My last two blogs have been pretty serious topics, so it’s time to lighten it up a bit. I have found myself laughing a lot this past week. Sometimes at myself and with others. Having a heart pacemaker is a serious matter, but I have had so much fun joking about it with people this past week. Sometimes you just have to laugh about what you are going through.

I sure do appreciate all the get well cards and well wishes that I have received since getting my pacemaker. For those of you that don’t know what a pacemaker does, it sends a electrical current to your heart when your heart misses a beat and it keeps your heartbeat normal. I have a number of restrictions, like I can’t put my cell phone in my shirt pocket anymore because it’s right over my pacemaker and cell phones can mess with your pacemaker. Can’t raise my left arm above my head for now, no golfing this summer, no shooting baskets with my grand kids and a number of other things I can’t do for awhile.

I think my son told me this story in the St. Cloud hospital and I have used it in talking about my situation. It’s pretty funny. A number of people have come into the radio station and ask me how I am doing this week. I always answer with “I’m doing really well, except when I use the microwave at home it causes me to pee in my pants.” The responses have been classic. Some people laugh with me and get that it is a joke and others feel sorry for me that I pee in my pants when I use the microwave! Then I feel sorry for the people that think I do pee in my pants when the microwave is running. We have laughed a lot about that.

Tuesday I was in Tyler Minnesota broadcasting the LQPV girls softball game with RTR. It was a beautiful sunny day when the game started, but about the 3rd inning the clouds rolled in and the rain started. Lightning, thunder and hail in a matter of minutes, everyone scattered for cover because it was raining so hard. I ran under a metal shelter with a number of other LQPV parents. For the first time I was scared of lightning because I didn’t know what it might do to my pacemaker. Each time lightning flashed I worried that my pacemaker would quit working or be damaged. Something I never had to worry about before. After a while I actually laughed at myself for worrying about that.

For some strange reason I take pleasure in showing people my incision that is located in my upper left chest area, just below my collar bone. All I have to do is undo a button and show the swollen, red, incision that is about 4 inches long. You can see the pacemaker bulging under my skin. Its like a tattoo to me. The responses by some people are very different. Some are so grossed out they back away from me and scream. While others take a step closer and try and touch it, which I won’t let them do. I have had some people do nothing. I just like the look on some people’s faces. I find their behavior very odd, but funny to me.

I guess when something bad happens to you, like your heart not beating correctly and you have a pacemaker implanted into your body, humor can be the best medicine. Did you know that laughter improves the function of blood vessels and increases blood flow, which can help protect against a heart attack and other cardiovascular problems. So laugh often, I know I will continue to do so. Laughing is what makes me happy.