"My Brain is Draining Into My Stomach" | Spina Bifida
What do you do when your spine decides to "leak" before you're even born, leaving you with a "jizzy back rat" and a tube running from your brain to your belly? We’ve covered Spina Bifida before, but never quite like this. Meet Joshua, a man who has spent 48 years navigating the world from a wheelchair and dealing with an exposed spine. AKA Spina Bifida. The fellas get up close and personal with the medical realities of "leaky" spines and the surgical interventions that happen before a baby even hits the delivery room. The wildest part? Joshua can throw a spear further than all of us. We also dig into Joshua's experience in navigating a long distance marriage, and it's adorably heartwarming. Follow Sickboy: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sickboypodcastTiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@sickboypodcastDiscord: https://discord.gg/expeUDN
“I Was Sh*tting Blood and Still Playing” | Ulcerative Colitis Athlete
What happens when you go from a senior spring break in Jamaica to poopin "gallons of blood" in the ER? Meet Taryn: 20 years old, a D1 volleyball player for the University of Northern Iowa, and a total boss living with Ulcerative Colitis (UC). After a senior trip to Jamaica turned into a month-long nightmare of abdominal pain, internal bleeding, and a very wrong E. coli diagnosis, Taryn had to face a new reality: a chronic "sister disease" to Crohn's. In this episode, we get into the literal weeds of living with UC. Taryn talks about showing up to college workouts as a rookie looking "deceased," why her teammates thought she had a heart condition, and the awkward-turned-awesome moment she had to tell the whole team why she was actually dying on the floor. If you’re living with IBD, supporting someone who is, or wondering whether you can still chase big goals with a chronic illness, this one’s for you.You can watch this entire episode over on YouTube.Follow Sickboy on Instagram, TikTok and Discord!
Born Without an Eye | Unilateral Anaphthalmia & The Disability Spectrum
What happens when you’re born with a medical anomaly so rare that doctors treat you like a "cluster of defects," but you grow up feeling completely able-bodied? This week, the boys sit down with Kayla, who was born with unilateral anaphthalmia. Which is a fancy way of saying she was born without one of her eyes. But the "missing eye" is actually the least wild part of this story. Kayla takes us deep into the "Wild West" of 90s medicine, where she underwent six major facial surgeries between the ages of six months and ten years - all without anesthesia because doctors back then didn't think babies could feel pain. (Spoiler: They definitely can). We dig into the "cutthroat" nature of the disabled community, the struggle of being "not disabled enough" for resources but "too different" for the able-bodied world, and how a "that really emo haircut" became the ultimate survival tool.You can watch this entire episode over on YouTube!Follow Sickboy on Instagram, TikTok and Discord.
Getting Your Back Blown Out | $40K Hernia
It may have started with a joke about getting his "back blown out", but it turned into a wild story of a two-year medical saga involving brutal nerve pain, mobility issues, and a diagnosis nobody saw coming? Meet our new friend Ryan, a professional drummer who felt a literal "pop" in his back while he was sick and quickly realized his life was about to change. After months of being told it was just "getting old" and facing the classic medical gaslighting shuffle, Ryan took his health into his own hands. We dive into the bizarre world of SCNES (Superior Clunial Nerve Entrapment Syndrome)—a condition so rare in adults that the only guy who could fix it was a pediatric surgeon in Cincinnati. Ryan breaks down the "back mice" (lipomas) that mashed his nerves into a cluster, the frustration of being a musician who can't sit on a stool, and the wild reality of having to leave the country just to get a "yes" from a doctor. This one is for anyone who’s ever been told it’s "just back pain" when it absolutely was not.Check out Ryan’s Music:https://www.instagram.com/_kyliefox_/https://www.instagram.com/waylonnapadogan/https://toobadjim.bandcamp.com/Follow Sickboy on Instagram, TikTok and Discord!
Your Body is Allergic to... Everything? | Mast Cell Activation Syndrome
What happens when the person paid to have all the answers suddenly gets hit with a medical mystery that turns their world entirely upside down? Vicki Jeha is a counseling therapist who spent years helping people navigate their own minds—until her own body decided to stage a coup. In 2023, mid-therapy session, Vicki’s vision started sliding, her limbs went numb, and she was carried out of her office on a stretcher. The diagnosis? A double-whammy of Mast Cell Activation Syndrome (MCAS) and Histamine Intolerance.In this episode, we dig into the "perfect storm" that broke Vicki's immune system, the absolute absurdity of being a therapist who is "allergic to stress," and why a healthy spinach salad is basically poison when your internal "fire alarm" won't stop going off.Follow Sickboy: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sickboypodcastTiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@sickboypodcastDiscord: https://discord.gg/expeUDN