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Hank: living with ulcerative colitis (2007)

story · status: told 14×, last update 2026 · last event: retold (2026-04-07)

Hank announced in March 2007 that he lives with ulcerative colitis. Over the following years the brothers kept returning to it: being unable to get health insurance, the cost of his medicine, colonoscopies and how the disease shapes his life.

Told alongside: Hank ruptures both eardrums flying home sick after VidCon (2016) · John buys Warner Chilcott stock after the Asacol HD price rise and sells it for a $26 profit (2011) · Hank's Asacol HD price rises from $50 to $620 a month (2011) · Hank's Hodgkin lymphoma diagnosis and chemotherapy (2023) · Hank's full-body allergic reaction to sulfasalazine (2008)

About: ulcerative colitis (concept)

date event what video
2007-03-02 told Hank announces that he has been living with ulcerative colitis. (playful) Brotherhood 2.0: March 2nd: Politics and Butt Explosions 00:01:04
2008-01-08 update Hank says he cannot get health insurance despite money and will, and that the same colon disorder bars him from sesame seeds on doctor's orders. Sledding and YouTube Tag 00:01:20
2008-04-24 update Hank is doing much better thanks to the ER doctors but wishes he hadn't had to go through it just because he can't get health insurance; he is back on the expensive drug. Pills Pills Pills 00:03:11
2008-04-28 update John says insurers will not cover Hank at any price, though his only wrong was being sick; this unfairness, unlike some of illness, can be fixed. Ranting and Giving Stuff Away 00:03:14
2009-04-01 (said on 2009-03-31, implied) update Hank says he currently can't eat wheat or seeds because of his colon. A Few Of My Favorite Things 00:00:58
2009-05-20 retold Hank retells his ulcerative colitis diagnosis as a comic song: symptoms at 23, colonoscopy, diagnosis, no cure, costs. (playful) Ulcerative Colitis: A Song 00:00:34
2009-09-20 (said on 2009-09-21, implied) retold John retells that Hank has ulcerative colitis and could not get health insurance for many years because of it. Health Care Reform: The Hank Factor 00:01:06
2009-09-20 (said on 2009-09-21, implied) update John reports Hank now has insurance through Montana's state plan, still pays $20 a day for medicine without drug coverage, and invests more in EcoGeek. Health Care Reform: The Hank Factor 00:02:04
2010-03-12 update Hank says he has been feeling much better and has a new prescription drug at about half the price of the old one, whose price had risen sharply. Peeing, Pooping, Prescription Drugs, and Ramen Noodle Fires 00:00:58
2010-03-22 update Hank says he is self-employed with chronic pre-existing conditions, which the new health-care law will protect from insurer bias. Top 10 Weirdest Diseases 00:00:02
2011-01-24 retold Hank reminds those who don't know that he has ulcerative colitis, a chronic illness with no known cure, and has taken Asacol for about five years. The 1200% Increase in my Prescription Drug Costs 00:00:11
2011-01-26 update The CEO does not work for Hank or other people with ulcerative colitis but for shareholders like John; his business is a return on John's investment, not supplying Hank with Asacol. I OWN WARNER CHILCOTT! 00:00:30
2011-04-01 retold John recalls buying Warner Chilcott stock after the company 'Warner Chilcotted' Hank and others with ulcerative colitis; he sold it today for a $26 profit and can't recall feeling worse about making $26. (playful) Many Truths, 1 Lie! 00:01:39
2012-12-14 update Hank says he has just made a very personal video on Hank's channel about having ulcerative colitis, and confirms he has it. I Got Nothin… 00:00:28
2013-09-03 update John says Hank, uninsurable because of ulcerative colitis, now has Montana catastrophic coverage capping out-of-pocket costs at $10,000 a year; before, he had no insurance. Bigger Pizzas: A Capitalist Case for Health Care Reform 00:02:26
2014-05-20 retold John argues we don't deserve the terrible things either: Hank doesn't deserve ulcerative colitis, no one deserves chronic pain, dementia or poverty; deserving may not be the best way to imagine it. (hedged) Deserving 00:01:53
2015-11-20 retold John says he hopes ulcerative colitis is cured someday but doesn't expect Hank to get well soon, hoping instead Hank lives a full life without being marginalised. On Mental Illness (and the end of Pizzamas) 00:01:32
2016-02-26 update Hank's 20-year goal is still to have a colon when he is 55. (playful) Things You Don't Know About Us (REUNION!) 00:02:28
2016-07-01 update After taking a lot of DayQuil and ibuprofen, Hank's colitis started acting up; he says he can never again take the nighttime cold medicine. So, I Ruptured Both my Eardrums! (Also, NerdCon: Nerdfighteria) 00:02:04
2016-07-08 update Hank says fad-diet cures never worked for his ulcerative colitis, only his doctor's medicine did, and he has dealt with the illness by accepting it. Your Illness is Not Your Fault 00:00:28
2017-10-17 retold To cut the sentimentality, John has his four-year-old daughter Alice insult Uncle Hank ('stupid butt'), adding it is kind of true given Hank's ulcerative colitis. (playful, hedged) Look at Tiny Baby Hank 00:02:30
2018-11-01 retold Hank says he deserves neither his guilt nor his advantages, nor his ulcerative colitis or healthy child: deserving is the wrong frame; the question is what to do with what you have. Should I Feel Guilty? 00:03:12
2019-03-22 update The description says the procedure went great, Katherine filmed him being a dork, and he still has moderate inflammation in his distal colon, normal for him but worth treating. How to Get a Colonoscopy video description
2019-07-26 retold The drugs kept Hank out of constant pain, helped his body take in nutrition and stop bleeding into itself, and prevented a lifelong loss of physical ability. The Best $10,000 I Ever Spent 00:00:29
2020-03-20 retold After his first colonoscopy Hank was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis. The Sudden Obliteration of Expectation 00:00:58
2020-03-20 update More than 15 years on, Hank has been popcorn abstinent for over a decade and structures his life around his disease a little. (playful) The Sudden Obliteration of Expectation 00:06:25
2020-11-20 retold Health-care workers have shown Hank tremendous kindness every time he went to the hospital, with a broken bone or for his ulcerative colitis. Would I Take a COVID Vaccine? 00:02:58
2023-01-17 update John says Hank has ulcerative colitis, has lived with it most of his adult life, and it is really hard, but he is doing it. John Green Answers the Most Searched Hank Green Questions 00:01:27
2023-02-03 update Hank thought he had a colonoscopy today, but after he started a new medicine it was pushed back to May; he had not taken it off his schedule, so he gained an extra day. My Mid-Afternoon Existential Crisis 00:00:00
2023-08-08 retold John says they have both seen comments blaming Hank's cancer on a vaccination, on working too hard, or on his ulcerative colitis. TAKE IT UP A NOTCH 00:01:56
2026-04-07 retold John notes Hank has always had to destigmatize pooping somewhat because he has ulcerative colitis. I've Been Pooping All Wrong 00:01:56

Dates are upload dates, which set the order. Where the speaker gives a different recording date in the video, it is added as "said on YYYY-MM-DD, implied" (derived from the date said in the video).

What is said about it

54 statements, by date (the events above are the turns of the thread; these are the details).

  • 2008-01-08 · Sledding and YouTube Tag — Hank says he is one of millions of Americans who can afford and want health insurance but do not have it. — 00:01:20
  • 2008-01-08 · Sledding and YouTube Tag — Hank hates sesame seeds for the same reason he has no insurance: a disorder in his colon they irritate; his doctor forbids them, ruling out many buns. (playful) — 00:01:48
  • 2008-04-28 · Ranting and Giving Stuff Away — John says the drug Hank was given is almost never prescribed in any European country with socialized medicine. (doubtful: almost never prescribed) — 00:03:14
  • 2009-05-20 · Ulcerative Colitis: A Song — Hank sings that he began feeling ill at 23, with pain worsening for weeks, until a doctor ordered a stool sample and then a colonoscopy. (playful) — 00:00:00
  • 2009-05-20 · Ulcerative Colitis: A Song — Hank: The song calls ulcerative colitis road rash on the colon: bleeding, pain, unknown cause, no cure and a raised cancer risk, though colon cancer is curable if watched. (playful) — 00:00:34
  • 2009-05-20 · Ulcerative Colitis: A Song — Hank: In the song, the doctor tells Hank he is not insured and will probably stay that way. (playful) — 00:01:04
  • 2009-05-20 · Ulcerative Colitis: A Song — Hank: In the song the doctor says the only cure is removing the whole colon and installing 'a little spout'; Hank says he would rather take costly pills. (playful) — 00:01:33
  • 2009-09-20 (said on 2009-09-21, implied) · Health Care Reform: The Hank Factor — John says Hank has ulcerative colitis, describing it comically as a disease whose details you don't want to know. (playful) — 00:00:00
  • 2009-09-20 (said on 2009-09-21, implied) · Health Care Reform: The Hank Factor — John says that despite a successful business, Hank could not get health insurance for many years because insurers avoid covering ulcerative colitis, which is very expensive. — 00:01:06
  • 2009-09-20 (said on 2009-09-21, implied) · Health Care Reform: The Hank Factor — John says insurers are not evil; they simply, and correctly, see Hank as a bad investment. — 00:01:06
  • 2009-09-20 (said on 2009-09-21, implied) · Health Care Reform: The Hank Factor — John says Hank must take a medicine costing $20 a day and has a greater risk of colon cancer, an incredibly expensive disease. — 00:01:06
  • 2009-09-20 (said on 2009-09-21, implied) · Health Care Reform: The Hank Factor — John says Montana, not known for liberal bias, partnered with a private insurer on a somewhat affordable plan open to anyone regardless of pre-existing conditions. — 00:02:04
  • 2009-09-20 (said on 2009-09-21, implied) · Health Care Reform: The Hank Factor — John says Hank now has insurance through that plan, though without drug coverage he still pays $20 a day; worrying less about cancer and bankruptcy, he invests more in EcoGeek, which employs more people. — 00:02:04
  • 2010-03-12 · Peeing, Pooping, Prescription Drugs, and Ramen Noodle Fires — Hank says Lemon is happiest right after pooping, which makes him nostalgic for the days when he enjoyed pooping. (playful) — 00:00:58
  • 2010-03-12 · Peeing, Pooping, Prescription Drugs, and Ramen Noodle Fires — Hank says his old drug's monthly price rose sharply within a year; he hopes the new, half-price one won't keep rising '100% every year'. (hedged) (doubtful: $3.85 a month; doubtful: $4.58 a month; doubtful: 100% every year) — 00:00:58
  • 2011-01-24 · The 1200% Increase in my Prescription Drug Costs — Hank: Asacol's price kept rising; then Apriso, basically the same drug and significantly cheaper, came on the market, so Hank switched to it. — 00:00:25
  • 2011-01-24 · The 1200% Increase in my Prescription Drug Costs — Hank says Asacol's maker then created Asacol HD just as Asacol was about to go generic: basically the same drug under a name different enough to extend its patent. — 00:00:37
  • 2011-01-24 · The 1200% Increase in my Prescription Drug Costs — Hank: Asacol used to cost Hank $300 a month; Asacol HD was offered to him at $50 a month. — 00:00:56
  • 2011-01-26 · I OWN WARNER CHILCOTT! — John: Because patients without a gastrointestinal anti-inflammatory might die, they are super-motivated customers who cannot negotiate fairly with Warner Chilcott. — 00:02:26
  • 2011-01-26 · I OWN WARNER CHILCOTT! — John: Asacol is much less expensive in Canada, where Warner Chilcott negotiates with the entire population rather than with individuals, John says. — 00:02:42
  • 2011-01-26 · I OWN WARNER CHILCOTT! — John: The free market fails miserably at efficient, inexpensive, effective health care: that buying Warner Chilcott stock is the rational response to its price hike shows the market does not incentivize good health. — 00:02:50
  • 2012-12-14 · I Got Nothin… — Hank had planned a video on having friends with ulcerative colitis and how to treat them, after just posting a very personal video on his other channel about having the disease. — 00:00:28
  • 2013-09-03 · Bigger Pizzas: A Capitalist Case for Health Care Reform — John says Hank has ulcerative colitis, a chronic, very serious and extremely expensive illness, so no insurance company will ever choose to insure him. — 00:02:26
  • 2013-09-03 · Bigger Pizzas: A Capitalist Case for Health Care Reform — John says Montana's catastrophic coverage plan caps Hank's out-of-pocket costs at $10,000 a year; before that law Hank could get no insurance and risked a million-dollar bankrupting illness. — 00:02:26
  • 2015-11-20 · On Mental Illness (and the end of Pizzamas) — John hopes ulcerative colitis is cured someday but doesn't expect Hank to 'get well soon'; he hopes Hank lives a rich and full life and isn't marginalised for his illness, which he calls a big problem. — 00:01:32
  • 2016-07-01 · So, I Ruptured Both my Eardrums! (Also, NerdCon: Nerdfighteria) — Hank says he takes a medicine that suppresses his immune system, so he gets sick a lot and deals with it. — 00:00:41
  • 2016-07-01 · So, I Ruptured Both my Eardrums! (Also, NerdCon: Nerdfighteria) — Hank says he just learned that all normal pain relievers interact very badly with, and are literally dangerous to take with, ulcerative colitis; no one had told him. — 00:01:56
  • 2016-07-08 · Your Illness is Not Your Fault — The description says Hank's colitis is under control after an alarming symptom spike linked to DayQuil, and his medicine works very well for him even though it weakens his immune system. — video description
  • 2016-07-08 · Your Illness is Not Your Fault — Hank says that for years many people have offered a cure for his ulcerative colitis: going gluten-free, grain-free, paleo or vegan, cutting short-chain carbohydrates, or fasting three days then eating an apple. — 00:00:08
  • 2016-07-08 · Your Illness is Not Your Fault — Hank says one person at a party took about half the party to explain his cure to Hank. (playful) — 00:00:24
  • 2016-07-08 · Your Illness is Not Your Fault — Hank says normal advice this past week (get rest, take it easy, sleep more) annoyed him surprisingly, not because it is bad advice but because it taps into his colitis experience. — 00:00:42
  • 2016-07-08 · Your Illness is Not Your Fault — Hank says that after years of being offered cures for an incurable illness, he hears 'I have the secret to your wellness, if only you had the courage to use it' — and beneath it, that his illness is his fault. — 00:00:58
  • 2016-07-08 · Your Illness is Not Your Fault — Hank says that when someone tells him, after more than a decade with ulcerative colitis, that they have the secret to his wellness, he can't help disliking them. — 00:01:27
  • 2016-07-08 · Your Illness is Not Your Fault — Hank says he has heard the line so often, with so many fads and anecdotes, that all he hears is 'your illness is your fault'. — 00:01:44
  • 2016-07-08 · Your Illness is Not Your Fault — ask: Hank asks people supporting someone sick to recognise that the person may be struggling with a feeling that they caused or deserved their illness. — 00:03:33
  • 2019-03-22 · How to Get a Colonoscopy — Hank says he has ulcerative colitis. — 00:00:00
  • 2019-03-22 · How to Get a Colonoscopy — Hank describes ulcerative colitis as a chronic, so far incurable disease in which the immune system attacks the colon, causing diarrhea, bleeding, pain, fatigue, weight loss and eventually death. — 00:00:00
  • 2019-03-22 · How to Get a Colonoscopy — The description says Hank talks about his routine procedure to remove stigma, give advice and make clear that preventative medicine is important. — video description
  • 2019-03-22 · How to Get a Colonoscopy — Hank: For other people with IBD, Hank says he currently takes mesalamine, an anti-inflammatory, and allopurinol, an immunomodulator. — video description
  • 2019-03-22 · How to Get a Colonoscopy — Hank says he was diagnosed in 2005 and, after first getting it under control, has had mild, moderate or no symptoms on and off since. — video description
  • 2019-03-22 · How to Get a Colonoscopy — Hank says severe ulcerative colitis can be cured by removing the colon, but that brings its own difficulties. — 00:00:26
  • 2019-03-22 · How to Get a Colonoscopy — Hank says ulcerative colitis raises the chances of colon cancer and other diseases, so the colon must be watched with an endoscope. — 00:00:26
  • 2019-07-26 · The Best $10,000 I Ever Spent — Hank's true answer: in the roughly three years between losing his insurance after grad school and Obamacare, he spent a little over $10,000 on prescription drugs. — 00:00:29
  • 2019-07-26 · The Best $10,000 I Ever Spent — Hank's drug went from about $250 to $400 while he took it; he still takes it, and uninsured it would now cost $1,700 a month. — 00:00:29
  • 2020-03-20 · The Sudden Obliteration of Expectation — Hank: Around 2003 or 2004 Hank began feeling worsening intestinal pain and other bad symptoms, the pain being the big one. (hedged) — 00:00:00
  • 2020-03-20 · The Sudden Obliteration of Expectation — Hank put off the doctor a little too long; the doctors had no idea what was wrong: perhaps bacterial overgrowth, an allergy, an autoimmune disorder or colon cancer, ranging widely in severity. — 00:00:29
  • 2020-03-20 · The Sudden Obliteration of Expectation — Hank: While undiagnosed and losing weight, Hank swung between feeling he was probably fine and feeling it was very bad. — 00:00:58
  • 2020-03-20 · The Sudden Obliteration of Expectation — Hank explains ulcerative colitis: immune cells attack the colon lining, which ulcerates and reabsorbs water poorly, and it greatly raises the risk of colon cancer. — 00:00:58
  • 2020-03-20 · The Sudden Obliteration of Expectation — Hank says ulcerative colitis expresses very differently in different people: drugs vary in effect, some need their colons removed quickly, others keep them for life. — 00:02:02
  • 2020-03-20 · The Sudden Obliteration of Expectation — Hank: Many years later, the possibility of someday needing his colon removed is a normal everyday thought for Hank; the new normal came, but not quickly. — 00:04:33
  • 2020-03-20 · The Sudden Obliteration of Expectation — Hank: Responding well to the oldest, mildest medicine and nearing remission, Hank decided he might not have the disease, went off his medicine and fell into his worst flare yet. — 00:04:33
  • 2020-03-20 · The Sudden Obliteration of Expectation — Hank says he didn't want the new reality to be real, so he looked for reasons it wasn't. — 00:05:17
  • 2020-03-20 · The Sudden Obliteration of Expectation — Hank: For a surprisingly long time Hank swung between taking the disease seriously and gut-level hope it wasn't real, and sometimes ate things he knew might cause a flare. — 00:05:55
  • 2020-03-20 · The Sudden Obliteration of Expectation — Hank knows things may get much worse, tries to be clear about that with people in his life, and expects pain, sometimes manageable and sometimes not. — 00:06:25