What’s So Funny About Cancer?

Y’all know that I can find the funny in anything.

Anything.

The worse things are, the more I am compelled to laugh. It’s definitely my father’s DNA running through me and I’m grateful for it.

Throughout my life, my ill-timed laughter has been misunderstood by a few, but I find it to be a normal reaction to stress that should be embraced as long as it doesn’t harm others. Better than full blown hysteria, right?

Turns out there’s plenty funny about cancer.

What’s So Funny About Cancer?

* Dexter and I greet Garry at the door when he comes home from work. Until Garry got used to seeing me bald, he said he would think, “Who’s the bald dude in my house with my dog?”

* Chemo brain is defined as an extreme forgetfulness while going through treatments. Mine is so profound we call it The Drunks. Garry’s job is keeping his “drunk” wife straight. Lots of “who’s on first” convos between us.

* Maybe I actually forgot that thing I was supposed to do, maybe I can’t recall, maybe I’m actually drunk (not. even. close.), or maybe it’s easier to blame The Drunks. Either way, I’m golden!

* So much poop talk. Have I? Will I? Can I? Poop talk = always funny.

* Shocking myself (still) every time I see my reflection in a mirror, followed by a squeal of surprise, then laughing at the “new” revelation that I’m still bald.

* Having pre-cancer Judgy McJudgison issues with people who make smacking noises while they eat and then turning into the biggest smacker of all time because chemo screws with my mouth making it near to impossible to eat without smacking the week following treatment. Oh, karma!

* Giving naughty names to side-effects that are of the more private nature. Oh behave!

* Having Sweet E tell his daddy: Choochie got a bad haircut!

* Being compared to J. K. Simmons, the Farmer’s Insurance commercial actor.

* Being told I get a “puss pass” on workouts because, you know, I have cancer. Puss pass…get that out of your head!

* Wearing a ball cap while running errands, only to discover after I return home that it has shifted on my bald head to a weirdo angle that now makes me look like a sad older gangsta wannabe, yo.

* Babies see me as one of them. Bald = mah hommie!

All this silliness and I’m not finished with treatments! I imagine there will be more to add to the last with each week that passes.

It makes me immensely happy that the laughter in our house hasn’t waned. Thank God. Even with cancer occupying so much space in our lives these days, there’s still plenty to bring us to tears almost every day and we take full advantage of the moment.

Misunderstood or not, I’m gonna keep on laughing.

I hope you join me.

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