One of the last things a patient imagines seeing as they look across a sterile operating room are maggots, scum-sucking fish and the occasional leech. But, all three have earned a solid place in the medical community based on the results they achieve – simply by doing what comes naturally. The Flies Have It Maggots are nothing more than fly…
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You Think You Have it Bad? Alien Hand Syndrome, Pica, Fish Odor Syndrome and other unusual maladies to make your life hell
If you’re one of those people who wake up in the morning complaining about “not feeling yourself” or are constantly hunting down new pimples and fighting back the hair in your ears, you could have bigger problems… Alien Hand Syndrome, for one. Here are six syndromes and disorders documented in the medical literature of unusual maladies that have made the…
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Better Living through Drug Addiction It's easy getting through life... as long as you have pill, syrup, lotion, cream, antacid, vitamins, tranquilizers, hormones, and suppositories
I’m hopelessly addicted to drugs. You name a pill, syrup, lotion, cream, antacid, vitamin, tranquilizer, hormone, douche or suppository and I’ve not only taken it, but I’ve abused it. Largely because I have an addiction. Anything worth taking is worth taking a lot. In all fairness, I can’t take the blame for my wayward behavior. It began the day I…
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Sarah’s Will What happens when you pit a strong-willed athlete with catastrophe? Gold medal success, of course
Anyone who’s gone through a life-changing event will tell you that transformations do not always happen for the worse. Sometimes, what may seem to be a catastrophic turn of events can end up reshaping your entire reason for being. In December of 1988, Sarah Will was a jubilant, attractive college graduate working as a carpenter in Aspen, Colorado. On her…
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Where the Sun Don’t Shine You want to stick THAT up where?
About the time I reached my fiftieth birthday, I experienced two inevitable milestones. The first was “The Letter” from AARP. The second was a reminder from my internist that it was time for my first colonoscopy. The AARP Letter magically appeared in my mailbox while I was in my late forties, inviting me to join the American Association of Retired…
