the diagnosis part but wait a minute - that's true too!! ;)*
Mary
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Good one Mary! :)
When they asked me to walk one foot in front of other with the eyes closed, I did, and did it again backwards, and then did the jig too, just to let them see that my balance was ok! LOL We all, Dr Chang and Dr Hancock and nurse, had a laugh! Ah yes, fond memories... Those rooms are TINY! I wonder hwo you all fit in there!!
LOL :) Lorenzo
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Totally the rooms are tiny compared to the cyber room, the reception room... etc... I remember asking one of the interns- how old are you? Heck, I would have been their babysitter, Dr. Soltys included! And yeah, the balance test- how many times??? They did comment I had pretty good balance for wearing 2 inch boots! (But then I always dressed for my appointments, man I want to look like a million bucks so you will treat me like a million bucks- stupid really but that's how I got through it)...Annie
Lorenzo: love your Lump dialogue- my only funny story is that my older brother whose nickname is Lumpy (after Leave it to Beaver Fame) started to call me tumorhead... take care all- Annie
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ok...my story is not quite as funny as a lot of yours and i kinda feel like the outsider here..ya'll went to stanford! but here goes..
when i was dx'd in dec 04 w/ my 8mm AN, i told my then 5 yr old that i had a tumor the about the size of a tic-tac in my brain and i needed to have surgery to get it out. well, the next day her daycare lady told me that sydney had told all her 5 yr old friends that her mom had a tic-tac in her brain. i explained to my daughter that it wasn't actually a tic-tac, but a tumor the SIZE of a tic-tac. when i dropped her off at daycare the next day, she walked in and spread her arms out really big and said "it's OK everybody, my mom doesn't have a tic-tac in her brain...it's ONLY a tumor!"
what a kid! ONLY a tumor.. i wish i had her attitude!
kristin
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;D good one. kids... mind you, tic tac would have been much worse! all those minty vapours in your head...
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Hi all,
I learned early on that laughter was the best way to get through rough times, once you looked at the situation clearly and did all you could, that is. My MOM found out she had Rheumatoid Arthritis when I was only 5 so I grew up dealing with illness and my MOM's incredible ability to find humor in almost any situation despite her constant pain. So, when the doctor called and told me I needed surgery for a AN and that I should call the ear specialist in Seattle and schedule the appointment as soon as possible I told him that any day but Wednesday would be fine with me, he inguired as to why Wednesday wouldn't work, I told him that I figured the doctor would be golfing that day! He then told me that he didn't find that funny as having surgery for an AN was a very serious matter, I told him that I knew it was and that's why I tried to make light of it
The day before my Facial Nerve Surgery (AN turned Facial Neuroma) the doctor told me he would need to remove a very small amount of fat from my stomach to fill the hole in my neck where he would take a part of a nerve to replace the damaged facial nerve. I told him to please take all the fat he wanted & more as I had plenty to spare!
When the anesthesiologist was ready to put me under he asked if I had any last request before he put me to sleep, I said yes. Please keep me under for 6 months as that was when they said I would start to regain control of the left side of my face again. I was joking of course, hopefully he knew that!
Guess you had to be there!
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no need to be there, I can just imagine the exchanges! :D good laugh, thanks! One regret about CK, they don't need to remove fat! Darn.
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Kristin: I loved the Story about mommy's tick tac and then tumor. But then I love 5 year olds- they are so cute! And don't you worry about being an outsider- I worry sometimes that the Stanford graduates dominate the threads too much! (But then again, all of us AN'ers share a unique experience) where else can you go to talk about stupid stuff that happened with your tumor!
And Jill Marie: I think the med community needs to lighten up. I guess they are worried that we will sue, hmmm maybe we should bring a class action lawsuit for LACK of HUMOR...
Okay all-take care, Annie
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New one for you
I was in pre-OP, on the trolley, 30mins away from the shunt OP
Nurses and orderlies wizzing around like its rush hour
- then they all stopped....silence..and no movement...?
Whats wrong ? I ask
"The neuro surgeon is not back from lunch yet" so no go
My repy:
"Nah dont worry about that - we will make a start now
he can always catch up later, if he thinks its important"
(they didnt like me much in that hospital....wonder why...)
Best Regards
Tony
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If it weren't for Humor where would we be?
Lorenzo, Thanks for being there for me, it's hard for most people I talk to to understand what I've gone through, let alone understanding the humor in it, as that's what got me through it. As for removing the fat, my husband and I started working out at the gym a couple of years before I got the tumor, I weighed about 160 and got down to 130 just before I broke my leg (tri-lateral break, ankle on both sides & leg in 5 pieces) & to top it off a Facial Nerve Tumor surgery a month later. I knew I would be laid up for a while so I was hoping the doctor would take the rest of my fat so I would have less to loose once I got on my feet again.
Annie, I agree we should bring a lawsuit against the doctor's as they should know by now that "Laughter IS the best Medicine" and if they haven't figured it out by now then they shouldn't be in the business. Bedside manner and keeping the patients spirits up does more for their recovery than they realize, they shouldn't leave it all up to the nurses. I think they are jealous of just how much Humor can do for our us, they go to school for years to learn how to heal our bodies but Humor is the one that gets to heal our soul.
Tony, I agree with not letting the absence of the doctor slow things down. I didn't have a problem when I had my Facial Nerve Surgery but I did when I had my first son. The doctor told my husband that if I didn't deliver the baby in the next 10 minutes so that he could get back to his office patients he would have to use the forceps on the baby. My husband told him that I said he could go on back to the office as I didn't need him any longer.
The following don't all apply to this forum but they do to the subject at hand: THEY MAKE ME LAUGH!
I started out with nothing and I still have most of it!
For Insurance Companies: We spare no expense to save a dollar!
Life's journey is not to arrive at the grave safely in a well preserved body, but rather to skid-in-sideways, totally worn out, shouting, Holy ****, What a ride!!
All we can do is do the best with the cards we are dealt, I choose to go to the grave totally worn out not by a tumor but by what I DID INSPITE OF THE TUMOR!
Jill Marie ;)
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Jill Marie,
Great outlook on life and all this! Humour is THE one most important thing we all need. I certainly would be lost without people with a sense of humour! I'd hate to think that I'd be so dominated by this AN that I wouldn't be able to have a laugh at it's expense! Just another way to beat it, right?
Docs should realise that too, some do, most don't. But, it's kind of different for them, they can't really display that much humour about somebody else's illnes, can they?
Anyway, thanks for the continued laughs! :D
Ciao, Lorenzo
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Lorenzo,
I know it must be hard for the doctors to see patients all day long and to often know that they can't help them or help them as much as they would like or the way we want them to help us. My husband drives a Med Van (takes patients to rehab, etc.) and I can tell from just watching him and listening to him that it's hard to be around people all day long that have health issues. I think the doctors need the Humor as much as we do. Granted I don't want a doctor to make light of my problems but I do want them to join me when I make light of them. The doctor that got short with me when I said I wouldn's schedule my surgery on Wedesday because it was golf day will never see me again. However Dr. Mangham that did my Facial Tumor surgery actually laughed when I told him to take all the fat I had, that's when I relaxed a bit. One of my eye doctors asked if my eye watered at all, I told him only when I choked or exercised enough to sweat. I then said I had no desire to do either on a regular basis just so my eye would water, he laughed and said he was glad I said what he was thinking so he wasn't out of line.
Take Care, Jill Marie :)
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well, choking to make the eye tear on a regular basis might be counter productive alright! But, exercise to make the eye water? Interesting notion! So, if the eye waters too much I should turn into a couch potato? Hemmm... :)
Doctors come in all sorts and shapes and humours! Mine here had no humour, whatsoever. But I won't go into that for fear of prosecution! It's always a good idea to express humour with them, that way one can judge their reaction and see if they are what we want. The other benefit is to let them know that they can relax and be normal with us, if that's what they want to do. Makes them feel a lot more comfortable I bet. It sure worked with my docs and technicians when i got CK!
Loved the story by the way! LOL
When I had my three little steroid pills over the CK period and I had those unwated and unpleasant side effect of my waste management system going on strike, I asked them what I should do. The answer was simple: 'Eat more vegetables!' Geee, thanks doc!
Ciao, Lorenzo
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Hi Lorenzo,
I couldn't wait to see what it would be like if my eye watered, then when I found that it could if I exercised enough I realized that the blinking didn't work well enough to keep me from having blurred vision because of all the watering. The bonus part is between needing the eye ointment and the eye watering to much, you get to see things the way others do! The couch potato scenario works for me!
I too had problems after my surgery and the doctor recommended metamucil, the problem with doctors is that they do the surgery but have know idea what happens to the patient after the surgery so they don't know how to help us through the recovery period. I believe that they also need some metamucil or raw vegetables so that their brains aren't constipated.
Jill Marie :D
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HI Jill Marie,
My eyes are watering now reading about all this watering stuff! :) Maybe just exercise half of your body. SHould be possible form the sitting on couch position.
Metamucil. Interesting name. Ever wonder how they come up with names like that? :) Oh, and I think some docs need a lot more than Metamucil (Brainamucil) or vegtables to get them going!
Ciao, Lorenzo ;)