A Body's Tale

In episode 7, we learned of ACL reconstruction and the mental effects it can have, but in this week’s episode, we see the flip-side of the same coin. What happens if the ACL reconstruction does not go as planned, and complications ensue?

Birth control has the potential side effect of depression, but what do you do if you are taking birth control to treat a hormone imbalance, and then the depression medication puts you in the hospital for dehydration? Found out in this week's episode. 

Did you know you can fracture your kidney? You will after this week's episode. You will also learn about hip surgery, and that ignoring it might not be the best idea. 

You are playing a game of soccer, when you fall and land on your knee. When you look at it again, your kneecap is off to the side of your leg, and you are in extreme pain. Today we discuss such an incident with a young man whose final track season was ruined by a pick-up game of soccer.

The heart is something that we all appreciate, but tend to overlook on a day-to-day basis. Imagine grabbing a pair of socks, only to have your heart race and your vision black out. In today's episode, we discuss Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which is a rare disorder that leads to an additional pacemaker pathway in the heart. Enjoy!

Most of us know someone who has torn their ACL. Victoria tore her ACL playing soccer in high school. Her path to recovery, while not uncommon, is fraught with depressive-like symptoms while she copes with a new definition of her life. She openly discusses how she coped and trained to recover, both physically and mentally.

 Olivia, after a long day at a theme park at 8 years old, ends up with severely swollen ankles and extreme pain. 12 years later, she is finally diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis. Her tale is, at first, frustrating, but becomes an inspiring tale of perseverance and self-advocacy.

Nick is training diligently to become an MMA fighter. One day, during a match, he lets his guard down. This leads to a heel-kick to the sternum (breast bone), which breaks it in several places. Hear his story and the surgical recovery. Bonus, hear how he broke his arm in an arm wrestling match.

A young man, who we will call “Bob”, is prescribed ADHD medications. His use of the meds spiral into addiction. When his primary care physician revokes his prescription, he copes with alcohol. This spirals out of control, leading to alcoholism. Hear the inspiring tale of Bob’s recovery and how he turned his life around to return to college.

Strabismus is a condition where one eye looks at the object of interest, while the other eye looks in a different direction. Esotropia is a specific form of strabismus where one eye turns toward the nose. With the abundance of smart phone use, especially for videos, can lead to long periods of keeping the phone close to the face, putting a lot of stress on the extrinsic muscles of the eye. In this episode, I speak to a young woman whose smartphone use led to esotropia, which had to be corrected with surgery. In addition to being a cautionary tale about smartphone overuse, we have a fascinating discussion of the symptoms and correction of esotropia. Enjoy!

Luis is diagnosed with high blood pressure at 5 years old after having a cardiac incident on the plane into the United States. His story relates the importance of the kidneys in blood pressure, and later how weight-lifting supplements can lead to greater health risks than most realize.

Young Noah is running sprints when he collapses. After 8 minutes of CPR, he is rushed to the hospital where they implant a pacemaker. Hear his story and how it inspired him to work with the American Heart Association to make CPR certification mandatory for High Schoolers in the state of Michigan.