There was a radioactive energy drink called Radithor on the US market between 1918-1928. One prominent user was buried in a lead coffin. That user was Eben Byers. In 1927 Byers injured his arm falling from a railway sleeping berth. For the persistent pain a doctor suggested he take Radithor, a patent medicine manufactured by […]
A Guy Live Tweeted His Uncle and Grandpa’s Hearing Aid Appointment
As anyone who has older parents, aunts, uncles, or grandparents, knows, it can be hard for people to accept the fact that they need a little assistance with their hearing.
That said, as anyone who has tried speaking to one of these people without a hearing aid can attest, the results can be annoying and hilarious. And annoying.
Which is exactly the scenario that Ryan Kober found himself in when he took his uncle and grandfather to get their hearing aids checked.
It started the moment they climbed into the car. Ryan really had no choice, you can clearly see.
I'm bringing my grandpa and great uncle to get their hearing aids checked.
*they enter my car*
Uncle: See, I can hear you just fine, I don't need to go.
Me: I didn't say anything.
Uncle: What?
Grandpa: Yes, I'm fine, thank you.— Ryan Kober (@GrizzlyKobear) June 24, 2019
The look on his face says that he’s questioning his sanity in volunteering for this outing.
Help pic.twitter.com/GO3nN0moUh
— Ryan Kober (@GrizzlyKobear) June 24, 2019
I mean. It was aloud? Right? Ha!
*doctor is giving my uncle a hearing test*
Grandpa: *LOUD HUMMING*
Me: Grandpa stop humming
Grandpa: YOU CAN HEAR THAT?— Ryan Kober (@GrizzlyKobear) June 24, 2019
Humming in unison when they can’t hear each other takes some serious talent!
The doctor is out of the room and they are both humming very loudly in unison. I keep laughing and they keep thinking I'm talking to them.
— Ryan Kober (@GrizzlyKobear) June 24, 2019
Do they think they’re in the shower?
The doctor took out Grandpa's hearing aids to adjust them in the next room and now he's screaming/singing a broken English version of "It's A Small World After All"
— Ryan Kober (@GrizzlyKobear) June 24, 2019
You never know what you’re missing, I guess!
Now my uncle can hear himself so well he's whispering because he was so used to not hearing his own voice for so many years.
— Ryan Kober (@GrizzlyKobear) June 24, 2019
Meaning… EVERYTHING you’ve been missing.
*coming out of the bathroom*
Uncle: I can even hear myself pee! I can't believe it!— Ryan Kober (@GrizzlyKobear) June 24, 2019
The results? Two happy customers.
The happy customers pic.twitter.com/1PrT8Q8EN7
— Ryan Kober (@GrizzlyKobear) June 24, 2019
And a happy internet.
Ummm I'll be on Access Hollywood at 7:30PM ET tonight talking about/doing bad impersonations of my Grandpa and Uncle because apparently my tweets about taking them to get their hearing aids checked got way more popular than I ever imagined
TOON IN I'M SO EXCITED!@accessonline pic.twitter.com/VI7ErY4eQD— Ryan Kober (@GrizzlyKobear) June 28, 2019
What more could a person ask for, right?
The post A Guy Live Tweeted His Uncle and Grandpa’s Hearing Aid Appointment appeared first on UberFacts.
Dr Barry Marshall was convinced…
Dr Barry Marshall was convinced that H.pylori bacteria causes stomach ulcers, but no one believed him. Since it was illegal to test his theory on humans, he drank the bacteria himself, developed ulcers within days, treated them with antibiotics and went to win a Nobel prize.
Nicholas Culpeper, a 17th century physician…
Nicholas Culpeper, a 17th century physician, married to wealthy heiress, enabling him to provide services free of charge while translating Latin medical text into English then sold them very cheaply for the poor who can’t afford expensive physicians.
This American’s Experience with Iceland’s Healthcare System Really Strikes a Nerve
Stop me if you’re heard this somewhere, possibly from your local politician: “We have the best health care ever invented! Of all time! Can’t be touched!”
I think most people know that A WHOLE LOT of other countries on the planet have much better health care than Americans do – plus, overseas it’s CHEAP. But that’s not what politicians and insurance companies want you to hear.
A woman named Mary Robinette Kowal shared her health care experience in Iceland, and her tweets went viral. I think that this will be very eye-opening for a lot of you. It sure was for me.
Let’s take a look at Kowal’s Twitter thread.
When I lived in Iceland, I found a lump. I had no idea how to navigate finding a doctor, so I went to our show's production manager.
Me: I found a lump. Can you help me find a doctor?
PM: Just go to the cancer center.
Me: Okay. How do a get a referral?
PM: What's a referral?— Mary Robinette Kowal (@MaryRobinette) June 3, 2019
After I explain what a referral is, he looks baffled.
PM: Just go to the cancer center.
Me: But…referral?He shrugs and hands me the phone number to the cancer center. I call and explain.
CC: A lump, ah yes. You should come in.
Me: Don't I need a referral?
CC: A what?— Mary Robinette Kowal (@MaryRobinette) June 3, 2019
Having accepted that I don't need a referral, I say, "How do I make an appointment?"
CC: An appointment? Yes, we can do that if your schedule is very busy, otherwise just come in.
Me: I don't need an appointment?
CC: You found a lump! You know your body, yes? Come in.— Mary Robinette Kowal (@MaryRobinette) June 3, 2019
So I go. The nurse checking me in apologizes because, since I'm not Icelandic, I'll have to pay for the visit.
It's 3 krónur.
That's 3 dollars at that point.
I pay and sit down to wait.
CC: Kowal?
Me: Already?
CC: You found a lump.— Mary Robinette Kowal (@MaryRobinette) June 3, 2019
3 dollars…
She escorts me into an examining room and palpates the area.
CC: Yes, that does feel like a lump. Let's do a mammogram.
I prepare to hear about making an appointment for that.
CC: I'm sorry, but it's across the hall. Do you mind following me?
— Mary Robinette Kowal (@MaryRobinette) June 3, 2019
I've been in the building for about twenty minutes at this point when I'm strapped into the mammogram — WHICH HAD WARMERS — and she does her thing.
CC: There is something there, you are right. I want to see it with an ultrasound.
And then she leads me next door.
— Mary Robinette Kowal (@MaryRobinette) June 3, 2019
She does the ultrasound and when we're finished, she tells me to get dressed and to meet her in the waiting room.
I head out to the changing room, put my top back on, and walk out to the waiting room. I sit down to wait.
CC: Kowal?
Me: Already?
CC: It is only cyst.— Mary Robinette Kowal (@MaryRobinette) June 3, 2019
Forty-five minutes after walking into the Icelandic Cancer Center and 3 krónur poorer, I had the answer.
In the US, a similar lump took two weeks and three different office visits.
I think about this every time I have to fight with medical insurance in the US.
— Mary Robinette Kowal (@MaryRobinette) June 3, 2019
PS for clarity, I used my surname, but I'm pretty sure it was my first name the entire time, because Iceland.
PPS Why don't all mammograms have warmers?
— Mary Robinette Kowal (@MaryRobinette) June 3, 2019
Kowal offered a little clarification about an earlier tweet.
PPPS I said 3 kronur, but it was actually 300 kronur. I got so used to throwing an imaginary decimal place in there to do conversions in my head that I botched it in the thread.
The bit about being it basically three bucks though, that was the point.
— Mary Robinette Kowal (@MaryRobinette) June 4, 2019
We get your point, Ms. Kowal. Something to think about…
What do you think? Share in the comments, we’d love to hear from you!
The post This American’s Experience with Iceland’s Healthcare System Really Strikes a Nerve appeared first on UberFacts.
During WWI, cotton was in high…
During WWI, cotton was in high demand for the manufacture of uniforms and explosives. For bandages, doctors turned to using sphagnum moss. It can hold up to 22 times its own weight in liquid — twice as absorptive as cotton. The moss is also antiseptic, making the surrounding environment acidic.
This Man’s ER Experience in Taiwan Shows How Truly Messed up American Health Care Really Is
No matter what side of the political aisle you belong to, chances are most of you would agree that America’s healthcare system, as it currently stands, is pretty broken. Even if we can’t all agree about what the right solution may be, we definitely agree that it could certainly be better.
The fact is that, when it comes to healthcare, America actually lags behind the rest of the civilized world. We spend more exponentially more money to get significantly less coverage.
Most other first world countries offer government-funded universal healthcare – and that is also true in Taiwan, where one Kevin Bozeat has been living as an ex-pat. But unfortunately, he didn’t qualify for their healthcare and had no American health insurance, either, when he found himself super sick and in need of a trip to the emergency room.
He sucked it up and let his roommate call him a taxi, figuring he’d work out the payment when it came due (the way most of us regular people do here in the States).
Here’s what happened.
Image Credit: Facebook
tl;dr: His experience was awesome and even with no insurance, it cost him $80.
Of course, since this is the internet in America, people had to try to find every which way to prove that his experience was singular, or reasons why it wouldn’t work in the States, or to insinuate that Taiwan is somehow a poor, third world country (it’s not; their GDP is higher than Denmark’s).
So, Kevin did some legwork for us in the form of arguments against all of the “good points” people made about his original post.
Image Credit: Facebook
To sum up:
- The cost of living in Taiwan is about 50% of the cost of living in the U.S. Good luck going to any emergency room here for any reason and getting out of there for less than $160.
- Doctors do make less, but they’re still solidly middle class (and there are plenty of people willing to go into the field).
- The taxes in Taiwan do pay for healthcare but they’re not high – if you have their national healthcare it works out to about $70.53/month for a person who makes $60k/year.
He acknowledges that no system is perfect, but quotes the Ministry of Health in saying that “…the Taiwanese government believes that healthcare is a right for all of its citizens, rather than a privilege for those who can afford it.”
Everyone in Taiwan is covered (along with foreign permanent resident) is entitled to coverage regardless of employment status, and no citizen goes bankrupt due to medical bills.
It sounds like a utopia, but it’s not – most of the world has figured out how to make it happen. And according to Kevin, it’s time for his home country to stop making excuses.
The post This Man’s ER Experience in Taiwan Shows How Truly Messed up American Health Care Really Is appeared first on UberFacts.
Although it is commonly shown…
Although it is commonly shown in medical dramas, you do not shock someone with a flatline. You only use defibrillators on people with ventricular fibrillation, and pulseless ventricular tachycardia (heart beats out of rhythm or heart beats that are really fast and out of sync). 00
In the 1900s doctors warned women…
In the 1900s doctors warned women that riding a bicycle may cause them to acquire “bicycle face”. 00
D.D. Palmer, the creator of chiropractic…
D.D. Palmer, the creator of chiropractic medicine, claimed to have received his ideas on chiropractic from “the other world” and considered declaring chiropractic to be a religion. 30