Advice for the relationships in your life and how to boost your own well-being. If you log out, you will be required to enter your username and password the next time you visit. I made one too many jokes, got sent to the principals office, and received a conduct report to be signed by my dad. TORONTO (CTV Network) By the time Dr. Will Flanary was 29-years-old, he had already survived cancer twice. Since then, it has evolved to incorporate satire of the US healthcare system, academic publishing, and the interpersonal conflicts that are pervasive in the medical system. On TikTok,. Its my coping mechanism Sometimes thats all you can do, right? Glaucomflecken alter ego began as a creative outlet to tell painfully specific ophthalmology jokes and to cope with my own health challenges. I can make a second career out of finding testicular cancer which would be really weird for an ophthalmologist to do. He paused. (He has joked, "It's so easy even an ophthalmologist can do it.") Left untreated, it is a minutes-long prelude to death. My mom kicked me out of her 6th grade language arts class. Written by: This is my life with aphasia. Devdutt Pattanaik, Written by: [5][7], Flanary created the Dr. Glaucomflecken Twitter account in 2016 out of boredom at a research conference. For some reason, the powers that be thought it would be a good idea for my mom to teach her kid, who also happened to be the biggest class clown in school. [Not matching] is a really difficult thing to deal with, and Im able to put it through a lens of humor. As most of the humor on Fun Friday, this is funny and also heartbreaking. Now you're reasserting control over the situation., Fast forward to his fourth year of residency when the Glaucomfleckens found out that Will was one of the lucky 1-2 percent of people with testicular cancer who get it in the other testicle., True to form, he made jokes. Three days later, he woke up in an ICU bed, recovering from a cardiac arrest. The question is just how big his audience might be and whether what works online can translate to another medium. In May 2020, his heart suddenly stopped beating in the middle of the night. Price. "You get that dopamine rush.". A: I had a ventricular fibrillation cardiac arrest in my sleep at 4 a.m. My wife heard me breathing funny, which woke her up. William Sharp. Your membership will automatically continue for 199/month after the first 30 days, and you can cancel anytime. He does this very clever combination of explaining some complex things clearly and humorously, Tworek said. Q&A with William A. Flanary, MD, aka Dr. Glaucomflecken, provides a glimpse into his experience surviving cardiac arrest. That combined dedication to learning the inside details of medicine while practicing the outsider art of satire might explain what makes Dr. Glaucomflecken work. I just dont know if I can trust you, Flanary the patient responds. But Will's health problems didn't end there. His early work was squarely in the lingua franca of the platform: short, comedic videos synced to popular songs. 23.1K Likes, 784 Comments. [7], Since 2017, Flanary has raised money for the non-profit organization First Descents, which provides outdoor experiences to young adults who have been diagnosed with cancer. At first, Will wasn't sure what to do, since losing both of his testicles meant he would no longer be able to have children or make enough testosterone, which affects his ability to have sex. Ram Dinesh Sharan, Suno Mahabharat Devdutt Pattanaik ke Saath, Written by: It meant that he would have to go on hormone replacement therapy for the rest of his life." But it was the emotional and mental recovery that took some time., He turned back to comedy, something he had been doing since high school, to process what he went through. Written by: At the hospital, doctors put him into therapeutic hypothermia. Honestly, its surreal, Flanary told CTV National News in a video interview from his home in Portland, Ore. Flanary had been doing stand-up comedy intermittently since high school, but always wanted to go into medicine. On TikTok, Instagram and Twitter, Flanary posts videos several times a week for more than 1.6 million followers about the medical system. Flanary churns out original content every few days. My Dr. Once a month, just check yourself.'. Ive gone from cutting up in front of my 6th-grade classmates to delivering keynote addresses around the world and entertaining an audience of millions online. 3h Replying to @mkarolian and @DGlaucomflecken Spring 2020, aka early Covid, tiny @LGlaucomflecken rocked the CPR, so he's to educate & entertain us still 5 He has two children now and is grateful his wife Kristin known on Twitter as Lady Glaucomflecken convinced him to start their family during medical school. "It's crazy some of the things we do." I had an excellent medical team, and my family also played a big part in my recovery. But mainly, the young, mellow-voiced doctor focuses on the strong personalities involved in everyday medical practice. For Flanary, comedy comes naturally. Becoming a partner in his own practice changed the risk calculus. Flanary, 36, has been on both sides of the stethoscope. "I've walked out of my home office into some very strange situations," Kristin says. If you trust your content, if you trust the message, then youve got to just go with it and accept that. DEALING WITH CANCER AND A HEART ATTACK. At the time, Flanary told CTV News, "If Id known that it would turn into this I would have chosen an easier name to say. Even as my pursuit of a medical career took me to the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth in New Hampshire, I continued to do stand-up comedy when I wasnt learning the Krebs cycle or other things that med students learn that I dont really remember. Its my coping mechanism. He was diagnosed the first time in his third year of medical school and then a second time in his third year of residency, he said. In the end, he went through with the surgery and underwent hormone replacement therapy. He added: 'No one knows your testicles better than you, more than likely. "I wasn't really looking for a boyfriend or anything at the time," Kristin recalls. Written by: "Medicine is full of absurdity," he says. "I was sitting down," he says with a sense of wonder. That's funny, but it's kind of my passion Let's check out this video! It feels good to laugh. There are many YouTube reaction videos from doctors on Flanarys assessments of their character such as trauma surgeon David Hindin and neurosurgeon Martin Rutkowski who say the portrayals are spot-on. Then one morning in 2013, Flanary woke up and felt a lump in his testicle. Access to the Plus Cataloguethousands of Audible Originals, audiobooks and podcasts, including exclusive series. 1 credit a month to use on any title of your choiceyours to keep. It was my coping mechanism. That garnered so many comments from students and doctors. One thing Ive learned is that the videos that get the biggest reaction are the ones where there is an emotional reaction. Is Homeostasis a Joke to You Water Bottle. We dont spam! Dr. Glaucomflecken will deliver the keynote address during EMS World Expo, Sept. 14-18, 2020. But cancer is not the only challenge Flanary has faced. He practices in Oregon City, Oregon and lives in Portland, Oregon. There are two things Ive always wanted to do in life: I started out as an amateur performing stand-up comedy in Houston, TX to sparsely attended comedy club open mics. Flanary couldn't perform regularly, given his responsibilities as a student and a father. There was an error saving your display name. Dr. Glaucomflecken said he didnt want to listen to her 911 call at first because it was too hard to hear. Area of Expertise: Cataracts Eye Exams Locations: Oregon City: (503) 656-4221 Wilsonville: (503) 582-0000 Board Certified, American Board of Ophthalmology I checked it out and it seemed perfect, Flanary said. According to reports, only one to two per cent of testicular cancer survivors develop it again in the other testicle - but he was unfortunately one of those survivors. Flanary is alive because his wife, Kristin, noticed his irregular breathing and performed CPR until an EMT could arrive and shock his heart back into regular function. Theres the lackadaisical emergency medicine doctor, eternally clad in cycling gear. Despite coming close to death on more than one occasion, he constantly posts positive and hilarious videos to his TikTok account under the name Dr. Glaucomflecken, which has gained him morethan one million followers and more than 40 million likes. I get to go home at a reasonable time and develop meaningful relationships with my family. The more hours you work per week, the closer you get to park to the hospital. Although they may not want to admit it, "powerless" is exactly how many medical professionals, patients, and their families often feel. Terms of Service | Privacy Policy | Community Guidelines | KRDO Jobs | FCC Applications |, KRDO FCC Public File | KRDO FCC Applications, Breaking News Then in 2016, Flanary was again diagnosed with testicular cancer not a recurrence, but a totally separate case. And theres this prevailing notion that doctors cant show who they really are. As graduation approached, the couple seemed to be going in different directions literally. Then, on May 12, 2020, he went into cardiac arrest (not heart attack) and was saved by his wife, Kristin, who performed CPR. Gaur Gopal Das. At this point, I feel back to normal. On the other hand, some physicians attempts at white-coat comedy have veered into questionable jokes at patients expense. Its this sweet spot of demystification and comedy simultaneously.. They dont like the portrayal of the some of them as overworked, underpaid sympathetic figure, always doing some sort of fellowship. Here, Dr. Flanary shares some of his experience. Read our privacy policy for more info. Please confirm that you would like to log out of Medscape. "What I post, what I say, what I advocate for, has a little more weight behind it." Transcript Will: [00:00:00] Knock, knock, knock. with the Glaucomfleckens. It kept me moving.". If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it. TikTok doc makes physicians laugh at themselves. Better known as Dr. Glaucomflecken to the rest of the world, his humour has been a bright spot for his 1.3 million TikTok and 472.9K Twitter followers looking for a bit of levity amid the. Ankur Warikoo, 101 Essays That Will Change the Way You Think, Written by: Q: How did this whole social media gig get started? document.getElementById( "ak_js_2" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Book a personalized video with Dr. Glaucomflecken on Cameo! Please note: This content carries a strict local market embargo. My Dr. Dr. Glaucomflecken hasn't responded to me and probably won't. Go ahead and share this so he gets the message. I am Lady Glock Flecking. The characters bounce off one another, either to illustrate some irksome aspect of medicine or simply to be the butt of a joke. Flanary isnt terribly concerned that his caricatures will ruffle feathers among his peers, in part because hes never far removed from a joke at the expense of his own specialty. Its wrong, but its also true, said the surgeon. Researchers are exploring how the brain helps prevent knee injuries, Even 3 mild concussions can cause cognitive problems, researchers say, Carolyn Hax: Boyfriends visits leave single mom with no time for herself, Miss Manners: What to do when a fellow diner was rude to server, medical students are living in a special kind of hell. I had this bad thing happen, I made it through, and now Im OK. What means more to me is that Im able to reach out to the public using my platform to create some meaningful change, and also sing the praises of my amazing partner. He'll do it all under the guise of his signature, top hat-wearing ophthalmoscope. After a three-day ICU stay, Flanary would be fitted with a temporary defibrillator, undergo surgery to get a permanent one, and most important for his comedy navigate the hellish reality of American health insurance. You must declare any conflicts of interest related to your comments and responses. But it is all just balls.. Being funny was always meant to be a hobby rather than a vocation, but the surging popularity of Dr. Glaucomflecken has turned into a business in its own right. Whenever hes uncertain whether a given joke might go too far, he refers to a simple guiding principle: Be sure to punch up. Let's put an end of burnout. SURGEON reacts: Dr. Glaucomflecken trauma surgery on July 4th David Hindin, M.D. He grew up in Houston, the son of a teacher and an engineer. The culture of medicine is notoriously conservative, and doctors social media accounts tend toward the robotic. ", He began to develop a personal coda for how to conduct himself online. Are there additional benefits for Amazon Prime members? Flanary's recovery was quick, but he needed an outlet to process his experiences. One of his most popular recent videos, which pokes fun at the latest CDC guidelines recommending shorter isolation periods for asymptomatic COVID-19 cases, has already garnered 6.4 million views on TikTok after the guidelines were widely criticized. Another video depicts a patient agreeing without hesitation to a full body CT scan, lumbar puncture, colonoscopy, brain biopsy, and an experimental surgery where we replace your spleen with a second liver.. Diagnosis Compression gonioscopy is key to properly diagnosing an acute angle closure. Q: What did you think when you learned you had a cardiac arrest? In 2017, Flanary went kayaking in Hood River, Oregon, with 15 other cancer survivors. Radhakrishnan Pillai, Written by: Eyeballs aside, he had found the perfect specialty for him. Flanary grew up in Houston, Texas. 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