Sickboy

What's worse than getting hit by a truck? Finding out you have lupus while you're recovering from being hit by a truck. Over 20 years ago Marisa's life was flipped upside down with a diagnosis that led her down a path to finding her true purpose in life. This week, we dive into the world of lupus, a disease that occurs when your body's immune system attacks your own tissues and organs. Marisa chats with the fellas all about her decades-long battle with lupus and what inspired her to create LupusChick.com — a New York-based nonprofit and award-winning website for lupus patients.

We finally put to bed this whole discussion on how the throat knows. The epiglottis is a hell of a thing. Always remember: don't panic. Endometriosis effects roughly 10% of women and has been hard to properly and fully treat. A new genetic discovery could change that. Spoiler alert, it involves rhesus macaques! There is a cafe in Japan that serves you your lattes via a cute and fuzzy bear paw. Scientists are potty training cows. And a man ate so much licorice he friggin died. This and much more on this weeks edition of Feel Good Friday!

This weeks we bring you a very special Routine Checkup. We are joined by past Sickboy guest Joanne! Last time we spoke to her (we were recording out of Brian's mom's basement), we touched on how tough her two miscarriages were. Since then she's had a child and three more miscarriages!? Not only that but she's also written a book about her experiences of miscarriages and motherhood! A very special conversation and we're so grateful to get moments like this to catch up with such lovely humans! You can find Joanne's book on Amazon, Indigo or Bookmark.

Here's a not so fun fact — approximately one third of all women will suffer from chronic pelvic pain at some point during their lifetime. So what is pelvic congestion syndrome? Well essentially it boils down to vein dilation down in the nether regions. Zuzanna takes us on her lengthy journey of trying to get to the bottom of where this pain in her (front) bottom was coming from! As a journalist from Poland, she puts her investigative journalism skills to the test and shows us the true importance for self advocacy when it comes to seeking care.

This week gets a little out of hand. While Jeremie is dodging Tornados in Ontario, the gang talk about the worlds largest grave yard, a dad who strips down at a school board meeting in protest, a badass young woman with down syndrome going to UCB, a guy who chopped off his pee pee in a police chase, several poor chaps who stuck one too many eels up their bung hole, and a worse-off chap who backwards ejaculated to death... maybe? Yeah, it's one of those weeks.

A report published by the Commonwealth Fund shows the USA ranking dead last amongst its wealthy peers (Canada isn't great either). Why? The fellas are joined by Reggie Williams, vice president of the Commonwealth Fund’s International Health Policy and Practice Innovations program, to talk about the recent report and what they learned. How does the country that far outspends every other country have the poorest healthcare system performance? Check out the full report here: https://bit.ly/3hbNtrE

This week we are pleased to welcome back Ananya, professor in McGill’s faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, specializing in Health Promotion, Social Determinants of Health and South Asian Health Equity. Only this time we aren't talking about the important work she does. Instead we dive deep into her personal experience dealing with chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy. The hell is that? It's a neurological disorder characterized by progressive weakness and impaired sensory function in the legs and arms. From childhood Ananya has battled shame, cultural taboos, and an uphill battle when it comes to finding love. We're so grateful to have Ananya back on the pod and hope you love this conversation as much as we did!

The gang is back and they are coming at ya hard with some prime time FGF content. Do we have a Ophilia McHock in the audience today? Ophilia McHock? How about a... Don Keedic? No? Okay, moving on. Apparently there is a rollercoaster in Japan that is so fast it's crushing peoples spines. Sounds fun. Know what else is fun? Petting cute puppies while getting your COVID vaccine! Finally for this week's edition of WHAT THE HELLTH!? We cover a mind boggling study where one doctor who has way too many jobs thought it'd be interesting to see what would happen if he tried squirting liquid oxygen up the anus' of rats and pigs. The results are startling.

This week the fellas are joined by prolific science journalist John Horgan (not the BC Premier) to talk about the interactions between science and mysticism. Altered states of consciousness, psychedelics, the science of drilling holes into peoples heads for enlightenment. We get weird and it's incredible.

Running 500 kilometres in 10 days is insanely tough. Add in an immune system disorder, and it seems impossible. For Cory Reese, who lives with an immune deficiency, running 500 kilometres was an enjoyable vacation. Today Cory joins the boys to talk about the physical and mental endurance it takes to run ultramarathons with a chronic illness.