Category Archives: The Mighty

Woman’s Story About How a Burger King Employee Helped Her Diabetes Goes Viral

19 Sunday May 2019

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Originally published on The Mighty

Having a health emergency while you’re alone in public can be terrifying, especially if you have an invisible illness. Strangers around you may not realize you’re in trouble or they may not believe you when you say need help. Now, one woman’s act of kindness for a chronically ill customer is going viral, showing others what should be a common response to a stranger experiencing a medical crisis.

Rebecca Boening shared a photo of Burger King employee Tina Hardy with a caption explaining how she stopped at the restaurant’s drive-thru in Amarillo, Texas, after her blood sugar dropped to a dangerous level. She “stumbled through” placing her order and explained that she has diabetes and needed food. Boening was shocked when Hardy ran out of the restaurant and up to her car with a serving of ice cream as she sat in her car at the first window.

“Tina later explained that her husband was also diabetic and she could tell that I needed help,” Boening wrote.

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What ‘This Is Us’ Misses About Chronic Pain and Opioids

19 Sunday May 2019

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Originally published on The Mighty

The opioid crisis has found its way into the Pearson family.

The second season of the hit NBC tearjerker “This Is Us” began earlier this fall with Kevin Pearson (Justin Hartley) getting the big break most actors dream of: a part in a movie opposite Sylvester Stallone. But after injuring his knee while filming an action sequence, Kevin turns to opioids to kill the pain — both physically and, as it quickly becomes clear, emotionally as well.

In the last few episodes, we’ve seen him washing down pills with alcohol, frantically calling every doctor he’s ever had asking for a refill on his prescription, forging a prescription for fentanyl, dealing with withdrawal symptoms and sabotaging his relationships. “Kevin, you’re spiraling,” Kevin’s ex-wife Sophie says worriedly.

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This Is the Movie to Show Friends and Family Who Doubt Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Is Real

19 Sunday May 2019

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Originally published on The Mighty

Jennifer Brea had been bedbound due to chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME/CFS) for a few weeks when she first picked up her iPhone and started filming herself. A lifelong writer and reader who could no longer do either, Brea turned to her “video diary” as an outlet for her fear and grief.

But during a medical appointment, Brea realized her filmmaking could have a different kind of power. The doctor didn’t seem to be paying much attention while Brea explained that she collapsed on the floor one night and was too weak to call out. So, she took out her phone and showed him a video of what happened. The doctor “turned white, said ‘Oh my gosh, you need an MRI, you need a spinal tap’ and was suddenly mobilizing,” Brea told The Mighty.

“It made me realize that for whatever reason, in this experience, words fail. And there is a certain kind of power the visual image has, especially if it could be used to bring people into those spaces they never see, into our homes and bedrooms which is where we live when we’re not well enough to be in the outside world,” Brea said. “That’s when I realized maybe this could really change things.”

 

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