A diabetic, a blind man and an amputee walk into a bar. The bartender says, “What is this – some kind of joke?” Having a disability is no joke according to IDA Advisory Board Member and Neurohumorist expert, Karyn Buxman, RN, MSN. “But it can be a laughing matter. Pain, suffering, isolation, stress, depression, financial hardships […]
IDA Founder and President interviews Karyn Buxman, RN, MSN, Hall of Fame Speaker and Humorist. Karyn is the past president of the Association for Applied Therapeutic Humor, the creator of the Nursing Jocularity online publication and author of the What’s So Funny About … book series. Interview by Wayne Connell, Founder and President Invisible Disabilities […]
My journey over the past two decades with my wife, Sherri – whose life is filled daily with intense pain, brain fog, overwhelming fatigue and isolation – is full of more downs than ups. It seems like the easy thing to do would be to throw my hands up and scream. I joke sometimes that […]
“What’s the oldest you’ve ever been?” A fair question, although it may be obvious chronologically. Personally, I can’t attest to having lived or acted my physical age. Many would agree. Mentally, I don’t feel it. My friend and speaker colleague Bob mentioned a funny ageism recently. Bob and his family were enjoying a meal together […]
“I can’t do this anymore.” “What? You have to keep going. You can’t quit. You’re needed. You’re fantastic at what you do.” “No, it’s too hard. I’m exhausted. There’s too much to do and never enough time. I’m fighting on every front and I have no more fight left. I’m tired of being responsible, tired […]
“Maybe I’m an exception to the ‘rolling stone gathers no moss’ adage.” I’m feeling pretty darn moss-covered myself some days, especially when work and life seem to be rolling downhill. It’s overwhelming at times. It happens far more often than I’d like. Needless to say, I’m a mite suspicious of the proverb about a rolling […]
“Just add it to the bottomless list.” Ever felt that way? As though the world and all its demands expects you to keep going until you’ve finished everything on your plate, so to speak. Including the Brussels sprouts. It’s an image that reminds me of long-ago decades growing up in Fargo, North Dakota. The dinnertime […]
“Tick tick tick.” I take it for granted. My ticker, that is. It’s one part of me that, as far as I know, still works as it was designed. Four decades of arthritis has not affected my heart. I’m fortunate. At age seven, four decades ago, attempts were made to figure out what the heck […]
“What are you – a comedian?” Nope, these professionals aren’t – aren’t comedians, that is. They operate on a different spectrum. They sometimes share similarities with comedians, but their humor is often more subtle, more cerebral. Who are they? They’re humorists. There’s even one month a year dedicated to them. March is always ‘Humorists are […]
“A gadget guru’s paradise. Really?” A medical office? As soon as I was called back into the inner sanctum for my appointment, I knew something was different. This was merely the warm up act. I walked over to the scale. While not exactly a gadget, it was creatively updated. Ready to step up and onto […]
“Please pass the attitude.” We routinely recognize the genes that pass from one generation to the next. After all, we see evidence of hand-me-down genes looking back at us each morning in the mirror. (“When did I become my mother??”) While we recognize genes that are passed along, what we don’t often recognize are the […]
“What a wimp.” It must be bad when you recognize it in yourself. Why is it the older I get, the wimpier I am when it comes to – of all things – needles? Sitting in the lab technician’s chair recently, I found I was distracting myself from her preparations. The rubbery tourniquet thingy, the […]
“Nothing personal, but the fewer times I see you, the better.” My comment elicits smiles from my medical caregivers. They know exactly what I mean. I admire the heck out of all of them. I’m extremely grateful for their dedication and commitment. Almost as far back as I can remember, I’ve been involved in the […]
“They’re all alike.” It was a rude awakening listening to the receptionist at my doctor’s office. I’ve previously been stereotyped within earshot for various reasons, but not usually when I’m the paying customer. Most employees understand who ultimately pays their mortgage, and it’s not so much their employer. Another customer – aka patient – and […]
When one turtle is on his back, the other doesn’t fault him for getting himself in that position and walk away. He doesn’t tell him he just needs to try harder and he doesn’t stand there giving advice. He simply walks over and helps him up in his time of need. Of course, when dealing with […]
“Boo.” Oh yea, eek. It was a year ago this week that, for the first time, I went through a Halloween Haunted House. I never thought I was haunted house material. So it was with some hesitation and – ok, let’s be honest – downright fear (but not for the usual reasons) that I somewhat […]
“You’re weird.” Not the typical diagnosis one hears at the doctor’s office. Stranger still, it wasn’t me hearing it. If it had been, it wouldn’t have been ultra surprising. For several (ahem) decades, this body has routinely presented an out-of-the-ordinary case for my medical team to investigate. I figure it’s my contribution to science. Hey, […]
“Wow, you’re short.” The comment still amazes me. How is it that otherwise intelligent beings sometimes suddenly spew forth the most obvious of statements? Fortunately, medical folks are generally exempt from committing this comment calamity. My shortness resulted from the medication I took in the first five years of the disease. Back in 1971, there were […]
Karyn Buxman, RN, MSN Hall of Fame Speaker, Nurse and Humorist shares a few heartfelt personal stories of her own. Karyn is the creator of the Journal of Nursing Jocularity, the President of the Association for Applied and Therapeutic Humor and an IDA Advisory Board Member. Finding Humor in Difficult Times by Karyn Buxman, RN, […]
“If you would just be a little stricter with him, I’m sure he would straighten up.” I stared dumbly into the face of one of Adam’s teachers, after my son had missed almost six months of school from debilitating headaches. My heart sank. My stomach twisted. This person saw my son in between his headache […]