Creative sa国际传媒 doctor delves into healthcare humour
By Keith Lacey
LOCAL JOURNALISM INITIATIVE
Having surgery is no laughing matter, unless you happen to share an operating room with Dr. David Goldberg.
In the midst of his own battle with prostate cancer, Dr. Goldberg, a veteran orthopedic surgical assistant at sa国际传媒 General Hospital and longtime family physician, has filled his prescription for better health through telling jokes and laughter.
His new self-published book, Jokes You'll Love to Tell: A Prescription for Laughter combines his experience as a doctor and cancer patient, offering readers a collection of lighthearted jokes that not only entertain, but also serve as a reminder of the importance of humor in the healing process.
Diagnosed with prostate cancer in the spring of 2023, Dr. Goldberg published the book while undergoing treatment.
鈥淧rostate cancer is nothing to laugh about, but laughter may make it easier to manage,鈥 said Dr. Goldberg. 鈥淢y experience as a physician, and recently my journey through diagnosis and treatment, has taught me that humor is an essential part of healing - both mentally and physically. It lightens the load and helps to maintain a positive outlook.鈥
Dr. Goldbergsa国际传媒 comedic journey began during surgical downtime, where he started telling jokes to lighten the mood among the surgical team. His humor became so popular that he began collecting and refining his best jokes, which are now compiled in Jokes You鈥檒l Love to Tell.
Dr. Goldberg is a family physician and orthopedic surgical assistant based in sa国际传媒. Born and raised in Winnipeg, he completed his medical degree in 1987. He has been practicing medicine in various disciplines since 1991.
Dr. Goldberg completed his family medicine residency at McGill University in Montreal. With his wife Lauri, they have raised three children who have all chosen careers in the health care field
Jokes You鈥檒l Love to Tell, is his first foray into the world of publishing.
He first came to sa国际传媒 and the Okanagan Valley as a young man who was convinced by a colleague to apply for a job in sa国际传媒 and he ended up being hired as a contracted physician at Big White Ski Resort.
"I ended up working the summers in Ontario and the winters at Big White," he said. "After a few years, I settled into sa国际传媒 and set up my family practice here and have called sa国际传媒 home ever since."
He accepted an offer to work as a part-time surgical assistant at sa国际传媒 General and has been lending his unique skills to that position for many years.
"It was while doing that job that I ended up having this association with telling jokes," he said. "I was never a natural joke teller, but the surgeon I was working with, who is a great guy and has become a great personal friend, told me part of my responsibilities as a surgical assistant was to entertain the operating theatre during down time.
"When you're replacing joints, often you have to use this kind of cement to hold those surgical components in place, and you really can't do much for about five minutes."
He eventually tried using that down time to share a few jokes he had read online to make the time pass and lighten the mood.
"I knew a few jokes off by heart and they went over really well," he said. "I said to myself that I can do this. What then happened is that everyday I knew I would be working in the operating room, I would actually research a joke, either on the internet or a joke book or from somebody else.
"I would rehearse it, practice the joke for my wife. If she agreed I could tell it and not offend anyone, I would. I did this for years, never thinking this was part of any clear picture."
Three years ago, the nurses he works with first commented on perhaps considering putting his years of jokes into a published format.
"I thought maybe this would be a nice gift and when I retire, I will put all these jokes in a book and give them to all the nurses, and other doctors and anaesthesiologists as a thank you for working with me all those years," he said. "But that seemed to be a few years off and not anything I was planning on doing."
Then he was diagnosed with prostate cancer in early 2023 and things changed.
"The prostate cancer diagnosis was beyond a surprise," he said.
He had to miss significant time from work to undergo therapy.
"I had all this time on my hands ... and I thought this might be a really good time to do it (self-publish a book of jokes)," he said.
He spent countless hours collecting his years of jokes and learning the tricks of self-publishing online and eventually produced 100 copies of Jokes You'll Love to Tell in early 2024.
"When I was putting the book together, I went this is really different and unique," he said. "I'm going to make an actual book that I can self-publish. I had the time to research and gather the best jokes. I found out self-publishing wasn't that tough."
When the book was finished, "I just started handing them out with a big smile on my face. I handed them out to all the staff at the hospital. I honestly thought that would be the end of it."
It wasn't.
Several recipients wanted more copies to give to friends, family members and colleagues.
"People started purchasing the book," he said. "It was not something I had really ever thought about."
A fellow doctor suggested taking sales from the book and donating them to the sa国际传媒 General Hospital Foundation.
"I thought that was as great idea and approached the foundation and they loved the idea," he said. "Before I knew it, I had the book all over the place and it was doing way better than I could ever have imagined."
The book started selling in the KGH book shop and was a massive hit as a run of 1,000 copies quickly sold out.
The book was doing so well, it caught the attention of a book distributor, who wanted to produce more copies and sell them across Canada, said Dr. Goldberg.
He came up with idea of contacting Prostate Cancer Foundation of Canada to see if they would be interested in using the book for fundraising purposes and they quickly jumped on board, he said.
"They loved the idea and said they would totally get attached to that," he said. "So their logo has been added to the second edition of the book that just came out about a month or so ago. That's why I'm just now trying to do the promotion to get it going so it can be distributed across Canada."
One of his proudest moments since the book came out was seeing his daughter, who is a nurse at KGH, sharing laughter with a "very ill patient" who was laughing hysterically as she was reading him jokes from the book, he said.
"That was exactly what I could hope for with this book," he said. "I wanted to give people some comfort, especially when they're suffering or not feeling well. It feels so good to see somebody laughing when they're going through a difficult time."
Dr. Goldberg is pleased to announce he's doing exceptionally well in his own battle against cancer and is on the road to a full recovery. His prostate cancer was detected early through a PSA test and he's feeling better, especially now that he's back to work and his book is doing so well, he said.
"I'm really trying to get this message out," he said. "I want all men who are age appropriate ... over age 50 or with a family history, to get their PSA tests done on a regular basis. If you detect this early, the treatment is way less likely to causes you problems for the rest of your life."
Dr. Goldberg, a strong advocate for early detection, credits his own survival to routine blood testing and encourages all men to adhere to a regular testing schedule.
鈥淢y early diagnosis was possible because I kept up with my health checks,鈥 he says. 鈥淚 want to raise awareness about the importance of routine testing and provide some humor along the way.鈥
The book is available for purchase at Indigo, independent bookstores, and online through Amazon. A portion of the proceeds will go to Prostate Cancer Foundation Canada, supporting research and education about prostate cancer.
Prostate Cancer Foundation Canada is a national charity dedicated to supporting the prostate cancer community through funding research, education, and awareness initiatives. The foundationsa国际传媒 mission is to reduce the impact of prostate cancer on individuals and families across Canada.
The book is distributed by Sandhill Book Marketing. You can visit the website at . You can also send an email to Dr. Goldberg at jokes.youll.love.to.tell@gmail.com.
