RX laughter / MSFocus magazine

No doubt that laughter is medicine and Multiple Sclerosis Foundation’s MSFocus Magazine, Spring 2011 is all about laughter and living with MS.

It’s also kind of cool to find Patti and myself on pages 50-51, “Mooned By Snails”.

“…If you ask us whether it was easier to laugh together before MS, we both will smile and evoke the memory loss defense. MS brought new dimensions; our sense of humor evolved. As a caregiver, I discovered the reward of a slapstick laugh the first time I ran over my own foot with a wheelchair. Patti’s MS-induced pseudobulbar affect flips emotional tables – she laughs at funerals. …

… Oh, we are never boring to be around. Humor as intervention can disarm anxious strangers, friends, and family.

‘Common sense and a sense of humor are the same thing, moving at different speeds. A sense of humor is just common sense, dancing.’ ...

A giggle can change a mood; a guffaw is as good as any medicine. You cannot do much about multiple sclerosis, but you can do a lot about living with multiple sclerosis. Some situations are just funny, and sometimes as a caregiver it takes a little clowning around to get the laughter going …

… EDSS>8 and ADL<1 may be quantitative measurements of Patti’s MS, but I would like to think that laughter is a better measurement of quality of life. And, well, sometimes it takes a little help from those darn snails.”

To view on line edition click MSFocus Spring 2011 also available in pdf format 

While the blogosphere has always been home for Caregivingly Yours, it was both challenging and fun to rewrite an entry as a magazine article. Special thanks to Multiple Sclerosis Foundation (MSF) for believing our story of living with MS was worth including. 

Caregivingly Yours, Patrick Leer 

web site: caregivinglyyours.com  

videos: www.youtube.com/daddyleer