ADVOCACY . . . A
“LAUGHING” MATTER?
By Jim Canto*
This is the Brain speaking.....BRANE! (It sounds funnier when you voice
it, rather than read it.) The line is from a Comedy album (remember the
LPs?) by Charlie Manna, called "Manna Overboard". I started my career as
a young Disc Jockey (deejay) where I worked in small radio stations in
New Hampshire and Vermont. This was over 40 years ago and I played this
album over and over again to the point of memorization. I've been
looking for this album and finally located it on the Internet. In it is
a very creative comedy piece called "Inside You" in which Manna does all
the voices of the various body parts. Whenever I feel depressed I listen
to the album. It makes me laugh and I find it very difficult to be
depressed while laughing.
Recently, we were having great difficulty locating a speaker for our
Annual Banquet. I heard about a professional Comedian, Jeff Allen, who
lived locally and hired him. Yes, you guessed it...Jeff had them in
stitches. Everyone forgot they had Parkinson’s.
Recently I started doing the Endorphin Report to start out our monthly
Support meetings. I do about 5 minutes of jokes taken off the Internet.
All the jokes are 'clean' and very short. They do seem to get everyone
in a positive mood for the upcoming meeting. Yes, we all stop thinking
about ourselves, if only for a short time.
My advocacy is LAUGHTER.
*Jim & wife Verna - Nashville, TN - were PAN advocates for Tennessee
at this year’s forum. Jim has had PD for 13 years, and this was Jim’s
first forum.
Below are a few humorous words from Jim’s Endorphin Report:
The following quotes were taken from actual medical records dictated by
physicians. . . They appeared in a column written by Richard Lederer,
Ph.D. for the Journal of Court Reporting;
By the time he was admitted, his rapid heart had stopped, and he was
feeling better.
Patient has chest pain if she lies on her left side for over a year.
On the second day the knee was better and on the third day it had
completely disappeared.
She has had no rigors or shaking chills, but her husband states she was
very hot in bed last night.
The patient has been depressed ever since she began seeing me in 1983
Patient was released to outpatient department without dressing.
Discharge status: Alive but without permission