Sickboy

Justin was walking home from work when all of a sudden he was struck by a motorcycle going upwards of 100 km/h. The accident tore his leg off and he almost lost his life. Thanks to the swift work from the EMT's and Physicians/Nurses that came to the rescue, Justin's life was saved. However, the damage from the accident was so severe that he would lose his leg. While recovering in the hospital he had a thought "what will they do with my leg?" The answer he received didn't sit well with him and so he asked if he could keep his severed limb. This resulted in a months-long battle with the hospital, morgue and funeral homes in order to keep what is rightfully his... a literal piece of himself. This is a FANTASTIC conversation about advocacy and healing from trauma and it is not an episode you want to miss!

Puppy fever continues, but this time it's for Narwhal — the golden retriever who has a deformity that makes him cuter than imaginable. The gang discusses a shocking link between the devastating disease, ALS and those who work in the military. Speaking of devastating, this one goes out to all you coffee drinkers out there. Your morning brown might be leading you down a road to dementia. Finally, in this weeks "What The Hellth?!", we cover the unfortunate case of a woman who lost her freakin' eyeball from just one tiny speck of glitter. Yet another reason why glitter is the absolute worst.

Dr. Elena Semino is a professor in the Department of Linguistics and English Language at Lancaster University in England. She also is the principal investigator on the ‘Metaphor, Cancer and End of Life Project’ aka the Cancer Metaphor Menu. You see, how we talk about illness matters. Especially when it comes to using metaphors. Not only do they help contextualize the experience of illness, it also plays a key role in communication. This week, smart person Dr. Semino brings the fellas along on a beautiful journey of metaphors.

Stefan is a NYC based artist who saw his entire future crash before his very eyes. It all started with tendonitis in his forearm but little did he know that pain was just the beginning. Central Sensitization Syndrome is a condition of the nervous system that is associated with the development and maintenance of chronic pain. What began with pain in the arm led Stefan down a long and arduous road that eventually led him to the Mayo Clinic where he received a diagnosis, and eventually the methods needed to manage his pain. Now back on the stage, Stefan is building up his dreams once again. This conversation was a highlight episode and we hope you enjoy!

It's puppy mania over at Sickboy HQ. Speaking of puppies, have you ever watched a dog turn food into sh*t via X-Ray? Well today is your lucky day. Other than dogs running wild and causing a ruckus, the gang dive into a few injustices in the world of health and disability. Paralympic athlete Becca Meyers gets shafted by the Olympics by some illogical COVID-19 protection protocols. Plus a woman with Bell's palsy suffers from losing her license due to not being physically able to blow into a tube. Get it together B.C. Finally What The Hellth hits us with some mega ballooned up heads due to severe allergic reactions to hair dye!

Pain researchers have a joke that when someone is asked to rate their pain from 1 to 10, the most common response is 11. Dr. Jeffrey Mogil, a neuroscientist and pain researcher interested in how genetics, social factors and sex differences affect pain, believes this joke to be based in truth. Dr. Mogil heads the Pain Genetics Lab at McGill University & is the founder and Director of NAPS, the North American Pain School. This week he joins the fellas and schools them all about the science of pain and it's absolutely fascinating!

Reconnecting with your body after cancer is a long process. To get herself through it, April Stearns founded a magazine just for breast cancer patients and survivors like herself. Today, she joined the fellas to share different writing exercises to help feel at home in a new body after cancer.

Donut's fresh out of the oven. Jer introduces the world to his new best bud and he's too cute to handle. Cute Aggression activate. Then, you get burgers delivered to your door. And furniture. Why not your fertility meds? Finally we get very bizarre in this week's What The Hellth?! Ever heard of Vorarephilia? Well... you're about to.

Male rat brains are "normal" and the "text book standard". Female rat brains are "moody", “unpredictable", "hormonal" and can't be trusted when it comes to procuring reliable data in the study of health science. Now... does this sound like some patriarchal bullsh*t? Yeah, we thought so too. This week the guys are joined by Dr. Rebecca Shansky who has poured a lot of work into trying to change the narrative in neuroscience when it comes to how the scientific community views the differences between male and female brains. The gender bias has left us with some pretty undesirable results when it comes to medicine efficacy and more. A fascinating conversation with a lovely individual!

Becky had what is known in the biz as a "Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumour". In short she had cancer in her guts. Have you ever been in a seated twist and thought "damn.. I feel like there is something growing inside me." Well Becky did, and that thing was no baby. It was indeed a tumor and it had to go! Join the fellas as they speak with Becky about her uncertainty of the future, her daily regimen of keeping the C word at bay and what her experience was like with diagnosis and management of GIST!

WE VAXXED! And Boy oh boy did the vaccine hit us hard. Especially Taylor... Turns out he isn't so untouchable after all. We mixed the dose and have a whole mRNA cocktail going on inside us. This week on the pod, the gang covers an interesting survey on the most commonly used words in poor hospital reviews. Finally for What The Hellth we dive into a devastating illness called FAP that young Lexi is suffering from over in the UK. The disease that turns you into stone! Help find a cure for Lexi by supporting her GoFundMe here: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/finding-a-cure-for-our-little-lexi

Here in Canada, we’re winning the global race to vaccinate our population against COVID-19. But should we even be thinking about it as a race at all? Today on Sickboy Podcast, Dr. Ananya Banerjee makes the case that the pandemic won’t be over in Canada until it’s over in every country.

Dementia. Weight loss. Muscle atrophy. Dozens of people between 18 and 80 years old living in northeastern New Brunswick have an unexplained brain disease with those symptoms. Roger Ellis, a 63 year old Bathurst man is one of them. Today on Sickboy Podcast, Roger's son Steve joins the hosts to talk about their fight for some answers not only from doctors, but also from the government of New Brunswick.

It's been 69 weeks since we started the Feel Good Friday tradition! Nice. This week we dive into the mega exciting news that Trikafta has officially been approved in Canada. Now it's time for next steps! The gang also talk about the radical innovations behind DIY prosthetics including some heart-warming cuteness. Teens drink, have sex, get poor grades — all of these things they keep from their parents, but added to that list is defiantly seeking out the vaccine. We discuss the ethical questions surrounding health autonomy and the fight for vaccines some teens are facing across North America. Finally, have you ever had too much of a good thing? Sudoku may or may not cause seizures in this weeks edition of What The Hellth?!

Jodie Martinson is the producer of the CBC podcast Other People's Problems. This week we talk about the theraputic value in being a fly on the wall. Real people. Real problems. Real talk. Normally, therapy sessions are totally confidential — but this podcast opens the doors. Hillary McBride and her clients want to help demystify mental health. This is what people really sound like when they talk about traumatic births, turbulent divorces, eating disorders and tough childhoods.

Sapo and Lorena are the loving parents of little Nauê. Nauê was born with Ichthyosis follicularis, alopecia, and photophobia AKA IFAP syndrome. An extremely rare condition with a shortened life expectancy. Caring for a chronically ill child can be draining. But Sapo and Lorena have found a way of coping with the stress and connecting to their roots. Capoeira, a playful mix of martial arts and dance from their homeland, which they have immersed their son into to encourage play, love and courage.

Blow up dolls deserve a real funeral. Don't dump your unused pleasure bots into the ocean ya ding dong! Recently, Phillips issued a mass recall of its sleep apnea machines because of concerns that the foam inside the devices may be carcinogenic. But is there more behind that story? We are joined by none other than the apnea pro himself Donovan The CPAP Morgan to get to the bottom of this scandal in 'Big Apnea.' Also, the WHO is trying to ruin fun for any woman between the ages of 18 - 50. What gives?!

While we all experience loss, going through grief can feel very lonely. Dr. Lucy Kalanithi felt that way after her husband died, leaving her with their young daughter. Instead of turning away from the pain, Dr. Kalanithi faced her grief head-on. She published his memoir, When Breath Becomes Air, which taught her that looking at hardship differently can help us find resilience. On today's episode of Sickboy Podcast, she joins the boys for a warm conversation about learning to live with grief and finding hope.

David Oliver Wudel is a extremely talented Canadian based queer artist who happens to have Cerebral Palsy. This week he gives the fellas a glimpse into the day in the life of someone who has CP. Chronic pain is the name of the game, but it wasn't always like this. We dive into the progression of David's disease and how it has slowly morphed over the years. How has it shifted David's perception on life and death? We also discuss the beauty of David's art and how art gives him a creative outlet to mentally process and cope with his illness. David is a shining bright light and we're so excited for you to listen to this episode!

Did you hear about these magnetic vaccine crystals? Keep your keys and anything else that is metal far away from your face. Bobbypins included. This week the gang covers the Manitoba lottery for vaccine enthusiasts, the oldest person to beat COVID-19 (spoiler alert, she's way old), the misogyny that plagues the neuroscience research field and, finally, one of the most shocking segments of What The Hellth?! to date. Don't worry, we don't end it on a heavy note. Get that self care in and take loads of time to, eh — wax this weekend!

Menopause is often shrouded in shame, fear and a general lack of understanding; Dr. Jen Gunter is here to set the record straight. Dr. Gunter is a Canadian ob-gyn and fierce women's health advocate, best known for her TED Talks and for writing The Vagina Bible. This week she joins the fellas for a discussion on de-stigmatizing menopause, the gaps in knowledge on men's and women's health in the medical field and how just a small amount of knowledge can make a big difference in navigating healthcare.

This week we chat with Jakki about her years-long struggle with her health. The symptoms are weird as hell and they have piled on over quite a long time. We're talking about difficulty walking, swallowing, talking. Not to mention the hallucinations and other psychological symptoms. So what does she have? Hard to say, really. Some docs told her she has cat scratch fever. Some have said it's Lyme disease. Some are completely stumped... What matters to Jakki is less about the label of what she has and more about finding her way onto the road of recovery. We talk about her struggle with her health, the conspiracy theories surrounding Chronic Lyme, her beliefs in what she may or may not have, and just trying to find peace in a life plagued with unanswered symptoms.

This week we find out that blasting T Swift before cutting someone open is the sweetest thing one can do for a person. This is the health care that we need, folks. Then, dogs. Are they really man's best friend? A new study shows that they could actually hate us and be spreading a new novel coronavirus. But... they're just too damn cute for us to care. Jabs for Joints!! Some places in the U.S. are giving out free weed, man! All you need to do is not be a dumb dumb and get your vaccine. Finally this week's health segment is like the origin story of a superhero or supervillain. Anatoli Petrovich Bugorski stuck his head in a particle accelerator and a proton beam blasted through the back of his skull at the speed of light. What do you think happened to him?

Turns out love is more than just a bunch of birds and bees getting it on. There is an entire science behind what happens in the human brain when we fall head over heels. Love chemicals flood the brain when we form attachment and fall in lurrrv. Not unlike how MDMA (also known as ecstasy) floods the brain with feel-good neurotransmitters. Now combine MDMA alongside couples therapy and you've got a pretty interesting potential for groundbreaking work in healing past trauma. We are elated to be joined by Brian Earp — Associate Director of the Program in Ethics and Health Policy at Yale University & Research Fellow in Practical Ethics at Oxford, to discuss this fascinating topic with us.

Hannah has never been able to burp. No big whoop you say? Well did you know that most people produce about 1 to 3 pints of gas a day and pass it through a burp or a fart about 14 to 23 times a day. Now think about that... What if you all of a sudden didn't have the ability to release that gas through a belch? If it still isn't sinking in, let Hannah express to you how awful it can be. Bloating so bad she looks 6 months pregnant. Constant pain. Way worser farts. Then on the other side of things, how dismissive doctors can be when it comes to getting a diagnosis for something like Retrograde Cricopharyngeus Dysfunction (R-CPD). Hannah has a fascinating story that leads us to a ""cure"" with a procedure that is really quite simple in the grand scheme of things... However, easy doesn't necessarily mean accessible.

Metal. A NS prisoner in his 70s has been declined parole to seek alternative treatment to his cancer treatment. The gang chime in with their thoughts on this very grey area and Brian proves that he doesn't have a heart. It's been a front this entire time. Lucy the accessibility evangelist made some big moves in the world of accessible washing machines. Then we cover one of the wildest What The Hellth?! segments yet! A soldier has an unexploded RPG surgically removed from his hip/abdomen and survives! A harrowing story of war and valor. Shout out to Andre Antunes for the killer metal intro!

Dr. Shannon Dames is a professor of nursing at Vancouver Island University and a resilience researcher. This week she takes the fellas on a journey into the world of Ketamine-assisted therapy for PTSD. How is it different from traditional psychotherapy? Are there risks involved? What do the results look like? Another fascinating conversation about how psychedelics can change our mental wellbeing for the better.

Jenny has asthma. Now before you roll your eyes and say "big whoop" just consider for a moment. On average, in America, 10 people die a day from asthma. For Jenny that reality is a little bit more spicy considering she lives with what is called Brittle Asthma — a severe and ultra rare form of asthma. Her lung function has dipped as low as 20%. She's been hospitalised more times than she can count. She's been intubated. She's been ignored, scoffed at, and invalidated by health care professionals. Yet she remains one of the most vibrant and jovial guests we've ever had on the show!

New Sickboy merch (https://shop.sickboypodcast.com/) AND a cure for the blind?! Doesn't get any better than this! This week we dive into a couple medical advancements that could bring mega change to those living with certain disabilities. From curing blindness, to finding a way to allow a paraplegic man to type 90 characters a second using frickin telekinesis, to Monkey Pong masters!?! The future is now. Then the gang discusses a sobering study from the WHO about how in 2016 overworking led to the death of 740,000 people. How many hours a week do you work? Have you taken a break lately? Maybe right now is a good time. It's not worth dying over.

The game is simple, the implications are complex. Jesse Lipscombe is the man behind the #MakeItAwkward movement and also the co-creator behind Not That Funny, a tabletop game designed to uncover the damaging truths behind everyday jokes directed at many marginalized groups and individuals. This week the fellas have a chat with Jesse about awkward conversations when it comes to health, illness, death, racism and more! You can support the Not That Funny Kickstarter here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/jesselipscombe/not-that-funny

Antonio has been through the wringer. It all started with a hormone imbalance that led to developing breasts. This caused years of bullying and self confidence/body issues which eventually led to a severe eating disorder. This week Antonio gets vulnerable as hell and the fellas are here for it. This was an important conversation and we are so glad Antonio had the courage to share so deeply.

J.O. is bringing the Feel Good energy this week. After battling Lymphoma for three years, the little dude receives a heartwarming standing-O from his entire school! Then we bring the mood down with some sobering news — COVID will kill your boner. Folks with penises are 6 times more likely to develop E.D. with the tiny little virus that could. Speaking of sobering… the UK won’t be any time soon. Could you down 124 pints in a summer? That’s the task that’s been given to those jolly ol’ folks across the pond in order to bring the food and beverage industry back! Finally, we cap it all off with some wild and scary news coming out of our own stomping grounds here in Atlantic Canada. A rare and undiagnosable brain disease. Could it be a close cousin to Mad Cow? Or perhaps aliens?

Do you ever look at your pet sleeping with its tongue sticking out and think "you're so cute I want to stomp on you"? Or do you ever see a baby and think "Look at its little fingers! They are so small and cute, I want to bite them off!" Or "Look at this baby chinchilla! I want to squeeze it until it's eyes pop out!"? Well if you said yes, then you, my friend, have what is referred to as Cute Aggression! This week we speak with Dr. Katherine — Assistant Professor of Neuroscience and a licensed clinical psychologist — all about the bizarre phenomenon of cute aggression and what she learned by conducting the first neuroscientific study of cute aggression.

Usually, nothing good comes out of Googling your symptoms when you’re sick. Sometimes, though, you might actually be able to diagnose yourself. That was the case for today's guest, Justin, who discovered he had hemochromatosis from Googling his bloodwork. What is hemochromatosis, you ask? It's a tricky little blood disorder where too much iron builds up in your body. We're talking, hunks of iron, people! From bad bedside manner to bloodletting, this episode has it all!

This week is high octane! We get an update on the preserved tattoo skin of Chris Wenzel. Turns out human remains are fair game when it comes to seizure of assets. Then some FANTASTIC news coming out of the EU. The European Space Agency has opened up its application for its next batch of astronauts. Added to the list of accepted applicants are folks living with physical disabilities! We break down this news and hear from our past guests Caden and Jim Teneycke who live with dwarfism to get their take on the exciting space exploration announcement! Finally, we cover a case report that is too fast & too furious. Find out what happens when you mistake NOS octane booster with NOS energy drink... Yikes.

Maggie cares. She cares about improving the lives of patients & caregivers alike. As someone who has fallen into the role of caregiver over and over again throughout her life, she knows a thing or two about what it means to give care. This week we talk to Maggie about her role as a caregiver, what she'd like to see change in the current healthcare system and much more!

Mohit is a gem. He uses his music business, marketing, entrepreneurship and patient experience to advocate for equity in the healthcare system. A system he knows all too well. Mohit lived with Biliary Atresia, a rare disease that affects the bile ducts with no known cause. It’s no joke. About 85% of patients die before they are 2 years old. Mohit spent about 70% of the first eleven years of life in hospital. He experienced medical racism. He had a hard time making/maintaining friends his own age. And at a very young age received a liver transplant. Mohit has been through it all and we’re elated to have him be a part of our community.

People are curious, and that's great. But there are some questions you just shouldn't ask—or at least not like that. Elena "#millennial" Hudgins Lyle and Harvinder "just a dad" Wadhwa break these questions down with guests who get asked them. Inappropriate Questions is back with Season 3 and discusses questions like, is asking “where are you from?” appropriate small talk, is it okay to ask a coworker “how much do you make?”, and is it okay to ask an amputee “What happened to you?” More episodes are available at http://hyperurl.co/iqpodcast

We could learn a thing or two from Mexico. Who wouldn't want group dancing/lucha libre wrestlers and opera singing at a vaccination site?! The gang then go deep into more death talk with a discussion about a procedure that allows for the preservation of your tattoos, long after you are dead. Who wouldn't want a framed and mounted hunk of dead skin hanging from their wall? Brian sure wouldn't. Then for this week's "WHAT THE HELLTH?!" Jeremie gives the gang a history lesson all about poor Frau Troffea and that time she busted a move so good that it spread like COVID and killed a bunch of people. That's Outrageous! Speaking of outrageous, shout out to this weeks music maker Richard McNeil for the killer intro and outro music.

Nikolas Badminton is a futurist and speaker who helps organizations boost innovation and creativity. This week he shoots the shizz with the fellas all about his work as a "futurist", the future of health care, his own personal journey to undo past family traumas and much much more!

Sue has spent much of her time dealing with the healthcare system. It began when she was a nursing student, but was told she was "too soft for it". Then back in it with the birth of her son Aaron, after he was diagnosed with Down syndrome. Then again as a patient when she was diagnosed with cancer. Sue has learned a lot. Especially when it comes to what is lacking in the current system. We are so grateful to have her sit down with us and share her story and her experience in what it means to provide care.

Cue the Law & Order theme music because the gang is on LOCKDOWN! Numbers have soared in Nova Scotia so the gang is in their separate abodes for this week's Feel Good Friday. Don’t fret, it’s just as silly goose as ever. Turn out toilets are a product of the devil and they WILL give you COVID. Big Pharma knows how to make a solid breakfast. And one woman in the U.S. has a horrifying experience with a swarm of Face Flies that is this week's inspiration for WHAT THE HELLTH?! Stay safe out there folks. Wash your hands and pet your pets.

Evy is an editor at the Toronto Star. She and her colleagues put together a series of videos called ‘In Their Own Voices’ where people talk about why they got the vaccine in their languages in order to combat vaccine hesitancy in racialized and immigrant communities. This week we discuss the broader shifts in journalism towards using storytelling as an effective tool to cultivate change, and what inspired In ‘Their Own Voices’.

Alex Dowsett is a British professional road racing cyclist, who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam Israel Start-Up Nation. He also happens to live with the rare disorder of Hemophilia. You know, that thing where if you get a paper cut you’ll bleed to death? Well… that’s a myth. Alex fills the boys in on all things Hemophilia and shares his fascinating story of following his passion in the sport of cycling and how he started the charitable foundation Little Bleeders. Not only do they raise awareness for Hemophilia, they also support young hemophiliacs to engage in physical activity! Meanwhile, Taylor tries his hardest not to fangirl the entire recording.

Upon recording this weeks FGF it was 4/20. What better way to celebrate than to peer pressure Jeremie into drinking THC-infused water even though he really really doesn't enjoy it. This episode is jam packed. From illness fakers seeking financial gain, to new and exciting psilocybin + depression studies to how cats are pure evil. Not only do they pee & poo IN THE HOUSE!? But they will likely give your child schizophrenia. Yeah yeah yeah, say clickbait all you want. This weeks "What the Hellth?!" is the proof inside that pudding. Mmmm, pudding.

For a lot of folks, drug costs can be the deciding factor for whether or not someone will end up taking their prescribed medicine. So one would think that doctors have a grasp on the different price points for certain drugs, right? Not so much. We are joined by our new favourite repeat guest Dr. Iris Gorfinkel to break down the importance of drug price transparency between doctors and patients. Why is the system failing us? What can be done to fix it? Seems like a daunting task, but if anyone is going to make waves, it's Dr. Gorfinkel!

Buckle up. This week the fellas are treated to another one of those jaw-droppers. Every ten years Dave seems to go through something catastrophic. First it was simultaneously snapping both arms. Ouchie. Another decade later he wakes up in an ambulance with every bone in his face broken followed by a nasty little bout of psychosis. A decade later brings us to today. Dave literally walked out of the hospital from surgery on his lungs yesterday and joins us in the studio to tell us all about this series of unfortunate events.

Transplant innovation, no burp, no fap, bottomless mimosas and busted teeth. This week's episode is stacked. We cover the groundbreaking story in the world of transplants where the first successful trachea transplant took place in the U.S. Then, imagine what life would be like to never have the ability to burp. Spoiler alert: sounds awful. Piggy backs and bottomless mimosas do not mix. Finally for this week's edition of "WHAT THE HELLTH?!" we cover a mysterious case of penile ossification from one of our favourite medical journals: Urology Case Report. Feel Good Friday is bringing the goods.

Jake Ernst is a registered social worker and psychotherapist. He’s the clinical director of Straight Up Health and hosts the podcast “This Isn’t Therapy” with Simon Paluck. This week he sits down with the fellas and schools them on some key points surrounding mental health and mental illness. How does anxiety present physically? What's the difference between anxiety and stress? How does intergenerational trauma work? It's kind of like an hour long group therapy session, but not. Be sure to check out Jake's podcast "This Isn't Therapy"!

Brantt Myhres has done something no other professional NHL athlete has ever done. He received a lifetime ban from the league. Not an accomplishment he is proud of. This week the fellas chat with Brant all about his tumultuous history of drug and alcohol addiction that ended his career as an athlete. The pressures of being an enforcer and using substances to mask the anxiety of having to show up night after night with the expectation to go to battle. Though his story ends with a strong beam of hope. Brantt now works as a "sober coach" in the NHL. Be sure to check out his new book, Painkiller, available now.