Laughter is the best medicine....

Today's topic?  LAUGHTER!  And how it's saved me pre and post transplant.

I have a bit of an off-beat, quirky sense of humor--I admit it!  I've always been the type of person who would laugh innapropriately at the WORST time.  I was that kid in the class who would laugh awkwardly during "the film strip" or whenever it was that time of the year and we had to seperate the boys from the girls for those "talks."  Of course, the popular kids would look at me funny and just couldn't believe I was so immature.

The ability to laugh (either at others or myself) and have a sense of humor have helped me numerous times in terms of my transplant.  When I was recovering in the ICU, I started to bleed through the needle of where the IV was in my skin.  My night nurse put a gauze bandage thinking that was that.  Nope.  I bled right through it. "Okaaay..." she thought and then put two gauze bandages on my wrist.  That didn't work either!  By the time she was putting 4-5 on me she and I were both laughing like crazy at the absurdity at something so simple (blood to stop) not working for us.  At one point, between giggle fits, I said something to the affect of, "Well, I think 3-4 months worth of periods just went right out the window!" which (of course) caused her to laugh even more.   In the end, that IV ended up being removed from me.

Having a sense of humor helps put new doctors at ease with me.  They realize that I don't take myself as seriously as one would assume.  Most of the time, that helps.   A few times, those doctors look at me like I have three heads.  Ah well.....

Soon after my transplant, my family noticed that I developed different types of laughs.  I'm not sure if it's donor related or what.  I don't know how I do it, they just come out depending on my mood, what's made me laugh, etc.   I'll introduce you to three types of mine:

1.) hand-over-mouth giggle:  I think this is obvious.  This is my shy-I-still-don't-know-you-well-enough-to-show-you-how-I-really-let-loose laugh.  This is rare.  ;-)

2.)  shoulders shaking/hand over stomach laugh: This is my most common laugh.  I do this a lot at the office.  This is when I'm my most happy. 

3.)  Gasping for air laugh: Fair warning: if you ever see me do this longer than a minute, immediately yell at me, "BREATHE KIM!"  For some unknown reason, sometimes whenever I'm laughing LIKE CRAZY over something, I'm so busy focusing on the hilarity that I forget to breathe.  I like to laugh but I also enjoy breathing! 

So from the bottom of my heart....and lungs (hehe!) make 'em laugh!  :-)