Here at Sickboy we have the sleuthiest of listeners. Shout out to Britt and Hil for spilling the TEA. This week we talk about the future of nanobots when it comes to cancer treatement. Miracle workers or possible human killing mini machines? Speaking of existential events, we chat disability & climate change. Folks who are disabled are being left out of the conversation and will suffer unless something is done about "eco-ableism". Is there a COVID pill just around the corner? Fingers crossed...
Nov 26, 2021•1 hr 4 min
You could say this episode has a lot of heart. AYYYOOO! Dr. Eilidh MacDonald holds a PhD in Physiology and Biophysics at Dalhousie University and is now a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the British Heart Foundation Centre of Research Excellence at the University of Glasgow in Scotland. She joins the fellas to talk all things heart! We talk how one tests/studies the hearts of animals, how the heart can beat on its own for hours on end, and even how your heart responds to environmental/persona...
Nov 24, 2021•58 min
This week is a special one. A huge milestone for our favourite host with psychopathic tendencies. Him and his lovely partner Kyla are having a baby. But this wasn't some "hey let's make hanky-panky without a condom and pop out a baby"-type situation. No sir. This was a long arduous process of in-vitro fertilization. A process that can be extremely taxing physically and emotionally. Kyla walks us through the entire process and gives us a glimpse into how challenging it was for the both of them. W...
Nov 22, 2021•1 hr 47 min•Ep. 318
How would you feel if someone sold your grandma's dead body to the military only for them to strap her to a chair rigged with explosives and blow her to bits to see what happens? We go even further down the rabbit hole of the unregulated body trade black market and it just keeps getting weirder. Then, the future of cars could include some sort of apparatus that ensures you aren't drunk before the car starts. Sounds good to us!! But we're sure someone out there has something to say about their fr...
Nov 19, 2021•1 hr 4 min
Miranda Field is a teacher from Saskatchewan supporting children with learning, medical, and mental health complexities. She has more than 15 years of teaching experience ranging from Kindergarten through post-secondary in mainstream, hospital, and supportive programs. This week she joins the boys to walk them through what teaching roles look like in a hospital setting. This big lesson here is that it's all about giving the child and the family a sense of normal within an environment that is any...
Nov 17, 2021•51 min
At 14 years old, Katy went to the hospital to get a peculiar little rash checked out. It started on her ankles, but before long has spread up her legs, torso, neck and face. The doc ran some blood work and sent Katy on her way. One day later that doctor frantically called Katy's mother informing her she needs to get Katy to an emergency department ASAP. Katy's platelet count was basically non-existent and she could bleed to death by the end of the day. Probably not helpful that she started her p...
Nov 15, 2021•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 317
This week's FGF is extra special! We have a secret ingredient from down under. Brian, Taylor, and Dick Rice are joined by Marc Fennell, host of "Stuff The British Stole" for a whole whack of weirdness in the world of health sciences. First thing first, flush your damn toilet before you sit on it. Otherwise, you run the risk of getting bit in the nuts by a cobra. Ever been so high that you forget everything in life, except for Batman? A unique exercise in gratitude. Finally a wild story out of th...
Nov 12, 2021•1 hr 1 min
The WeCroak app is inspired by a Bhutanese folk saying: to be a happy person, one must contemplate death five times daily. This week the fellas are joined by Hansa Bergwall, the Co-founder of the WeCroak App and host of the WeCroak Podcast. Each day, WeCroak will send you five invitations to stop and think about death. The invitations come at random times and at any moment, just like death. When they come, you can open the app to reveal a quote about death from a poet, philosopher, or notable th...
Nov 10, 2021•40 min
Glioblastoma is a heavy word. The most common of the primary brain tumours but also the most fatal. Dana was only 24 when not only having to navigate the world during a global pandemic, but also finding out she had a fatal illness. Dana joins the fellas to discuss the hardships of terminal brain cancer treatments. Surgeries and radiation aren’t enough to keep her from living life in the most fulfilling way she possibly can while she’s around. Throw caution to the wind, say f*ck it, buy a puppy a...
Nov 08, 2021•1 hr 35 min•Ep. 316
This week we take a look at a recent phenomenon hitting young girls in several countries across the world. The girls that are presenting with these uncommon physical tics all have one thing in common: TikTok. Specifically they are all following Tourette's TikTok Influencers. Also, England makes a big move by moving vapes into the prescription drug list for those looking to quit smoking. The queen would be turning in her grave. Wait.. not yet? We'll see. Finally, when it comes to oral sex, don't ...
Nov 05, 2021•59 min
For thousands of years, people have searched for elixirs that could delay death and extend human life. Could new advances in medicine finally make this a reality? From madcap medicine to cutting-edge science, the quest to unlock the fountain of youth is teeming with dreamers, skeptics and charlatans alike. This week the fellas have another sit down with past guest Keith McArthur to talk about his newest podcasting adventure. The quest to find out whether or not the Fountain of Youth has a possib...
Nov 03, 2021•49 min
Phil has esophageal cancer. His prognosis is not good. Living with terminal cancer does a lot to a person and Phil eloquently walks the fellas through his process of facing death head on. From prepping family and friends, to making the most out of his day to day, to reminiscing on old adventures. For a man who was experiencing peak health at the ripe age of 66 only to end up on death's door a couple years later, Phil is taking everything in stride and in style. Why not buy a friggin' Harley?! Li...
Nov 01, 2021•1 hr 25 min•Ep. 315
No more tears this week. Except tears of laughter. The gang cover a ton on this episode of Feel Good Friday. A rare tropical disease killing people in very non-tropical states have led the CDC down a long investigative trail. Turns out essential oils are essentially the root cause. A massive leap in transplant innovation happened recently with the first (semi-successful) pig organ transplant in a man, led by a handsome and brilliant doctor in NYC. A woman almost had her noggin caved in by a mete...
Oct 29, 2021•1 hr 15 min
Sabrina Benaim is a writer, performance artist, and slam poet best known for her poem "Explaining My Depression To My Mother." This week she sits down with the fellas to talk all about mental health stigma, the universal struggles of isolation, grief and her process of writing. Check out her newest book I Love You, Call Me Back: Poems. It's all about finding joy, in unexpected places.
Oct 27, 2021•44 min
In 2018 a case of pneumonia almost took Angela's life. From lung and heart damage, to weighing only 82 pounds and losing all control of her bladder, this pneumonia was no joke. Somehow her doctors saved her life, but the road to recovery was long and hard. While navigating the struggles of post-medical trauma-induced depression, Angela's grandfather died. Her grampy's cat, Makenzie, needed a home and although this cat is a complete psychopath, there is also something about him that is pretty ado...
Oct 25, 2021•1 hr 11 min
"Have your tissue boxes handy folks. This week we found out that Jer is finally going to be receiving Trikafta, and likely he'll be taking it before Christmas! Obviously this is an incredibly exciting time for many people affected by Cystic Fibrosis. Although there is one psychological side to it all that maybe you haven't considered. Jeremie tries his best to lead the fellas through the confusing and uncomfortable feelings that are coming up for him now that he's just around the corner from rec...
Oct 22, 2021•1 hr 3 min
Before speaking with Amelia, when we sat and thought about what an occupational therapist does, we would have said something like: "They help people get back to work after illness or injury". But boy oh boy did we learn that that barely scratches the surface of what they do. Join us for a fascinating conversation about how OT's support folks in the physical, psychological, neurological and social factors that influence health and wellbeing. After all, it is Occupational Therapy Month!
Oct 20, 2021•46 min
Montana was diagnosed with leukemia at the age of 7. After three years of chemotherapy, she was declared cured, but began experiencing mental health challenges that grew until, at age 17, she was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis. This week Montana chats with the fellas all about journey as a woman managing a sick body and how she uses her past experience in order to help others feel connected and whole, no matter what physical or mental challenges they may face, through coaching, yoga + meditat...
Oct 18, 2021•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 313
We may or may not have an answer for Jeremie's sudden change in eye sight and it isn't what you think! Stealthing has been made illegal in California and the WHO has finally authorized the use of a vaccine that will save millions of lives accross the world! Are you looking for the next TikTok fad to hop onto? Look no further! Scalp Popping is here and it's totally worth it (just kidding, don't pop your galea unless you want to go bald.
Oct 15, 2021•51 min
This week Sickboy is bringing you a very special conversation from Jeremie's other podcast that he hosts with his far more eloquent and cool wife, Bryde. Matthew Remski is a long-term meditator and yoga practitioner. An author of fiction, non-fiction, and poetry, his current work focuses on the social psychology of healthy communities, and the study of faux-progressive wellness Utopias, particularly in the yoga community. We talk about the parallels between cult dynamics and anti-vax conspiracy ...
Oct 13, 2021•58 min
Jané is a young graphic designer living in South Africa. For years she was doubted by her doctors despite being in debilitating pain & experiencing intense symptoms surrounding her reproductive organs. Until one day she was listening to and episode of Sickboy podcast all about Endometriosis and a lightbulb clicked — this is surely what she was experiencing. This week on the pod, the fellas talk to Jané all about her Endo journey: from diagnostic surgery and treatment during COVID, to the hea...
Oct 11, 2021•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 312
Trikafta hits yet another province. But it isn't the one that Jer lives in. Congrats British Columbia! Speaking of Jer, he needs your help. Especially if you happen to be an optometrist... or an ophthalmologist. Our boy Naheed posted about a group of ding dongs in Alberta who attended a COVID party to purposely get infected. One man in Turkey got so hammered he joined his own search party. Finally Tay teaches the fellas a bit about the science of spicy. Turn out capsaicin may be able to act as a...
Oct 08, 2021•59 min
Marc Champagne unpacks the mental fitness practices and reflective questions shaping the lives of some of the most successful and brilliant thinkers in the world. Marc's first book, Personal Socrates, explores the pointed questions that stimulate our mental fitness and teach us how to direct our internal narrative to work for us, instead of against us. ""We are all one question away from a completely different life"". You can find Personal Socrates available here - https://baronfig.com/personal-...
Oct 06, 2021•54 min
This week the fellas sit down with Sean Conohan, first responder and host of UpTalk podcast. Through his work Sean has seen it all. Like many folks in the world of emergency response, Sean found himself struggling with PTSD from the intensity of the job. Sean shares how he has gone through post-traumatic growth, and how his podcast has become a form of therapy for him.
Oct 04, 2021•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 311
Storytime with the boys. This past weekend the fellas had a scare. Taylor's eyes rolled into the back of his head, he passed out, Brian panicked and broke his ribs. CPR saves lives, but in this case, it may or may not have been overkill. Now that Taylor has broken ribs, it's hard for him to laugh and there is plenty of laughs in this week's episode. By the way, did you hear the good news?! Trikafta is now being covered in four provinces across Canada! Wahoo! Nova Scotia, what the hell are you wa...
Oct 01, 2021•1 hr 4 min
Donna Morrissey was born in Newfoundland and has written six national bestselling novels. Her new memoir, Pluck, is a deeply personal account of love's restorative ability as it leads her through mental illness, family death, and despair, to becoming a writer — all told with charm and inimitable humour. This week on Sickboy, the fellas speak with Donna about her journey through life in trying to find a way to heal her trauma and her process of documenting her life's story on the page.
Sep 29, 2021•46 min
What if there were a pill that could add decades to your life? Would you take it? For thousands of years, people have searched for elixirs that could delay death and extend human life. Could new advances in medicine finally make this a reality? From madcap medicine to cutting-edge science, the quest to unlock the fountain of youth is teeming with dreamers, skeptics and charlatans alike. More episodes are available at: hyperurl.co/unlocking
Sep 28, 2021•4 min
Ben is a sharp young buck about to start his first year at university. He also happens to live with Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA)! This week the fellas chat with Ben all about his experience in living with SMA. From finding ways to navigate inclusion with friends as a child, to the challenges of traveling the world while disabled, to talking openly about his illness with friends and strangers in order to spread awareness. Ben is an absolute gem and we are grateful to have had the chance to chat ...
Sep 27, 2021•53 min•Ep. 310
This week it's hard to feel good about Friday. We say goodbye to one of the most valuable members of the Sickboy podcast crew (no, relax, Jeremie hasn't died yet...). Lauren has landed a dream job that means the world to her and so she is moving on to bigger and better things! But don't worry, we send her off with a doozy of an episode. This week the gang go deep on teens shoving snus (nicotine pouches) where the sun don't shine, horrifying nightmare-fuel jet ski accidents, sushi mishaps and muc...
Sep 24, 2021•1 hr 8 min
The nicotine market is rapidly evolving due to e-cigarettes. Although e-cigarettes may help some smokers to quit, an increasing number of non-smokers are trying these products. On this weeks Routine Checkup the fellas speak with Dr. David Hammond, Professor in the School of Public Health & Health Systems at the University of Waterloo all about the evolving patterns of youth vaping and how e-cigarettes are having an effect on its users across Canada.
Sep 22, 2021•47 min
