Making laughter...

I have always tried to find ways to bring laughter to others, and since I spent a lot of time in hospitals with doctors, they often were on the receiving end...

When I had the spine surgery that nearly permanently paralyzed me, I had a orthopaedic surgeon with a sense of humor as wicked as mine.  We would often humorously banter back and forth with each other.  This is the dear surgeon who was operating on me when I had to learn to walk again the second time after major complications during surgery happened which were not his fault.

This is also the same surgeon who came to the emergency room when I had my first ever accident with a horse.  Bashum and I were galloping across a field when we disturbed some huge grasshoppers, and one suddenly flew into Bashum's eye.  He stumbled west, and I went flying high east...with my tailbone taking the brunt of my landing.  

As I drove myself to the emergency room, I feared two things:  that I seriously injured my spine which surgery had been scheduled for soon, and/or my dear surgeon was going to kill me.

He came into the room laughing hard.  Very hard.  

"I heard you went flying and had a rough landing!"

"Well the flying high in the air part wasn't too bad."  

Still laughing hard, he said, "And you fractured your tailbone.  In two places.  Most people only fracture their tailbones in one place, but you tend to go the extra mile."

"I like to think big."

Though he obviously always had concerns about his unique patient flying across fields riding her horses bareback, he loved how I wasn't defined by the dwarfism...and was one hell of a fighter.

Anyway, prior to that following spine surgery I had made a sign and laminated it.  I wanted to have a moment of fun even though I knew I would have already been knocked out.  So on the morning of the surgery, I attached the sign I made to my back with surgical tape hidden by the hospital gown.  No one knew it was there.  

It wasn't until after I was on the operating table all knocked out that they turned me over.  My surgeon opened the gown only to suddenly see in large block letters, "Remember...don't screw this up."

I was told later it took everyone several long moments before they could quit laughing and regain their composure.  

My now retired surgeon kept the sign and still treasures it very much.