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2008-04-24 · letter vlog · Hank · 4:00 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Personal life · mode: Personal update · tags: community lore, song or performance

Hank reports that last week's illness was an allergic reaction to sulfasalazine, the cheap drug he took for lack of health insurance, which sent him to the ER; he wishes he had not had to go through it just because he can't get insurance.

What is said

The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).

00:00:00 — Sung opener: last week's 'disease' was an allergy to sulfasalazine; blood pressure 80/40, IV rehydration; suspicion about the new medication

  • ★★★ Hank says the illness he blamed on Barack Obama last week (week of 14 April 2008) was actually an allergy to sulfasalazine; his blood pressure fell to 80 over 40 and he needed IV rehydration. — 00:00:00 · Barack Obama
  • ★★ Hank's doctor had said last week's (week of 14 April 2008) sickness was probably a virus, though Hank suspected his new medication had caused an allergic reaction. — 00:00:00

00:00:44 — Two pills compared: expensive one ($1.50, nine a day) vs cheap one (15 cents, six a day); insured vs uninsured patients; going back on the cheap pills after Texas

  • ★★ Hank says the expensive alternative drug costs $1.50 a pill at nine a day, while the one he switched to costs about 15 cents a pill at six a day. — 00:00:44
  • ★★★ Hank says, exaggerating, that insured patients get the drug with no side effects while uninsured ones get the cheap one that 'sometimes kills you'. (playful) — 00:00:44
  • ★★ Because the urgent-care doctor called it a virus, Hank went back on the cheap pills after returning from Texas; next morning he had a painful rash. — 00:00:44

00:01:29 — Rash, fever and low blood pressure; ER visit, IV and steroids; steroid side effects (hunger, emotions); Lortab; rash over the whole body except two parts

  • ★★★ That afternoon Hank had a high fever, a bad headache and blood pressure so low he couldn't stand; the next day he went to the ER. — 00:01:29
  • ★★ At the ER a first-year medical student struggled to place his IV; he got two liters of saline, then hydrocortisone and steroid pills and a prescription. — 00:01:53
  • ★★ Hank says the steroids make him very hungry and very emotional, and he was also given Lortab, which he is being careful with. (playful) — 00:01:53
  • ★★ This time the rash covers Hank's whole body except two parts, and sometimes his skin hurts badly. (playful) — 00:02:22

00:03:11 — Doing better; wishes he hadn't had to go to the ER just because he can't get health insurance; back on the expensive pills; punishment ideas

  • ★★★ 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. — 00:03:11
  • ★★ Owing a punishment for his infraction, Hank has been reading viewers' punishment ideas and asks for ones not involving death or torture. (playful) — 00:03:11 · Punishment, Nerdfighteria

00:03:41 — Four-minute rule: a longer version of the video exists elsewhere; sign-off

  • ★ Because the brothers are strict about the four-minute rule, Hank made two versions; the full five-minute one is posted elsewhere on YouTube (channel name unclear). — 00:03:41 · Four-minute rule, YouTube

Humor (significant)

  • Hank explains how pricey his good medication is. — 00:00:44

    “So when I drop one of these things on the bathroom floor, I eat it!”

  • A pill bottle hits Hank in the face mid-sentence. — 00:00:44

    “I just hit myself in the face with it. Bastard pills!”

  • Steroids made Hank emotional while watching shows online. — 00:02:22

    “And then I watched a commercial for Cisco the human network”

  • The rash now covers Hank's whole body except two parts. — 00:02:22

    “You're seeing one of them right now, and the other one is less mentionable.”

Threads in this video

Where the stories that moved here went next

Mentioned

Central: sulfasalazine

Also: People: Barack Obama

Works: Bones · House

Organizations: Cisco · YouTube

Rituals: Four-minute rule · Punishment

Concepts: health care prices in the United States

Places: Texas

Characters: Gregory House

Products: Lortab

Replies to

  • corrects · ITCHY MUSIC! — “Last week I said Barack Obama gave me a disease But it was actually an allergy to sulfasalazine”

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