Living with ataxia is hard work and can be very frustrating. I have found one of the best tonics is being able to have a good laugh at myself! Here are a couple of examples...
After I graduated as a doctor one of my first jobs was in a hospital with huge lifts. I often ate in the canteen with my colleagues who I became good friends with. The canteen was on the ground floor of the hospital whereas our wards were on the top floor. When we were going back to work they frequently cornered me at the back of the lift and tickled me. I am very ticklish! When we got to the top floor they would run out of the lift but because I couldn't move quickly I didn't get out. On their way out of the lift they would press the 'basement' button and after the doors had closed there was nothing I could do about it. When I eventually returned to the top floor my 'friends' would be waiting for me and we would all be in absolute hysterics!. The funniest thing was I fell for it every time!
One of my most spectacular falls was a couple of years ago when I was carrying my dinner through to my living room from the kitchen. When I reached the living room I lost my balance and threw my dinner all over the TV. The news was on. The majority of my dinner landed on the Queen's face. That was probably a beheading offence!
Does anyone else have a funny ataxia anecdote?
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HarryB
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You just have to laugh at yourself otherwise you'd cry!!!!! I often laugh at myself if I fall or stumble it keeps me sane... If I cried and got upset every time I lost my balance or I drooped something I would put myself in an early grave. Occasionally i will make a joke out of it all like 'I'm like wibbly wobbly jelly today... It's a good job I like jelly' or 'I need to cut down on the alcoholic beverages because I can't walk properly' if I didn't laugh or make a joke of it I think I'd be severely depressed... I think it is a way of coping and staying sane!!!
Getting off a train home at Shenfield with my wife, I headed for the stairs and two large guys who were heading up turn round and went to the bottom, my wife asked if I knew them, I said no but I had knocked them over the week before!
One of my most spectacular falls was a couple of years ago when I was carrying my dinner through to my living room from the kitchen. When I reached the living room I lost my balance and threw my dinner all over the TV. The news was on. The majority of my dinner landed on the Queen's face. That was probably a beheading offence!
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There´s in the German Ataxia quite a few an. that make Ataxians laugh
One of my anecdotes is- After arriving at a hotel in Melbourne, late at night, after a very long flight from England. My wife went into the hotel to book in. Me being a neandrathal man, thought I could bring in a case and bent down to get one to which I fell over.I was then approched by two burly Australian men, who had come to help me, not mug me as I thought. When they said in an Australian accent." Gee mate, you must have had a few"
They were very good people, who dusted me down and took the cases into the hotel for me.
They were strangers, but like most people, had good hearts.
My wife and I still laugh at this incedent several years later.
I had been feeling my oats, as I hadn't taken a bad fall for several months. I guess I was so full of myself that as I was opening the fridge door, I lost me balance and fell flat on my tush...ouch!...I was literally lying on the kitchen floor, staring up at the ceiling, too afraid to move as the pain was quite intense. When I finally did move, I had a really difficult time getting up! I found out a couple days later that I hairline fractured my pelvis, therefore my pain in the ***, really was a pain in the ***!....,LOL! ;o)
I had been feeling my oats, as I hadn't taken a bad fall for several months. I guess I was so full of myself that as I was opening the fridge door, I lost me balance and fell flat on my tush...ouch!...I was literally lying on the kitchen floor, staring up at the ceiling, too afraid to move as the pain was quite intense. When I finally did move, I had a really difficult time getting up! I found out a couple days later that I hairline fractured my pelvis, therefore my pain in the ***, really was a pain in the ***!....,LOL! ;o)
I was leaving a mcdonalds in newcastle when my legs gave way. Falling forward, I landed on top of a table where a family were having their lunch. After my garbled apology I left the only way I could -by using the backs of their seats to keep my balance so I could leave. 10 years on I can still see the bemused looks on their faces.
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