Cancer is no doubt a trying time, but there are always some laughable moments along the way in any situation. I have certainly have my share of laughable moments & wanted to share some of them with you! Hope you LOL at them! 

I have lymphedema in my left arm & wear a compression sleeve to keep the swelling down & it helps with the pain some. I have gotten into the shower wearing my sleeve more times than I can count (I get in with my glasses on a lot too!), as well as gone to bed wearing it. I also take it off to give my kids baths since they tend to get crazy & splash a lot. One day before taking off the sleeve, in process of getting them into the tub, I was lifting my two-year old son into the tub I started to feel warmth on my arm… If you’re a parent you probably know where this is going already… Yes, he was peeing & it was all over my sleeve!! He & my daughter thought it was hysterical, me not quite as much, but certainly a laughable moment.

Sometimes when I’m thinking really hard… I catch myself rubbing my bald head just like I always saw my dad do growing up. And I assure you, I never rub my head when I’m thinking while there is hair on it!

I still shampoo & condition my mostly bald head every day & when I do, I still use a giant palm full of both each time. I just cannot seem to remember that I don’t have a head full of long hair anymore!!

When I get into the shower, almost every time, I reach up to take my hair out of the messy bun (that isn’t there… Ghost bun?). I must subconsciously feel like my non-existent hair is up since I don’t feel hair on my shoulders, lol. Kind of like how I try push my nonexistent glasses up on my nose every time I’m wearing contacts & end up poking myself in the face instead (so smooth!).

I was exhausted after an appointment while going through chemo, just shortly after losing my hair & came home to take a nap. In doing so I laid in bed with a full face of make up on & my bare, bald head. My husband came home from work that day not feeling well & laid down to take a nap with me. When we both woke up he said to me, “Wow sweetie, I rolled over at one point during my nap & seriously thought there was a mannequin in the bed with me!” To which I asked what on earth he meant (you sometimes forget you’re bald at first, I swear…) & he responded “I looked over & just saw a bald head with a stunningly beautiful face, I instantly thought mannequin!” Completely his words & I honestly don’t know if I’ve ever laughed so hard in all of my life.

My dad walked into my house one day & let out a big bellowing laugh. He came in chuckling because in my mudroom, along the hooks with the kid’s school bags, jackets & our aprons, there were my wigs chilling on a hook as well. Yes that’s an everyday thing around here, most people come home & hang up their jackets, I come home & hang up my hair!

While my cat has attacked a wig on an occasion or two, he has also become quite friendly with them! I catch him napping with them sometimes! Hey they get hot, so if it didn’t come off as soon as I walked in, then alternately it usually comes off wherever I am in the house.  Next, in swoops Cosmo Kitty.

Wigs on kids are just funny! Bad wigs on kids are HILARIOUS!! So I’ll admit my first one was so bad I wouldn’t even leave the house in it. Do you remember the scene in the movie, E.T. where E.T. is dressed like a girl & wearing the blond wig & walking around with that silly clunky walk he had? Well my bad wig is brown, but I swear when my kids put it on & walk around, it reminds me so much of that scene from E.T. & cracks me up to no end! One of the greatest things ever! This wigs home is now the dress up bin in my daughter’s room.

As you go through treatment & are given medications, you’re asked by the medical staff to verify your full name & date of birth. It’s something you will say quite regularly when you have cancer. For some reason I noticed that every single time I said this, I began with “Umm”. I realized, they must think my name is “Umm Michelle” every time. I told my nurse this at chemo one day & they congratulated me every time there after that I managed to get that going without the big “Umm” in the beginning. Chalk this one up to chemo brain, my name & birthdate shouldn’t be so difficult to remember!!

In losing your hair during chemo, you also lose eyebrows & eyelashes. I frequently experienced something I call, eyelash suicide. Where my eyelash would be losing its hold & change to a downward direction poking me directly in the eye. I would try to lift them back up with my fingertip each time but they would return do jab me in the eyeball again & again. I deemed this eyelash suicide & would VERY carefully lift my eyelid & pluck the suicidal lash with tweezers so that I could continue my day, less the constant eye irritation.

I lost something additional in surgery that most don’t. I had bilateral mastectomy with Tram Flap reconstruction. This means basically I received a tummy tuck where they used the material to form new, natural breasts. Prior to surgery I had a butterfly tattoo on my right hip that was completely removed in the process! I also have a butterfly on my ankle that I’m not in love with, got it as soon as I turned 18 just because I could of course. I jokingly asked my plastic surgeon going into surgery, if he could work that one in as well & remove it. Then later when preparing for radiation they tattooed five small dots on me to help line me up the same each time. So now I guess technically I have more tattoos than before, all though you’d never know it!

I can’t count the times now my five-year old daughter has seen me do something completely ridiculous out of chemo brain & said to me in her sassy little five going on fifteen tone, “Uhhh, Momma… you just… (Insert insane action).” She’s always sure to explain why what I’ve done is silly & what I should have done of course. But she’s a great girl to have giggling alongside me through my many laughable moments!

Basically through cancer, you’ve got to embrace the good times & those laughable moments! The more positive you are through the journey, the more moments like these you’ll encounter. Between my husband’s cancer & my own, our family has been through it. You’ve just got to be able to laugh at yourself to get through this mess as gracefully (or ungracefully in my case sometimes obviously) as possible.