Dr. Laffngiggl makes the rounds

By CRAIG T. NEISES
cneises@thehawkeye.com

WEST BURLINGTON -- Arne Swensen is not a doctor in the traditional sense.

Swensen, a Chicago native and 1963 Iowa Wesleyan College graduate now living in Scottsdale, Ariz., is a doctor in the alter ego sense.

Clad in a red blazer, red-and-black plaid pants, yellow-and-black bow tie, black bowler with red feather and pink polka-dotted loafers, Swensen strolled the halls of Great River Medical Center Tuesday morning dispensing his own particular brand of medicine.

Seen strolling the patient wards at GRMC, Swensen's attire marked him as an unusual individual. The bright red nose marked him as a clown.

Specifically, Swensen is a hospital clown. His name: Dr. Laffngiggl.

Back in southeast Iowa for Founder's Day activities this week at his alma mater, Swensen has been visiting health centers like GRMC and Henry County Health Center in Mount Pleasant to spread the gospel about therapeutic clowning and the value of laughter and fun in a patient's care.

"It's a growing phenomenon across the country," he told Great River employees Tuesday.

Swensen came by his second career as a hospital clown as a result of his own medical battles. Now 61, Swensen developed heart disease in his 30s and had the first of two open-heart surgeries at 39.

Finally, his health forced him from the sales business. A year later, he learned he had prostate cancer.

As he focused on getting better, Swensen started volunteering in the community and approached the hospital group in Scottsdale to see what he could do.

"One thing I wanted to share (with patients)," he said, "is you can co-exist with a major disease and still lead a productive life."

That was when the volunteers director at Scottsdale Healthcare asked Swensen to be a clown, and to employ his talents with music, card tricks and juggling to brighten the atmosphere of the hospital, both for the patients and the staff. He was the hospital group's first clown. Now there are a dozen, working together in pairs.

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In the years since getting started, Swensen has become a protégé of Dr. Patch Adams, a physician who has gained fame for his use of humor in his treatment of patients. He has made more than 8,000 patient visits during his years as a clown, and has accompanied Adams, who was portrayed by Robin Williams in the 1999 movie, on trips to China, Russia and Norway.

After returning from China, Swensen said he was inspired to apply his business experience to promote hospital clowning and formed the Foundation for Therapeutic Clowning. FTC (www.caringclownsorg) provides information about the benefits of clown programs and assists in startup and clown recruitment and training.

Among its other missions is to bring humor to the sick, the poor and the afflicted. Soon, Swensen will lead a group of hospital clowns on a trip to Mexico to do just that.

The sick at Great River Medical Center got a kick out of Dr. Laffngiggl's antics, which included a juggling act, card trick, his friend -- the "authentic fake owl" called Martin, and a rubber chicken.

"I've always preached laughter is the best medicine," Lucille Ibbotson, 88, Mediapolis, told Swensen as he visited her room in the Medical-Surgical unit at GRMC. "I've lived by that all my life."

Her neighbor, Harold Garmoe, 80, of Burlington, likewise shared a hearty chuckle with Swensen, who remembers something of the Burlington area from his college days in Mount Pleasant. Swensen asked Garmoe if Gulfport, Ill., was still there. Garmoe, of course, said it was.

"Gulfport's where I got my red nose," Swensen said.

"A lot of people have gotten a red nose in Gulfport," replied Garmoe, who had a pacemaker installed and was looking forward to a speedy dismissal Tuesday.

Ibbotson, who was admitted to the hospital Monday with a heart condition, said she thinks having a clown in the hospital is a great thing. Swensen's visit sure made her feel better, and Garmoe figured a little clowning around sure couldn't hurt the patients any.

"I think they would get a kick out of it," he said.

Great River President Mark Richardson said Swensen's visit was his first exposure to therapeutic clowning.

Though not able to say whether, or exactly how, the hospital might incorporate the idea into its patient care practices, Richardson was definitely intrigued.

"I love the concept," he said. "Health care has gotten so serious."

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Not long after her visit from Dr. Laffngiggl, Ibbotson had a visit from her two daughters to look forward to. She planned to keep in place the bright red foam-rubber clown nose she'd been given for them to see as they entered her room.

Ibbotson figured it would be good for another laugh.

"They'll think I flipped my lid," she said.