By Howard Koplowitz
Saranne Rothberg was 35 and a single mother going through a divorce when she was diagnosed with Stage IV breast cancer in 1999. She was given about five years to live.But in speaking to caregivers from Schneider, Rothberg, now 44 and cancer-free, said she did not let the diagnosis get the best of her.From her chemotherapy chair, she came up with the idea for Comedy Cures, a non-profit that uses humor to lighten up the lives of those with serious illnesses.Rothberg, who splits her time between an apartment in Manhattan and a New Jersey home, said laughter was a helpful distraction from thinking about cancer, noting that shortly after she was diagnosed she went and bought every comedy tape she could get her hands on.”This was working because when I was laughing I wasn't thinking about my own mortality,” she said.Rothberg told the staff at Schneider that she discovered laughing helped and she doubted if she would be alive had it not been for the ability to laugh.”With the stress of being a single mom going through a divorce with this prognosis… comedy cured my spirit, which allowed me to go on and fight for my life,” she said. “Comedy was a miracle cure for me.”Rothberg said children laugh between 300 and 400 times a day while adults only get the giggles between 10 and 20 times a day.”We lose our ability to laugh. That's what I discovered going through cancer treatment.”Rothberg's goal was to bring 100 laughs to Schneider employees during her visit Friday, where she led them in a laughing exercise by forcing them to create chest and belly laughs on the spot. She then made the staff tell jokes, whether they were funny or not, and gave impromptu standing ovations for anyone who wanted them.”It was like a stress reliever,” said Fran Mannino, a child life specialist at Schneider.Rothberg's performance, where she was accompanied by her “humor buddies” Bob Infantino, a magician, and Rick Younger, a comedian and commercial actor, was sponsored by the Nassau Region Hadassah, a Zionist women's organization.”We thought it would be a great gift to the staff at Schneider Children's,” said Cheryl Sperber, the strategic planning coordinator for Nassau Region Hadassah. “To be able to take an hour out of their day and lift their spirits so they can get back to their job in high spirits.”Reach reporter Howard Koplowitz by e-mail at hkoplowitz@timesledger.com or by phone at 718-229-0300, Ext. 173.
