Journal of Nursing Jocularity

“What are you – a comedian?”

Nope, these professionals aren’t – aren’t comedians, that is. They operate on a different spectrum. They sometimes share similarities with comedians, but their humor is often more subtle, more cerebral.

Who are they? They’re humorists.

I happened to come across the well-guarded fact that March is ‘Humorists are Artists Month.’ I couldn’t let it go by without a bit of recognition to the humorists you and I know here through The Journal of Nursing Jocularity and other places. What made me especially giggle? The acronym that was mentioned along with the March moniker: HAMM. Anyone who performs to generate a living laugh track has probably been called a ham at some point, and I salute you. It’s something the rest of us admire and benefit from more than we realize.

My fellow JNJ readers know Karyn Buxman is a humorist. She makes the rest of us realize that, no matter the situation, there is humor to be found in it. You’ve read her writings and giggled. If you’ve been fortunate enough to see her perform, you’ve laughed hysterically and no doubt, uncontrollably.

And no, Karyn doesn’t know I’m writing about her. So shhh, it’s our little secret.

I gotta tell ya, it’s not easy being intentionally funny. Karyn and so many other humorists have admirable ability and perseverance. Theirs is a craft, an art form. Some of us might make others laugh on occasion, more by accident than anything. But intentionally, repeatedly, and consistently? C’mon, who does that? Oh yea, the humorous artists among us.

And aren’t we grateful? I can’t imagine a world without humor, without an expert in the subject leading the way forward for the rest of us. I especially can’t imagine life without them when the world is otherwise gray and bleak, as it especially can be in all things medical. As a patient, I’ve often needed the respite that humor brings. And I can only imagine how necessary it is for the patients’ caregivers, too.

While the rest of us can sometimes bring a needed chuckle to those around us, we’re all the better for having in our midst those who are professional-grade serious about the craft of doing so. They reliably pull us out of our funk. They put a positive spin on situations we find ourselves in, and are especially needed in the difficult situations found in the healthcare arena.

We can and do learn from humorists. They might not always be right there along side us, yet their funnyisms sometimes resonate in our minds and spirits when we most need them.

Here’s to you who professionally cheer us, and cheer us on with the art of humor. Thank you for putting the funny back into the unfunny and helping us persevere when we otherwise couldn’t. Cheers to you!

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The Short Chick with the Walking Stick’s upcoming book celebrates professional caregivers as the StickSpirits they are. For four decades, they’ve helped Kris Harty Stick to It – No Matter What! She provides a patient’s perspective that is educational, inspirational, and insightful. Part memoir, part application, Kris helps student nurses, newer nurses and not-so-newer nurses remember why they joined their amazing profession in the first place. She shares how they positively impact patients’ lives, with minimal time and effort. Little things matter. Kris is the Thought Leader on People Helping People Persevere. She leads the conversation through writing, speaking, coaching, and small group discussions. A 40-year veteran of the medical industry – on the receiving end, Kris Harty is the Stickabilities Specialist at Strong Spirit Unlimited. If you’re looking for an effortless and meaningful way to lead your team toward continued quality caregiving, contact Kris. Call 877.711.STIC(K), email StrongSpirit@StrongSpiritUnlimited.com, or visit  www.StrongSpiritUnlimited.com.

“Well, hello there, stranger.”

You’d think that after living with the same body for four decades, there wouldn’t be any surprises left. That is, other than the usual age-related changes. I’m getting all too used to them. You, too? My sympathies.

Much in the same way, I’ve gotten all too used to the weirdities accompanying four decades of arthritis. As soon as I think I’ve heard of every ramification, there’s another something brought to my attention.

Earlier this week, I was grabbing a bite for dinner, and as I bit down softly, my lower left jaw CRUNCHED – and CRUMBLED?? I’m not talking my usual lil’ TMJ issues. I’m talking a big ol’ huge OUCH. Then, my jaw stuck. No movement, no how. Interesting predicament indeed.

Now what? Is this really worthy of a trip to the ER? C’mon, buck up. It’ll self-correct. (That’s my usual way out of any medical appointment. Not that I recommend it. Do as I say, not as I do, thank you very much.)

Patience. Just gotta work it out. Crack. Got it. Whew.

Crack again. All evening long. Days later, it still crunches, but at the same time, there’s a newfound relief and release in it.

Don’t know that I want to see anyone medical about it. I don’t particularly want to deal with whatever nasty news I might hear.

Like news that my dentist offered not so long ago. Preceding the nastier news was news of the more curious kind. I thought I merely had a new tooth growing in under my gum line. Seems odd for a forty-something year old, but stranger things have probably happened. Found out it wasn’t a tooth at all, but a bony growth calcification. Just like my tell-tale arthritic knobby fingers and wrists. Sheesh. Does bone growth have to happen even under my gum line?

He went on to share that it’s the same calcification buildup as the ridge on the upper and lower palates of my mouth. I have ridges?? Am I supposed to have ridges??? Hmm, my tongue started tracing the outline. When did this happen, and why? Amazing how things happen so slowly to our bodies that we’re no longer aware that an abnormality is an abnormality.

Weird, scary, freaky. My dentist continued on about my jaw bones. Needless to say, arthritis has messed with them, too. He said eventually I’ll likely need jaw surgery. He offered to provide good contacts. Nice. And oy. Does the need for surgery on this ol’ bod never end?

So then I wonder, is the crunch that I experienced this week related to the news I received about my jaw? If so, can I forego treatment and simply work out a tune using my new cracking capabilities?

I’m placing bets with myself as to how long I procrastinate before mentioning this newest development to my medical team. Will it get worse – or better? Will I be creating my own new percussion instrument soon?

Stranger things have happened.

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The Short Chick with the Walking Stick’s upcoming book celebrates professional caregivers as the StickSpirits they are. For four decades, they’ve helped Kris Harty Stick to It – No Matter What! She provides a patient’s perspective that is educational, inspirational, and insightful. Part memoir, part application, Kris helps student nurses, newer nurses and not-so-newer nurses remember why they joined their amazing profession in the first place. She shares how they positively impact patients’ lives, with minimal time and effort. Little things matter. Kris is the Thought Leader on People Helping People Persevere. She leads the conversation through writing, speaking, coaching, and small group discussions. A 40-year veteran of the medical industry – on the receiving end, Kris Harty is the Stickabilities Specialist at Strong Spirit Unlimited. If you’re looking for an effortless and meaningful way to lead your team toward continued quality caregiving, contact Kris. Call 877.711.STIC(K), email StrongSpirit@StrongSpiritUnlimited.com, or visit  www.StrongSpiritUnlimited.com.

“So let me get this straight…”

My friend Miranda didn’t need this extra bit of ridiculousness in her week. A contract she’d been pursuing for a business project fell through amidst voicemail- nightmare, the guy she thought might be more than ‘just a guy’ unexpectedly left the job where they’d met, the workplace aftermath was nasty, she didn’t have his home contact info, and her bottle of Xanax was empty.

So it was that Miranda found herself at the pharmacist’s window. “I got this prescription for panic attacks a long time ago; haven’t used it in ages. But I like to have a few on hand, just in case. I got through the week, but still…

“Yes, I have insurance. I’d like to pay for this refill out of my own pocket, though. I don’t want any record of this medication on my insurance. I don’t need to give them any reason to raise my rates or deny me coverage. Can you help me out?”

Miranda’s pharmacist was always willing to assist her clients. A bit of a character herself, her name tag simply read “The Queen.” “I didn’t realize they might do that, but let me see what we can do.”

Queenie always went the extra step for customers. “Yes, I can charge it to you directly. FYI, here’s the cost for insurance to refill it (showing Miranda the charge) and here’s the cost out of pocket.”

Miranda, lover of words, was speechless – for a moment. “So let me get this straight. I pay insurance premiums to reduce the cost of healthcare to myself. Yet for this prescription, it’s cheaper for me to pick up the entire tab than to pay the insurance co-pay?”

Queenie, ever the diplomat, confirmed, explaining, “I can’t say that’s the usual, but yes, in this case, that’s correct.”

The tidbits we learn in this, February’s Wise Health Care Consumer Month.

From then on, Miranda’s week improved and her heart lifted. What, or who, was responsible? None other than an unexpected email from the potential more-than-just-a-guy.

Miranda’s re-telling on the phone caused me co-butterflies. The ‘he’ of the email said he was thinking of her, and the thought of her always made him nervous and giddy, all at the same time.

And that made Miranda swoon. “I’m blushing! Isn’t that impossible after a certain age? He makes me nervous, too. I have butterflies!  Seriously, I feel like a schoolgirl again. I haven’t felt this way in decades. It’s kinda nice!”

I could feel her glowing over the phone. Her friend Ginger’s sing-songy text, serenaded. “You make him nervous. He makes you nervous. You got the butterflies! He wants to keeees you!!

Nothing like the spark of a potential love. We never outgrow those heart palpitations.

Miranda’s entire outlook improved. Who needs artificial chemicals when the real ones course through our veins?

“So let me get this straight. When it comes to the fluttering of the heart, we’re perpetually 16. And ain’t it totally grand?!”

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The Short Chick with the Walking Stick’s upcoming book celebrates professional caregivers as the StickSpirits they are. For four decades, they’ve helped Kris Harty Stick to It – No Matter What! She provides a patient’s perspective that is educational, inspirational, and insightful. Part memoir, part application, Kris helps student nurses, newer nurses and not-so-newer nurses remember why they joined their amazing profession in the first place. She shares how they positively impact patients’ lives, with minimal time and effort. Little things matter. Kris is the Thought Leader on People Helping People Persevere. She leads the conversation through writing, speaking, coaching, and small group discussions. A 40-year veteran of the medical industry – on the receiving end, Kris Harty is the Stickabilities Specialist at Strong Spirit Unlimited. If you’re looking for an effortless and meaningful way to lead your team toward continued quality caregiving, contact Kris. Call 877.711.STIC(K), email StrongSpirit@StrongSpiritUnlimited.com, or visit  www.StrongSpiritUnlimited.com.

“No flatline here.”

The beating of hearts is strong today, this Valentine’s Day.

Some hearts beat because another heart beats in rhythm. Others continue to beat because of the giving nature of someone else’s heart.

The description of the giving heart includes you, my nurse friends. Your patients’ hearts still beat because of yours.

Nurses are known to sacrifice for the sake of other people’s wellbeing. You are, by nature, a group that denies yourselves in order to help other people. And selfless, giving acts are at the – ummm, heart of Valentine’s Day.

The origins of Valentine’s Day are murky. But it seems there were at least three men in the way-back days by the name of Valentine who risked or sacrificed their own lives to help others.

Many, many heartbeats later, companies happened to find romance to be lovingly lucrative to their bottom line, nudging the industry toward celebrating romance and away from celebrating sacrifice.

I suggest, at least for the duration of this column – maybe longer – that we get back to the original meaning associated with being a Valentine. The name itself means strength. Any of us who have had many dealings at all in the medical community vouch for the strength of nurses. Seemingly endless strength carries nurses through crazy-busy single or double shifts or frenetic days at the office.

As nurses, you sacrifice your own well-being. Sleep, meals, breaks, restroom runs? Who needs ‘em? YOU usually do, as you so often shortchange yourselves in the relentless demands of helping those who can’t help themselves.

Not only that, but your efforts are not acknowledged nearly as often as they could and should be, by those you serve. We patients are too absorbed in our own pain, physical or otherwise, to think about yours.

Studies reveal that of all the people who receive Valentines, teachers receive the most. They certainly earn them. But know that although you might not receive Valentines from your charges, you’re equally deserving of them.

Valentine traditions and recipients around the globe are as varied and unexpected as the contents of a box of chocolates. As Forrest Gump’s momma says about chocolates and life in general: “You never know what you’re gonna get.”

How about the unValentine? One of Japan’s workplace Valentine customs has to do with two kinds of chocolates: favorite chocolates and cheap chocolates. If a co-worker appreciates another coworker, a box of ‘favorite chocolates’ is given. I coulda gone broke over the years.

If there’s not so much in the way of warm fuzzies going on between the two, then cheap chocolates are bestowed. Hmmm, yep. I can think of a few times I would’ve made a quick run to the dollar store.

But for all you sacrificing, under-appreciated nurses, I can only offer these words as your big ol’ box of Favorite Chocolates. Dive in. Enjoy every last sweet, savory bite. It’ll do your giving, strong heart good.

Happy Valentine’s Day to the keepers of our beating hearts.

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The Short Chick with the Walking Stick’s upcoming book celebrates professional caregivers as the StickPeople they are. For four decades, they’ve helped Kris Harty Stick to It – No Matter What! She provides a patient’s perspective that is educational, inspirational, and insightful. Part memoir, part application, Kris helps student nurses, newer nurses and not-so-newer nurses remember why they joined their amazing profession in the first place. She shares how they positively impact patients’ lives, with minimal time and effort. Little things matter. Kris is the Thought Leader on People Helping People Persevere. She leads the conversation through writing, speaking, coaching, and small group discussions. A 40-year veteran of the medical industry – on the receiving end, Kris Harty is the Stickabilities Specialist at Strong Spirit Unlimited. If you’re looking for an effortless and meaningful way to lead your staff toward continued quality caregiving, contact Kris. Call 877.711.STIC(K), email StrongSpirit@StrongSpiritUnlimited.com, or visit  www.StrongSpiritUnlimited.com.

“A gadget guru’s paradise. Really?”

A medical office?

As soon as I was called back into the inner sanctum for my appointment, I knew something was different. This was merely the warm up act. I walked over to the scale. While not exactly a gadget, it was creatively updated.

Ready to step up and onto the scale, I realized there was no need. The floor was cut to accommodate the base of the scale. It was set down in, flush with the floor.

The ease of use was an unexpected treat for those of us dealing with mobility issues.

Explained Joy, my nurse, “Everyone gets a kick out of it. Except some of our older patients. They tend to step up, not realizing there is no step. We’re hoping not to lose someone that way.” Good goal.

Joy was friendly and talkative. After turning around from the scale (which, by the way, needs to be drastically adjusted to calculate correctly…), I was met with a vaguely familiar gizmo, heading toward my ear. Fully expecting the old ‘thermometer in the ear’ trick, this time it went past my ear, and behind it.

One second later, Joy pulled the thermometer back toward her. “99.8.” No nasty inner ear contact going on there. Love that.

We were off and running (ok, slowly meandering) to The Room, all the while, chit chat filling the airspace.

“Finger, please.” This time I was familiar with the device, softly clamping around my finger, probing for medical measurables.

Next, Joy reached for the blood pressure cuff. My standard line: “Ohhh, usually nurses end up using a kid’s cuff on me. The adult size is too big.”

Still struggling to wrap it around my arm, I heard the expected reply: “This isn’t going to fit. I’ll need to get something else.” Excellent idea.

Joy came back with another new device. Not a traditional cuff at all, this ‘bracelet’ cuff (uh huh, like Super Woman – but not gold) fit around my wrist, barely, and sported its own LED display. We both gave it a thumbs up.

The next gizmo needs a drastic update. Not at all the reason for the visit, but a discovered need during the exam, I was readied for my first-ever ear irrigation. After seeing all these high tech electronic tools, I was fully expecting to see something out of Star Trek for this procedure.

I was hugely disappointed. You gotta be kiddin’ me. A squirt bottle, a drip pan, and water? Seriously? What happened to vaporizing lasers? There’s gotta be a better way.

“Ya know, ear candling doesn’t hurt. In fact, it feels good,” I offered.

“We have candles, but we’ve never used them.” Hmmm. I’d have gladly been their guinea pig.

From Space Age to ‘Hey, Fred, let’s discover fire”, I got to experience The Ages all in the span of 30 minutes.

For the next ear cleaning, I’m hoping for a laser gadget – the 2200A Series Super Sonic Wax-Melt-Away Model. Bring it on.

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The Short Chick with the Walking Stick’s upcoming book celebrates professional caregivers as the StickPeople they are. For four decades, they’ve helped Kris Harty Stick to It – No Matter What! She provides a patient’s perspective that is educational, inspirational, and insightful. Part memoir, part application, Kris helps student nurses, new’ish nurses and not-so-new’ish nurses remember why they joined their amazing profession in the first place. She shares how they positively impact patients’ lives, with minimal time and effort. Little things matter. Kris is the Thought Leader on People Helping People Persevere. She leads the conversation through writing, speaking, coaching, and small group discussions. A 40-year veteran of the medical industry – on the receiving end, Kris Harty is the Stickabilities Specialist at Strong Spirit Unlimited. If you’re looking for an effortless and meaningful way to lead your staff toward continued quality caregiving, contact Kris. Call 877.711.STIC(K), email StrongSpirit@StrongSpiritUnlimited.com, or visit  www.StrongSpiritUnlimited.com.

“Tick tick tick.”

I take it for granted. My ticker, that is. It’s one part of me that, as far as I know, still works as it was designed.

Four decades of arthritis has not affected my heart. I’m fortunate.

Lots of us might be grateful for our healthy hearts this month. February is officially American Heart Month, or more often called National Heart Health Month.

At age seven, four decades ago, attempts were made to figure out what the heck was wrong with me. The first diagnosis was Rheumatic Fever.

Because Rheumatic Fever is a condition of the heart, I was told I could no longer run. How wrong they were! I could, and I did, whenever I was out of my mom’s eyesight – until I took off running a few steps too soon and she caught me, watching from the kitchen window. “KRISTINE!!!!!”

Her voice, screaming across the neighborhood, catapulted me as though into a backward slingshot. Good thing my Flintstone brakes still worked.

My running days were history. Not an easy adjustment for a kid who loved to run around, literally. My bare toes knew well the soothing coolness of the green grass after skipping along the hot concrete sidewalks, like butter in a hot pan.

I felt fine. My heart felt fine. The tests had to be wrong. My legs carried me, quickly, wherever I wanted to go. I would not deny myself the pleasure.

During the tongue lashing, I learned the seriousness of the situation. It’s a lot to take in at seven years old. Disciplining myself not to run – when I was still fully able – was like asking a racehorse not to do what it was built to do.

Medical folks and their tests – what did they know?? I was mad, sullen, sad. My joy was gone.

As an adult, I’ve learned that Rheumatic Fever is often a precursor diagnosis to Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis. It’s not known why, or if it it’s an accurate diagnosis, or if one condition morphs into the other.

My heart has always tested fine since those days. Yet I sometimes wonder about that frequent little skip in my heartbeat, and the thirty seconds or more when the beats get all messed up and I hope they go back to normal on their own.

Doctors over the decades declare my heart fine. They reassure me, saying that many people experience these blips in their heartbeats. But as a mere layperson, I don’t want to accept their explanation. I want them to hear it when it blips, and then tell me it’s fine.

O’ heart o’ mine, tell me you’re fine. Tell me you’re fine.

The tick tock of the clock reminds me how fast time skips along. It reminds me of the precious gift of a good ticker that ticks away all those seconds. It reminds me to again ask my medical team about my heart.

Is it time to talk to your team about your ticker?

Tick…tick…

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The upcoming book from The Short Chick with the Walking Stick celebrates healthcare professionals as the StickPeople they are. For four decades, they have helped Kris Harty Stick to It – No Matter What! She provides a patient’s perspective that is educational, inspirational, and full of kudos. Kris helps student nurses persevere through their studies, educates newer nurses on easy ways to positively impact patient care, and reminds veteran nurses of what they already know but may have forgotten during overwhelming workdays. Kris is the Thought Leader on People Helping People Persevere. She leads the conversation through writing, speaking, coaching, and small group discussions. A 40-year veteran of the medical industry – on the receiving end, Kris Harty is the Stickabilities Specialist at Strong Spirit Unlimited. If you’re looking for an effortless and meaningful way to lead your staff toward continued quality caregiving, contact Kris. Call 877.711.STIC(K), email StrongSpirit@StrongSpiritUnlimited.com, or visit  www.StrongSpiritUnlimited.com.

“How do you do it?”

How does anyone keep going through insurmountable difficulties? We’re talking the really big stuff. The stuff that can’t be fixed with chocolate (gasp) or a pitcher of margaritas or a box of tissues and a friend’s slobbered-on shoulder. We’re talking the ‘I don’t think I could ever get through it and I have no clue how they do’ type of situation.

Many of you have been in that trench. For my friends in healthcare, you’re in the front row seat and sidecar of other people’s unimaginable lives much more often than the rest of us.

It’s not easy being the observer, either.

News reports from the last two weeks play around and around in my head, like a hamster on a wheel. I don’t know that my thinking is getting me anywhere, but that lil’ hamster is smoking up the place.

Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords’ husband Mark Kelly is a marvel. How does he keep rollin’?

He notices and applauds those who have a hand in his wife’s recovery. He repeatedly mentions Gabby’s professional caregivers, specifically her nurses. “I also want to thank her…ICU nurses that have attended to her around the clock.”

Seriously, would we blame him if he was a might too distracted to notice or show gratitude? Uh, hello.

One of those nurses, Tracy Colbert, noticed, in addition to her patient’s vital signs, her patient’s humanness. “She is a very gentle person. Her personality is coming out with her touches…the way she looks at us. I’m very lucky to know her.”

And Gabby herself. How does she silently inspire?

Mark Kelly, Tracy Colbert, and Gabby know the secret to moving through the impossible. Mark summed it up in talking about the people who have made a difference.

“The love and support that we have received is a bit overwhelming… But we are very appreciative. And I want to apologize for all of those folks that have done so much for us that we haven’t recognized yet. I know one of the first things Gabby is going to want to do as soon as she is able to is start writing “thank you” notes, and I have already reminded her of that.”

There’s a sweet absurd comicalness in thinking of the seriously injured person – and her loved one – feeling the need to write thank you notes, and apologizing for their delay. And yet, it shows the depths of gratitude toward others that transcends the trauma. Gratitude for those who help us get through the mess weighs more than the help itself.

If we can find a tiny dose of funny, a micro-spec of humor that makes the corners of our mouths turn up unexpectedly, that’s when we’re often at our most resilient. We need that laugh, however small, in the midst of really big seriousness. We’re grateful for the break in the somber scene, and grateful to those who provide it, however they do it.

Be someone’s needed mouth-corner-turner-upper today, for Gabby, won’t you?

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Who helped you through 2010? In 2011, who will you help Stick To It – No Matter What? Kris Harty’s upcoming book celebrates nurses as the StickPeople they are. Her patient’s perspective is educational, inspirational, and full of reminders for nurses, new and lifelong. Kris helps student nurses continue to persevere through their studies, educates newer nurses on easy ways they can positively impact patient care, and reminds veteran nurses of what they already know but may have forgotten during overwhelming workdays. Kris is the Thought Leader on People Helping People Persevere. She leads the conversation through writing, speaking, coaching, and small group discussions. A 40-year veteran of the medical industry – on the receiving end, Kris Harty is the Stickabilities Specialist at Strong Spirit Unlimited. If you’re looking for an effortless and meaningful way to lead your staff toward continued quality caregiving, contact Kris. Call 877.711.STIC(K), email StrongSpirit@StrongSpiritUnlimited.com, or visit  www.StrongSpiritUnlimited.com.

“Wait! It’s not about weight.”

The headline glared at me, proclaiming this week as National Healthy Weight Week. Not another article on weight! But hang on; maybe it wasn’t the typical article. Hallelujah and pass the pumpkin pie!

Still, I couldn’t bring myself to read the whole thing. My ‘ugh’ repellant was working overtime. Nonetheless, I got the gist of the message, or a message, anyway; here’s my two-bit take.

Assuming no medical issues, our issues with weight are seldom about weight. My healthcare friends know that more than anyone.

We see much more in our own mirrors than is visible to anyone else. Our eyes have magic powers coveted by super heroes. When our eyes look in a full-length mirror, they see the past much more than the present.

Those eyes see the underweight kid and the overweight kid, teased and nicknamed by their peers. They see the young adult, sitting at home on a Friday night, because their body shape or height didn’t match what others heard was attractive.

Those images are ones that often stay with us throughout our lives, even though our bodies may have outgrown them long ago. Our minds don’t always. And if we were a healthy weight as a kid, we sometimes acquire new issues, images, and weight as an adult.

Our issues with weight, more often than not, cover up bigger, deeper image problems – problems far more painful than whatever number the scale shows. Sadly, it’s easier and safer to talk about weight.

I’m fortunate; I’ve never been to the extremes, although I’ve slid up and down the doughnut scale a bite, I mean, a bit. A few doughnuts on a frame that’s 4’6” has a way of quickly changing its overall…um, dimensions.

So when I read the headline about National Healthy Weight Week, it got me thinking. Scary, I know.

National Healthy Weight Week isn’t necessarily about getting ourselves to a healthy weight. It’s about getting ourselves to a mentally healthy place to either accept or change our weight – for all the right, healthy reasons.

A healthy weight isn’t about our physical state as much as it is about our mental state. Most of all, whatever our weight is, we need to be comfortable with it in a mentally healthy way.

As women, we especially struggle to maintain a healthy, realistic view of our physical selves. So much is tied up in our appearance. That’s a column for another day – or a whole month or year. But maybe that’s why one of the days this week is designated specifically for women. January 22 is National Women’s Healthy Weight Day.

And today, Jan. 17, is Martin Luther King Day. He had a dream. I have a dream; many of them, in fact. This week’s dream is for all of us to put down our forks, pick up our mirrors, and accept ourselves – and each other – for the fabulous folks we are, regardless of the outer packaging. Wait no longer.

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Who helped you through 2010? In 2011, who will you help Stick To It – No Matter What? Kris Harty’s upcoming book celebrates nurses as the StickPeople they are. Her patient’s perspective is educational, inspirational, and full of reminders for nurses, new and lifelong. Kris helps student nurses continue to persevere through their studies, educates newer nurses on easy ways they can positively impact patient care, and reminds veteran nurses of what they already know but may have forgotten during overwhelming workdays. Kris is a Thought Leader on People Helping People Persevere. She leads the conversation through writing, speaking, coaching, and small group discussions. A 40-year veteran of the medical industry – on the receiving end, Kris Harty is the Stickabilities Specialist at Strong Spirit Unlimited. If you’re looking for an effortless and meaningful way to lead your staff toward continued excellent caregiving, contact Kris. Call 877.711.STIC(K), email StrongSpirit@StrongSpiritUnlimited.com, or visit www.StrongSpiritUnlimited.com.

“Please pass the attitude.”

We routinely recognize the genes that pass from one generation to the next. After all, we see evidence of hand-me-down genes looking back at us each morning in the mirror. (“When did I become my mother??”)

While we recognize genes that are passed along, what we don’t often recognize are the equally important attitudes that we pass from generation to generation. (“I’d like another scoop of the I-can’t-stand-anyone-in-authority gene, please. Yum!”) Awright, so it’s not so much a gene that we’re talking about in regard to attitude. But don’t those passed-down attitudes affect us in similar ways as genes?

Attitudes that are passed along can be beneficial or destructive. And just like genes, we often pass them along without thinking.

When those passed-down attitudes include how we perceive help for medical-related issues, the attitudes in question can be especially destructive.

For instance, I often hear people complain about hospitals. “I can’t stand anything about hospitals. I could never be a patient or visit one. I can’t stand the smell or colors, and I think I’d die from all those germs!”

This attitude sometimes seems to run in families. What a tragedy if and when that person or their family member ever becomes an inpatient. Get over it NOW: ready, set, go!

I mentioned in a recent column that my dad had some issues with hospitals. Fortunately, I didn’t know about those issues until later on in my life, after I’d finished a few stints in hospitals as a patient myself. His opinion was justified from negative experiences early on in his own life. He didn’t trust medical personnel, period. Still, I’m thankful his perspective didn’t taint mine.

I can’t imagine a life-long patient having extreme distrust of her medical team. A whole lifetime of angst and conflict? It’s like being a perpetual teenager. How fun.

On the opposite end of the attitude scale from my dad, was my mom. She trusted medical professionals implicitly, without question. She also believed Richard Nixon when he declared he wasn’t a crook. That was her generation’s attitude. It was the same generation as my dad, yet their trust-y attitudes couldn’t have been more different.

I suspect they each came from their own long line of trusting vs mistrusting attitudes toward healthcare practitioners.

Thankfully, by the time the generational line reached me, the medical attitude that happened to be passed to me was my mother’s, and not my father’s. Lucky lotto.

For those working in the healthcare professions, you and your families are likely passing along a healthy attitude. That’s not necessarily the case for your patients and their families. They may have been passed a more destructive attitude; one that affects their ability to communicate with you, trust you, and to heal well.

Healing an attitude takes more than a prescription to combat what’s been passed down. Nonetheless, sharing your positive attitude might change not only one person’s life, but a whole gaggle of generations to come. Pass it along.

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A new year means new joys and, unfortunately, new struggles. Who will help you Stick To It – No Matter What? Kris Harty’s upcoming book celebrates nurses as the StickPeople they are. Her unique perspective is educational, inspirational, and full of reminders for nurses new and lifelong. Kris helps student nurses continue to persevere through their studies, educates newer nurses on quick, easy ways they can positively and significantly impact patient care, and reminds long-time nurses of what they already know but may have forgotten in the hustle and bustle of their overwhelming workdays. She is an author, keynote speaker, small group facilitator and a 40-year veteran of the medical industry – on the receiving end. Kris Harty is the Stickabilities Specialist at Strong Spirit Unlimited. If you’re looking for an effortless and meaningful way to motivate your staff toward continued excellent caregiving, contact Kris. Call 877.711.STIC(K), email StrongSpirit@StrongSpiritUnlimited.com, or visit  www.StrongSpiritUnlimited.com.

“Who, me?”

Patient? I ain’t no stinkin’ patient.

Denial is a wonderful thing.

After being a patient with a chronic illness for more than three decades, I became a wee bit tired of playing the role. No offense to anyone in the medical community, but it was a too-close connection that I didn’t want anything to do with anymore. I loved the providers, but loathed patienthood.

It was a role I was more than willing to chuck.

But could I? How the heck does one give up such an identity? It’s not exactly like resigning from a job. But wouldn’t that be nice?? I imagine it might involve a scenario like this one (cue movie ‘dream’ music):

“Here, I’m handing in my resignation letter. Yes, that’s correct. I am no longer your patient. Yes, I’ll still see you as needed, but as a person, not a patient. Nothing personal, it’s just business. It’s the business of survival. I’m no longer choosing to survive as a patient. I’ll live as a person, and if, when you treat me, you choose to label me as a patient, well, that’s your issue.”

We each carry out many roles in our lives – roles like spouse, parent, child, sibling, friend, employee, nurse, and unfortunately sometimes, (argghh) …patient. It’s that last one that doesn’t have a lot of positives going for it. After awhile, it gets to be a moldy oldie. It needs to be thrown out with the trash.

So I threw it out. I gave up my patient identity. I wrapped it up in smelly used fish paper, tied it tightly with white butcher string (somehow seems appropriate, being the recipient of multiple surgeries), and tossed it with a flourish into the garbage can across the room, scoring three points in the process.

Cut to last scene of the movie: “Ta da!” said the former patient, wiping her hands clean of the mess.

If only it were that easy.

It might not have looked quite that tidy, but I did perform some Olympic-worthy mental gymnastics to change my thinking of who I was and am, and will be.

Fortunately, my calendar has since changed, too, to reflect my non-patient status. It’s no longer filled with regular and irregular medical appointments during any given week or month – as is so common for people living with chronic illness.

During surgery years, like last year, that calendar fills up again with appointments and tries to tell me I’m once again a patient. I refuse to believe it. Instead, I go about living my life and fitting in time for the medical industry when I can.

I’ve decided to be a friend, sister, volunteer, writer / speaker who happens to occasionally see a doctor in amidst her other life activities. I’m no longer first and foremost a patient who, in her off-time, happens to be a friend, sister, volunteer, writer / speaker.

Who am I? Whoever I want to be, and that doesn’t include the Queen of Denial.

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A new year means new joys and, unfortunately, new struggles. Who will you help Stick To It – No Matter What? Kris Harty’s upcoming book celebrates nurses as the StickPeople they are. Her unique perspective is educational, inspirational, and full of reminders for nurses new and lifelong. Kris helps student nurses continue to persevere through their studies, educates newer nurses on quick, easy ways they can positively and significantly impact patient care, and reminds long-time nurses of what they already know but may have forgotten in the hustle and bustle of their overwhelming workdays. She is an author, keynote speaker, small group facilitator and a 40-year veteran of the industry – on the receiving end. Kris Harty is the Stickabilities Specialist at Strong Spirit Unlimited. If you’re looking for an effortless and meaningful way to inspire your staff or students to keep going, contact Kris. Call 877.711.STIC(K), e-mail StrongSpirit@StrongSpiritUnlimited.com, or visit  www.StrongSpiritUnlimited.com.