Stroke victims are hilarious
Well, would you look at that. An angry mob, right here at my blog. Complete with pitchforks and torches and all that jazz. A little cliche, don't you think? Anyway, what seems to be the problem? The title of this post? What's wrong with it? Ohh...I see your problem. Let me explain.
The act of suffering from a stroke is not funny. And I'm not laughing at stroke victims. I'm laughing with them. Today we were learning about language disorders, which are often the result of a stroke (mostly parietal/temporal lobe - middle cerebral artery). So our lecturer brought in three stroke victims to show their symptoms and talk about their lives.
Let me tell you, all three were hilarious. They were cracking wise and had the whole class laughing. Legitimate laughter. Not the "aww, he's still got a sense of humour despite illness" kind of pseudo-pity laughter. They were really funny. And the lecturer even said ahead of time that people with language disorders are funny.
I figured it meant "they retain their humor after the stroke" or "they have a good attitude." Maybe having a stroke in those areas actually creates a sense of humor. We can damage the left hemispheres of large groups of people to create teams of super-comedians! That's a great idea!
Aside from their hilarity, they also had some unusual symptoms (obviously). One guy said he could refer to a friend by their name in casual conversation, but if asked a specific person's name he couldn't say it. Other people just make up words in place of other words without even realizing it (the example given was a woman who said "kleeza" instead of "yes"). Some could answer questions, but not initiate their own conversation. And a lot of them could not repeat words spoken to them, despite being able to talk normally. It was so interesting.
In the spectrum of strokes, I suppose these aren't the worst to get. Little or no motor deficit, normal vital functions. Just crazy language issues. It was really cool to learn about. If I have to get a stroke (like a mad scientist is pointing a stroke machine at me) and I get to choose what kind (like the mad scientist says "choose what kind"), this is definitely the kind for me.
On an unrelated note: I'm going to avoid buying from Schering Plow Pharmaceuticals whenever possible. We had a Radiation Oncology lunch speaker and they provided food. And they purchased Domino's Pizza. With no drinks! Jerks. The last pharmaceutical company to provide food got us box lunches from Jason's Deli with drinks. Yeah, I'm complaining about a free lunch in which I could have eaten a whole pizza if I wanted. What of it? Constant free lunches have spoiled me...
The act of suffering from a stroke is not funny. And I'm not laughing at stroke victims. I'm laughing with them. Today we were learning about language disorders, which are often the result of a stroke (mostly parietal/temporal lobe - middle cerebral artery). So our lecturer brought in three stroke victims to show their symptoms and talk about their lives.
Let me tell you, all three were hilarious. They were cracking wise and had the whole class laughing. Legitimate laughter. Not the "aww, he's still got a sense of humour despite illness" kind of pseudo-pity laughter. They were really funny. And the lecturer even said ahead of time that people with language disorders are funny.
I figured it meant "they retain their humor after the stroke" or "they have a good attitude." Maybe having a stroke in those areas actually creates a sense of humor. We can damage the left hemispheres of large groups of people to create teams of super-comedians! That's a great idea!
Aside from their hilarity, they also had some unusual symptoms (obviously). One guy said he could refer to a friend by their name in casual conversation, but if asked a specific person's name he couldn't say it. Other people just make up words in place of other words without even realizing it (the example given was a woman who said "kleeza" instead of "yes"). Some could answer questions, but not initiate their own conversation. And a lot of them could not repeat words spoken to them, despite being able to talk normally. It was so interesting.
In the spectrum of strokes, I suppose these aren't the worst to get. Little or no motor deficit, normal vital functions. Just crazy language issues. It was really cool to learn about. If I have to get a stroke (like a mad scientist is pointing a stroke machine at me) and I get to choose what kind (like the mad scientist says "choose what kind"), this is definitely the kind for me.
On an unrelated note: I'm going to avoid buying from Schering Plow Pharmaceuticals whenever possible. We had a Radiation Oncology lunch speaker and they provided food. And they purchased Domino's Pizza. With no drinks! Jerks. The last pharmaceutical company to provide food got us box lunches from Jason's Deli with drinks. Yeah, I'm complaining about a free lunch in which I could have eaten a whole pizza if I wanted. What of it? Constant free lunches have spoiled me...
posted by Montgomery at 1:07 PM
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