Breast cancer survivor helps patients cope through humor
Back in 1999, Saranne Rothberg was told she had less than five years to live following a diagnosis of stage 4 triple-negative breast cancer, an uncommon but aggressive form of the disease. After the doctor broke the news, a memory from college crossed Rothberg’s mind.
“I remembered reading this article about the therapeutic value of humor and laughter,” she said, “of how when the author was laughing, he experienced less pain.”
Rothberg, who was an educational entertainment and special-education consultant at the time, went to the video store and rented every stand-up comedy tape she could carry. “I needed to fill my days and nights with laughter and comedy,” she said.
Rothberg, who started going to comedy shows at age 10, was determined to make laughter a key theme of her cancer journey. “Even if it’s a placebo, I will have had so much fun on my way out,” she thought.
As she received chemotherapy for the first time in New York, she threw what she called a “chemo comedy party.” She noticed her jokes helped her fellow patients forget they were receiving treatment. She decided then that she would bring therapeutic comedy into cancer treatment settings and later established the ComedyCures Foundation.
The not-for-profit’s first offering was a hotline in which patients could dial in to hear a joke. Amateur and professional comedians have contributed. ComedyCures has hosted several live events and partnered with the United Nations and the World Health Organization. It has worked with schools, hospitals and medical conventions.
During Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Rothberg launched the “Can We Laugh at Cancer?” comedy challenge, a 31-day campaign. Each day in October, Rothberg wrote a “Tumor Humor” post. Each time the posts were shared on social media, the foundation received a $10 donation from an anonymous benefactor—up to $20,000. The funds will go toward future programs, which is important considering the organization’s annual fundraiser has been scrapped due to the COVID-19 pandemic two years in a row. At the end of the month, the posts are packaged into a podcast.
“I hope this body of work can show how to look at your cancer diagnosis in a different way, in a form that will exist beyond me,” Rothberg said.
In Rothberg’s experience, the humorous approach works. After three surgeries, 44 radiation treatments and more than two years of chemo, she is now cancer free.
This story first appeared in Modern Healthcare’s sister publication Crain’s New York Business (crainsnewyork.com/gotham-gigs/breast-cancer-survivor-helps-patientscope-through-humor)