The Smile & Laughter Clinic.
Having recently joined this venerable forum, I have viewed the various threads and posts here with great personal interest. Many are inspirational,others harrowing and indicative of individual experience of this accursed affliction of Dementia in it's various forms.
As someone with a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease, I can still identify with the joy that people feel in living and being involved with the day to day expectations of maximising it, despite cognitive decline due to the condition.
I recognise that while there is great sadness in losing one’s cognitive abilities, family members and caregivers can still share a wealth of love and moments of joy and laughter with people living with dementia.
With the help of these occasional posts, I hope that our view of Alzheimer’s can through humour and laughter, shift from “the long goodbye” to “the long hello.”
These posts and their humorous content, are not intended to be flippant or disrespectful of the seriousness of the AD condition, but are intended to shine a light into the dark private places that can be depression and anxiety.
Providing occasions for humour, laughter, and this celebration of life, IMHO is another weapon in our armament for helping to improve the quality of life for those who have the disease in it's various forms, including that of their carers and family.
I invite you all to contribute to the Smile and Laughter Clinic post, through your participation and donation of suitable chuckle material,whether it be a good joke, humorous anecdote, story ,photo or cartoon image. All donations will be gratefully received and enjoyed.
Joke 1. - "I've sure gotten old! I've had two bypass surgeries, a hip replacement, new knees. Fought prostate cancer and diabetes. I'm half blind, can't hear anything quieter than a jet engine, take 40 different medications that make me dizzy, winded, and subject to blackouts. Have bouts with dementia. Have poor circulation; hardly feel my hands and feet anymore. Can't remember if I'm 85 or 92. Have lost all my friends. But, thank God, I still have my driver's license".
Joke 2. - Doctor Ryan tells his patient, Muriel, 'Well I have good news and bad news...'
Muriel responds, 'Tell me Doc. What's the bad news?'You have Alzheimer's disease.'Good heavens!'exclaims Muriel, 'So, what's the good news?''You can go home and forget about it.' Says Dr Ryan.
An Alzheimer’s Sneaky Thief!
Even before Ed became demented, when we went to restaurants he had the odd habit of wrapping food items in napkins, putting them in the breast pocket of his sport coat and taking them home. These were things like the little packets of ketchup or mustard from McDonalds or pieces of leftover bread from just about any restaurant. Not that he needed those things – it was just a habit. And one I found amusing at the time.
Well, when he developed Alzheimer’s he kept up that habit when he was living at Alois Center. After finishing each meal he would carefully wipe his spoon clean with a napkin, then wrap the spoon in another napkin, put it in the breast pocket of his sport coat and take it back to his room.
Pretty soon his room would have spoons all over the place so the staff would go get them and return them to the kitchen. But sure enough the next day he would start a new collection.
Then the staff tried to stop him of this habit by giving him plastic spoons, which they hoped he’d have less interest in. It worked for a while, but soon he started stealing the plastic spoons as well.
I often sat with him when he was eating and had observed this behavior many times. Finally, one day when he started his cleaning ritual I said to him, “Don’t take those spoons, Ed. They don’t belong to you. They belong to the facility.”
“Oh, no!” he said, loudly enough for everyone to hear. “I take them every day with no remorse!”
He was aware he’d said something funny, and we both burst into laughter.
Having recently joined this venerable forum, I have viewed the various threads and posts here with great personal interest. Many are inspirational,others harrowing and indicative of individual experience of this accursed affliction of Dementia in it's various forms.
As someone with a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease, I can still identify with the joy that people feel in living and being involved with the day to day expectations of maximising it, despite cognitive decline due to the condition.
I recognise that while there is great sadness in losing one’s cognitive abilities, family members and caregivers can still share a wealth of love and moments of joy and laughter with people living with dementia.
With the help of these occasional posts, I hope that our view of Alzheimer’s can through humour and laughter, shift from “the long goodbye” to “the long hello.”
These posts and their humorous content, are not intended to be flippant or disrespectful of the seriousness of the AD condition, but are intended to shine a light into the dark private places that can be depression and anxiety.
Providing occasions for humour, laughter, and this celebration of life, IMHO is another weapon in our armament for helping to improve the quality of life for those who have the disease in it's various forms, including that of their carers and family.
I invite you all to contribute to the Smile and Laughter Clinic post, through your participation and donation of suitable chuckle material,whether it be a good joke, humorous anecdote, story ,photo or cartoon image. All donations will be gratefully received and enjoyed.
Joke 1. - "I've sure gotten old! I've had two bypass surgeries, a hip replacement, new knees. Fought prostate cancer and diabetes. I'm half blind, can't hear anything quieter than a jet engine, take 40 different medications that make me dizzy, winded, and subject to blackouts. Have bouts with dementia. Have poor circulation; hardly feel my hands and feet anymore. Can't remember if I'm 85 or 92. Have lost all my friends. But, thank God, I still have my driver's license".
Joke 2. - Doctor Ryan tells his patient, Muriel, 'Well I have good news and bad news...'
Muriel responds, 'Tell me Doc. What's the bad news?'You have Alzheimer's disease.'Good heavens!'exclaims Muriel, 'So, what's the good news?''You can go home and forget about it.' Says Dr Ryan.
An Alzheimer’s Sneaky Thief!
Even before Ed became demented, when we went to restaurants he had the odd habit of wrapping food items in napkins, putting them in the breast pocket of his sport coat and taking them home. These were things like the little packets of ketchup or mustard from McDonalds or pieces of leftover bread from just about any restaurant. Not that he needed those things – it was just a habit. And one I found amusing at the time.
Well, when he developed Alzheimer’s he kept up that habit when he was living at Alois Center. After finishing each meal he would carefully wipe his spoon clean with a napkin, then wrap the spoon in another napkin, put it in the breast pocket of his sport coat and take it back to his room.
Pretty soon his room would have spoons all over the place so the staff would go get them and return them to the kitchen. But sure enough the next day he would start a new collection.
Then the staff tried to stop him of this habit by giving him plastic spoons, which they hoped he’d have less interest in. It worked for a while, but soon he started stealing the plastic spoons as well.
I often sat with him when he was eating and had observed this behavior many times. Finally, one day when he started his cleaning ritual I said to him, “Don’t take those spoons, Ed. They don’t belong to you. They belong to the facility.”
“Oh, no!” he said, loudly enough for everyone to hear. “I take them every day with no remorse!”
He was aware he’d said something funny, and we both burst into laughter.
