You might have friends who debate the merits of eastern medicine versus western medicine. Modern sciences stacked up against thousands of years of natural remedies. While both sides carry multitudes of legitimate arguments, it's possible both sides would agree that all of the below treatments are a little out there.
Reddit user, u/1234byfeist, wanted to know:
Check. Double Check. Check Fifteen More Times.
Giphy
It was many years ago and I was working with end-stage cancer patients. This one woman, who began her treatment outside of the United States, was given a mixture of cocaine, heroin, alcohol, morphine, phenothyazine and some other antiemetics. It was specially made into a liquid and imported from somewhere in Europe. I remember this med so vividly because it's not everyday you give someone heroin. I think it was called something like Bromton Cocktail and the lengths that were gone to to check out and administer a dose of that stuff - we're talking who's got the nuclear codes type of system. I have to admit though, it worked like magic.
The Costs Add Up Over A Year
The rarest medication I have administered is eculizumab (Soliris) which is used for PNH. A single dose costs around $20,000 and it is administered every two weeks at a cost of around $540 000 per year. It is delivered by armoured courier and the patients do get a 24h concierge they can always contact.
The patient told me it was expensive, and being aware of very expensive biologics I told her, "Yes, many of the new monoclonal antibodies are very expensive and can cost up to $20 000 per year."
She corrected me, that it cost $20 000 per dose. I didn't believe her but while organizing the infusion I figured I better read up on a drug I was administering for the first time and, yup, $20 000 a dose--26 doses a year--for the rest of her life.
Aquamans_DadSpeak Your Truth To Yourself
Sodium thiopental-truth serum.
In residency, someone had a conversion disorder in a movie theater (I know, way back when it was a normal thing to do). The entire place cleared out after the movie, his buddies are talking and realize he's not getting up. He finally tells them he is paralyzed and can't move.
Medics brought him in, he's laying in the gurney in the sitting position, like he's an astronaut. I walk in the room and think to myself, whaaat the f---ck. I go ahead and take his history, go back and present him to my attending. Attending asks me what I want to do. I'm at a serious loss here, I have no f-cking clue other than wait him out, nobody's core is that strong. He says we should give him thiopental.
Of course I say lets do it. We go in with just us and a nurse, he turns the lights off, the nurse pushes the meds. My attending proceeds to walk this guy down with confidence and empathy, like he's walking him through the worst lsd trip ever.
Sure enough, my attending asks him to realize that his arm is attached to his chest which is attached to his back which connects to his neck which connects to his brain. He tells the guy, now is the time to move your arm. The kid moves his f-cking arm! AMAZING. After a bit longer the kid is lying flat. Soon enough he's up a moving. Craziest sh-t I saw that year. Emergency medicine, still not dull 10 years later.
spewgeneCarefully...CAREFULLY!
Activated protein c. Can't remember exactly but it was about £50k a dose. Used in severe last ditch sepsis treatment. Not a vial you want to drop.
Artificial Body Parts
It's been a few years so I might butcher the name... Alpha-1 antitrypsin proteinase inhibitor? I've only given it to two patients but they had to get it regularly. It's a synthetic version of a protein, I think, that is made in the liver and usually inhibits the action of a particular enzyme in the lungs that breaks down tissue to ensure that dead cells don't interfere with lung function or something like that.
But in these patients, either the protein was being made wrong in such a way that it couldn't pass through the bile duct and escape the liver, or it just wasn't being made. Without an inhibitor, the enzyme just keeps breaking down tissue, and that causes emphysema. These patients had to get this medication once a week, for the entirety of their lives, but they're the only patients I ever heard of that needed it.
I was only a Hospital Corpsman in the Navy at the time, not even a licensed nurse; I only have a surface understanding of what exactly was going on, so sorry if I got anything wrong in the explanation. This was administered in an ambulatory infusion clinic at a naval hospital; I administered it and had to understand it to anticipate any potential side effects and double check dosing and rate but an actual doctor created the treatment plan and everything.
Space Age Medicine
Giphy
Methylene blue. I gave it to a girl who tried overdosing on Orajel. The active ingredient is benzocaine which caused her to develop a methemoglobinemia, treated with the blue drug. It truly is an artificial looking bright blue and I gave it to her in her IV.
Redirect That Blood Flow
Viagra for patient with pulmonary hypertension, only serve it once.
Other than that, thalidomide for anti nausea which is very rare and anti venom for snake bite.
GOOD. LORD.
Luxturna.
One dose per eye, USD $425,000.00 per eye.
THE MOST EXPENSIVE TREATMENT IN THE WORLD.
What does it treat?
The answer to tour question is very technical, but here it goes.
LUXTURNA is for individuals with an inherited retinal disease caused by mutations in both copies of the RPE65 gene and who have enough remaining cells in the retina
A gene is the basic unit of hereditary information that is passed on to a child from their parents. Typically, every person has 2 copies of a gene, one from each parent. In the case of RPE65 gene mutations, both of the genes passed onto the child were mutated.
There are many inherited retinal diseases
For example, Leber congenital amaurosis and retinitis pigmentosa are two inherited retinal diseases. These are clinical diagnoses that are not based on mutations in specific genes, such as mutations in both copies of the RPE65 gene. To get a genetic diagnosis, you will need a genetic test.
LUXTURNA is a one-time gene therapy for each eye
Gene therapy is a method for treating a genetic disease. One approach to gene therapy is delivering a new or functional gene into a cell.
LUXTURNA works to restore the visual cycle.
The visual cycle is a process that allows you to see. LUXTURNA provides a working RPE65 gene to act in place of a mutated RPE65 gene. This working gene has the potential to make the visual cycle work properly again.
So, There's A Wrong Way To Take This?
I had a woman who was on Ziconotide, which is an analgesic derived from Cone Snail venom. If it isn't administered correctly (through the spine), it causes hallucinations.
Wait, Seriously?
Pharmacist here and leeches. We use them to keep blood flowing if you get a finger or ear or something cut off and sewn back on.
Nope. Too Much. Leaving.
Maggots. We had a drug addict come in who had let an infection go so long in his arm from repeated needle usage that all our attempts to clean it failed. We ended up using maggots to eat away the dead tissue, while leaving the healthy tissue intact. Dude just had an open wound full of maggots loosely covered in some gauze for like... several days.
The worst part is always having to collect them afterward.
The medication most people are shocked by is cocaine hydrochloride. Yep. Cocaine. It's a good vasoconstriction agent, and topical anesthetic.
Everyone, You Know The Words To "We Didn't Start The Fire!"
In 15 years of hospital pharmacy, I've twice had occasion to dispense Thalidomide. It's used as an end-stage anti-nausea med, and comes very carefully packed, with all sorts of warnings about not coming near it if pregnant, and even has little pictures of Thalidomide babies.
...WaiBuWhat?
A poop/fecal transplantation. At my first internship during nursing school, there was a patient with a bowel infection caused by clostridium difficile. A few months before he got treated with broad-spectrum antibiotics for a pneumonia, which caused the infection. They tried other treatments to cure the infection, but nothing worked. Eventually, the patient got accepted in a clinic trial for a fecal transplant. One of his kids was the poop donor. After the transplantation the infection actually cleared up!
Getting Crunk In The ER
Giphy
Vodka, because of methanol poisoning.
I was going to say the most surprising thing I saw in the fridge in the med room was a can of beer. Labeled (prn qd) and chilled for the patient.
Want to "know" more? Never miss another big, odd, funny, or heartbreaking moment again. Sign up for the Knowable newsletter here.
When we're intoxicated, or even the slightest bit tipsy from having a little too much to drink, our immediate perspective on things is hazy.
But there's nothing like a bit of alarming news or a jarring incident to snap us out of the fog and focus on the moment.
Sometimes alcohol isn't always to blame for our impairment.
It can be a state of mind, like a perpetual numbness from being complacent in life, and all it takes is one shocking moment to rattle us back to our senses.
Curious to hear from strangers online about this type of scenario, Redditor Known_Challenge_7150 asked:
"What’s one thing that sobered you up real quick?"
These individuals were witness to shocking events that sobered them up right quick.
Bleeding Out
"Got out of a taxi and found a naked man profusely bleeding from his head crawling up the driveway in my condo. Called him an ambulance completely forgot I was absolutely wasted until 45 minutes later when I'd helped him translate and in to an amublance and stepped in my front door."
"Later a few days later learned he'd slipped in the tub and literally crawled out for help. Poor dude. He was fine but I genuinely thought he was going to die there."
– DongLaiCha
Tragic News
"At a bachelor party and we got a phone call that the groom’s father had suddenly passed."
– accountnameredacted
Bottom Of The Barrel
"I went to visit my parents back in July. I was homeless and deep into fentanyl addiction so I lost a lot of weight. My folks could see it. They knew something was up. Anyway, I spent the night and I was getting ready to leave in the morning and I looked at myself in the mirror for a good long time. I finally had enough and told them everything. They took me to detox, from there I went to rehab. Graduated in August and been living with them ever since then. I have 160 days clean and sober."
– Crotch-Monster
A reality check can be enough for some people to snap out of it.
Like Father, Like Son
"Was driving a drunk friend home, he had been on a bender again and was smart enough to call me for a lift rather than try and drive. As I helped in to his house his mother came down the stairs and said 'your as drunk as your father' and went back upstairs. I haven't seen him drunk since then, he still drinks but the thought of turning into his dad scared him out of hard drinking."
– psycospaz
Busted
"Flashing blue lights."
– FiddleOfGold
"This sobered me up just thinking about it."
– redmaple_syrup
Losing Sight
"Woke up to no sight in one eye. I had cataract surgery so just thought one of the lenses had slipped and it was an easy fix. Eye doc says nope, you had a stroke. I loved soy sauce, teriyaki sauce and salty food, which caused high blood pressure, which caused retina damage. Over six months was able to get most of my eyesight back with medication, and all back within a year. Trying to navigate life with one eye was very sobering. Started taking HBP much more seriously."
– MissHibernia
Quitting The Bottle
"Looked up someone I went to highschool with who was an awesome guy. Found out he had been dead for 3 years from alcoholism, at age 33. I made an overnight change. I hadn't started drinking that night yet, 10 months ago. Haven't touched it again since."
– omgtater
These disturbing moments were enough for Redditors to immediately come to their senses.
Unplanned House Guests
"Me and a buddy Woke up in someone’s living room, realized neither one of us knew the people, they were just nice and let 2 drunk guys sleep on their living room floor. We didn’t even say goodbye."
– Oneinsevenbillion75
Serious Health Warning
"Elevated liver enzymes."
"And the knowledge that this sh** was gonna kill me and I just couldn't orphan my family over it."
"So I opted for recovery, instead."
"Clean and sober since June 5, 2009."
– Far_Meal8674
The Joyride
"Grew up in a rural area. The little town hosted dances at the hockey arena, everyone (adults and kids) went and they overserved everyone, regardless of age. I was maybe 16 or 17 and was absolutely sh*tfaced, and jumped in the back of someone's truck with about 8 other people to go back to someone's cottage for after dance drinking. The driver (still don't know who it was) started racing one of his buddies and we whipped around small dirt roads, flying around blind corners on the wrong side of the road, going god knows how fast. It was basically a disaster waiting to happen. It was crazy scary and I was sober and thankful to be alive when we finally arrived."
– foxfood9116
The human psyche is a fascinating thing, isn't it?
How we can automatically focus on something urgent at a crucial time, even after getting buzzed from drinking too much alcohol.
But as we're in the thick of the holidays, it's a good reminder to drink responsibly and stay off the roads if you drive to your celebratory destination.
Cheers. Stay safe. And happy holidays.
We've all complained or vented about something in our lives which, in the grand scheme of things, wasn't exactly a problem, or is very easily solved.
Then there are those who complain about things that others almost hope will happen to them at some point in their lives.
These are known as "first world problems", as they are problems that pretty much only the world's one percent faces.
From having to fly business class instead of first class, or being served Roederer instead of Dom Pérignon, these complaints are often met with amusement, bewilderment, or even anger.
Redditor jennimackenzie was curious to hear the most absurd "first world problems" anyone ever complained about, leading them to ask:
"What’s the most ridiculous 'first world problem' you’ve seen people get worked up over?"
"Tale As Old As Time..."
"I once knew a mom who was legitimately devastated, to the point of tears/grief, because a doctor predicted her 8 year old daughter's final height to be around 5'2","
"Which wasn't tall enough to get cast as Belle at Disney World."
"That was the child's (and her mother's) only dream in life, apparently."
"Didn't appreciate my suggestion that she could be Minnie or Mickey."
"Lol!"
"Only a face character would do!"- TravelLovingMom
"Must Be Funny, In A Rich Man's World..."
"My boss from about a decade ago was this insanely rich dude who always went to the bank to get fresh and crisp currency."
"He'd call the bank in advance to make sure they had some on hand."
"I think he was a germaphobe."
"He had a trash can that he'd throw $1 and $5 bills in that he thought was 'dirty' and regularly just donated it vs spending it."
"I asked him why he did this and he said it was too much trouble and asked if I wanted it."
"I said f*ck yeah dumped it into my bag and when I got home it was close to $400 in singles and fives.
"Another time, he wanted to upgrade all the computers in his studio, so we went to a store and bought 10 PCs."
"They all had $150 mail in rebates and he wasn't bothered to go through the trouble of mailing them in."
"3 weeks later I received $1500 after spending a whole afternoon filling out all those goddamn forms."- azninvasion2000
Money Burn GIF by nog
Giphy
Who Wore It Better?
"When I was about 19 years old, I was at my boyfriends family BBQ."
"I was wearing this pretty floral sundress."
"His cousins girlfriend showed up in the same dress and she was SO mad that she went and changed."
"I will never understand being upset when someone is wearing the same thing as you.'
"Did you really think that your shirt you bought off the rack is going to be unique to you?"
"No."- mertsey627
Seeing Red! Or Blue In This Case...
"The blue of the balloons wasn't quite the same as the bridesmaid's sashes."
"Years ago my wife and I attended a wedding."
"It was very low key."
"The dinner was in the dining hall at the university where the couple met, cinder block walls and all."
"It was a Baptist wedding - no booze and very serious."
"The dark blue balloons attempting to liven up the hall were a slightly darker shade of blue than the sashes on the bridesmaid's dresses."
"The bride lost here sh*t and absolutely raved for nearly an hour."
"I can't remember how they finally managed to talk her down."- mechant_papa
south park wedding GIF
Giphy
See You In Court!
"Rich neighbors who end up in expensive court battles because they disagree about where a tree can be planted or whether the color of a fence fits in with the street’s 'amenity'."
'These disputes get really heated and rack up huge lawyers’ bills."
"The most pathetic part is after the judgement when they are arguing about who should pay the other party’s costs."
"Lots of affidavits filed citing the 'emotional distress' they had to endure, or painting themselves as brave warriors who were forced to take a stand to fight for 'justice'."
"Also lots of pompous litigants insisting that the judge refer to them by their 'Dr' title."
"An absolutely insane dumpster fire of entitled rich people problems."- ElectrocRaisin
It's Always People With Money Who Don't Want To Pay!
"I work in a public library."
"People will get so so mad if they have to be put on a wait list for a book."
"A popular book that just came out."
"Ok our services are not only free but so are the books."
"You’re welcome, a**holes."- Switchbladekitten
A Warm Butt Is A Happy Butt!
"My own."
"We have a bidet toilet seat (Fabulous! Everyone should have one!) and not only does it wash your bum and blow dry it, but the seat's heated!"
"It's shocking how much a heated toilet seat makes the whole process more agreeable."
"Except: We had a power outage and I went to use the toilet and the seat was cold!"
"Unacceptable!"
"This shall not stand!"
"I was really upset because it didn't feel good."
"Then I stopped and thought: This is the most first-world problem anyone's ever had."
"I was really pissed because my heiny was tepid."
"I got over it."- DeathGrover
homer simpson episode 23 GIF
Giphy
Holy Matrimony!
"Weddings are a gold mine for this question."
"People get so hyped up over their 'most important day of their life'."
"They'll destroy friendships, go into debt, and have crazy expectations."
"It's not always the couple who go crazy, either."
"Sometimes, it's the parents or another family member who feels entitled to control the wedding."
"It's just a party."
"Be considerate of guests, have plenty of food and drinks, and enjoy it."- magicrowantree
When Fast Food Isn't Fast Enough...
"Having to pull off to the side to wait for a drive-thru order to be brought out to you because your food isn't ready and there's a line building up behind you."- demanbmore
In Case You Don't Think Customer Service Employees Are Undervalued...
"I was working the return desk at a Target next to a military base so I have so many stories."
"One of my favorites was a lady who had her baby shower before revealing the gender and was livid that she had received floral newborn diapers when she’s having a boy."
"It was a huge box of super expensive, all organic diapers, that we didn’t carry and therefore could not return."
"I cannot accurately express her fury and disgust."
"How dare either suggest her boy could wear feminine diapers."
"I suggested she donate them if she didn’t want to use them and she instead threw away the entire box."
"When she left we pulled it out and threw it in our donate bin."
"There have also been multiple times where mom’s order massive toys and when we bring them out to the car they get furious that they aren’t wrapped."
"We don’t offer wrapping services."
"Here’s the thing, if you don’t want your kids to see the toys you got them for Christmas or their bit to day DON'T BRING THE CHILD WHEN YOU PICK IT UP."
'I’ve had multiple women scream and curse me out that I had ruined their kids Christmas by bringing the toys they ordered out to the car like they requested."- clever-mermaid-mae
Customer Service Waiting GIF by Juno Calypso
Giphy
Happiest Place On Earth!
"I used to work for Disney."
"That in itself should tell you everything."
"However for fun I'll give you two specific stories one form our tech department and one from my wife who worked bookings."
"I specifically worked for their call center to help with technical issues with magic band and the website."
"Suddenly got worse huh?"
"A right of passage call everyone has at least one story of is the 'Dome call'."
"Basically there is a subset of Disney Guest (TM) that believes if it rains at Walt Disney world there is someone that will push a button to encapsulate the whole of Disney property in a dome to keep out the rain."
"I'm not kidding."
"If this button is not pushed they call our tech department to angrily ask why."
"My wife worked booking."
"Pretty much everything including Bibbidi Bobbidi boutique and Pirate's league."
"These two things did roughly the same thing difference being price and theme."
"BBB was expensive did more and was focused on princesses, pirates league did a bit less and focused on mermaids and pirates."
"Lady called up my wife, and got pissed about BBB being booked up (It goes FAAAAST)."
"Karen: 'Im going to give the phone to my daughter and I want you to tell her how you are ruining her vacation by not letting her do BBB'."
"Wife proceeds to explain how pirate's league is so much cooler and how she can be a mermaid or pirate and basically gets the kid to start demanding to their parents about how they want to be a mermaid instead of a princess."- trollsong
Disney World GIF
Giphy
The horror!
Being booked into a junior suite at Disney World instead of an executive suite!
It's almost as bad as having no money for groceries, or no food to feed you children...
Said absolutely no one.
For many childhood memories are overrun by living nightmares.
Yes, children are resilient, but that doesn't mean that the things we see as babes don't follow us forever.
The horrors of the world are no stranger to the young.
Redditor -2sweetcaramel- wanted to see who was willing to share about the worst things we've seen as kids, so they asked:
"What’s the creepiest thing you saw as a kid?"
Serious Danger
"Me and my best friend would explore the drainage tunnels under the Vegas area where we grew up. These were miles long and it was always really cool down there so it was a good way to escape the heat of our scorching hot summers. We went into this one that goes under the Fiesta casino and found a camp with a bunch of homeless people."
"Mind you we are like 11 years old lol. And we just kept going like it was nothing. It wasn’t scary then but when I look back at it we could have been in some serious danger. Our parents had no idea we did this or where we were and we had no cellphones. We could have been kidnapped and never have been found."
oofboof2020
Waiting for Food
"I was at a portillos once when I was 12 and I was waiting with my little brother at a booth while my parents got our food. This guy was standing with his tray kind of watching me then after a couple of minutes he started to walk over really fast not breaking eye contact with me."
"He was 2 feet from the table and my dad came out of nowhere and scared the s**t out of him. He looked so surprised and just said he wanted to see if I’d get scared or not. He left his tray full of food near the door and left. My folks reported him but we never went to that location again since we found a better one closer to home."
nowhereboy1964
Captain Hobo to the Rescue
"When I was a pretty young teen, my friends and I were horsing around in San Francisco and started hanging out to smoke with some homeless guys. Another homeless dude came up and began aggressively trying to shake us down for anything (money, smokes, a ride, drugs- all of it) and wouldn’t take no for an answer."
"We got in over our heads and could tell this guy was now riling the other 2 guys up and they were acting like they wanted to jump us. Some grandfather-looking old homeless man appeared out of nowhere and yelled at us to get the f**k out of here- nice kids like us don’t belong down here at this hour!!"
"Captain Hobo saved our lives that night. My parents sincerely thought we were at a mall all day lol."
FartAttack911
Survival
tsunami GIF
Giphy
"I was 7 and survived the 2004 tsunami in Thailand. Witnessed the wave rise way above the already massive palm trees (approx. 40ft?) and my family and I watched/heard the wave crash into the ground from a rooftop."
faithfulpoo
These Tsunami stories are just tragic.
On the Sand
Scared The Launch GIF by CTV
Giphy
"We were a group of kids who went to swim in a local lake. And there was a dead body on the beach with their hands raised and their legs bent unnaturally that local police just took out of the same lake. I've never put my foot in these waters again."
oyloff
Be Clever
"I was walking to school and I was about 5 or 6 years old and some guy pulled up beside me in his car and asked if I would get in. He also offered me sweets to do so. I said no. The creepy bit was when he calmly said ‘clever boy’ to me, then drove off. I’ve never even told my parents or anyone else about this as it would most likely freak them out."
OstneyPiz
Bad Jokes
"Dad's side of the family pranked me by burying a fake body on our back property and had me dig it up to find valuables. Was only allowed to use a lantern for light. They stuffed old clothes with chicken bones. Sheetrock mud where the head was... Random fake jewelry as the treasures... I was like maybe 10 or 11.. I remember digging up the boot first and started gagging because it became real at that point."
Alegan239
YOU
Who Are You Reaction GIF by MOODMAN
Giphy
"Woke up to find my little brother staring at me in the dark, asking, Are you really you?"
PrettyLola2004
Siblings can really be a bunch of creepers.
No one should talk to others in the dark though.