Skip to content

Ulcerative Colitis: A Song

2009-05-20 · song · Hank · 3:52 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Health (also: Projects) · mode: Comedy & performance · tags: song or performance, self promotion, heavy topic

Hank sings a comic song about his ulcerative colitis, from symptoms and diagnosis to being uninsured and priced out of care, then, prodded by his sock puppet, answers questions on a new album, DFTBA Records releases and LeakyCon plans.

What is said

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

00:00:00 — Song: symptoms, colonoscopy, diagnosis of ulcerative colitis, insurance and drug costs

  • ★★ 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
  • ★★★ In the song, the doctor tells Hank that what he has is ulcerative colitis. (playful) — 00:00:34
  • ★★ 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

  • ★★★ In Hank's song the doctor says insurers shun sick people, the pills will cost an arm and a leg, and prices here are as high as the market can bear. (playful) — 00:01:04 · Canada

    “insurance companies hate to deal with sick folks like you”

  • ★★ In the song, the doctor tells Hank he is not insured and will probably stay that way. (playful) — 00:01:04

00:01:33 — Song ending (no cure but surgery; the health-care system) and the Hank Sock bit

  • ★★ 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
  • ★★ The song closes that besides the importance of fibre, Hank has learned the health-care system is badly 'screwed up' (the comparison is unclear). (playful) — 00:01:33

00:02:20 — Hank answers questions: new album, DFTBA Records releases, LeakyCon speech, Boston meetup

  • ★ Hank Sock: Hank's sock puppet, 'Hank Sock', asks whether Hank is annoyed that John gets to answer questions every Question Tuesday and Hank never does. (joke) — 00:02:20 · Question Tuesday
  • ★★ Asked about another album, Hank says he will put one out, but does not know when. (hedged) — 00:02:20
  • ★★ Asked about DFTBA Records, Hank says it is doing very well and has just released Dave Days' first album, available from DFTBA. — 00:02:20 · DFTBA Records
  • ★★★ Hank announces the DFTBA Records compilation album goes on pre-order today and ships June 1st, bundled with Chameleon Circuit's first album, and lists its artists. — 00:02:50 · DFTBA Records
  • ★ Hank tells LeakyCon attendees not to pre-order, since they can get the album there faster from him. — 00:02:50
  • ★ Hank says the weekly Wednesday DFTBA Radio Hour will begin soon, with a link in the sidebar. — 00:02:50 · DFTBA Records, link in the sidebar
  • ★★ Hank says he is very excited about LeakyCon, and he and John have been working on their speech all week. — 00:03:19
  • ★★ Hank says John leaves right after LeakyCon, but Hank will stay in Boston and play songs and gather with Nerdfighters at the LilyPad, 4 to 5:30pm Sunday. — 00:03:19 · Nerdfighteria
  • ★★ Hank says he likes answering questions after all and invites viewers to leave some in the comments for him to answer later. — 00:03:45

Humor (significant)

  • Waking after the colonoscopy while the doctor reads his chart, Hank gets his attention. — 00:00:34

    “I called his attention to me with a 15 minute fart”

  • Drug prices in the US are as high as the market can bear. — 00:01:04

    “And they can bear a lot compared with soiled underwear”

  • The doctor says the only cure is to take the whole colon out. — 00:01:33

    “we install a little spout”

  • Hank's sock puppet 'Hank Sock' starts talking, but Hank is visible behind it. — 00:01:33

    “Dude, it ruins the illusion when you do that.”

Threads in this video

Where the stories that moved here went next

Mentioned

Central: DFTBA Records · DFTBA Volume One · Ulcerative Colitis (song)

Also: People: Alex Day · Charlie McDonnell · Dave Days

Works: Doctor Who · Harry Potter (book series)

Rituals: Question Tuesday

Terms: link in the sidebar

Concepts: health care prices in the United States · ulcerative colitis (concept)

Places: Boston · Canada · Lilypad

Events: LeakyCon

Characters: Hank Sock

Only in the description or credits: A Song About an Anglerfish · Alan Lastufka · Chameleon Circuit · Julia Nunes · Michael Aranda · Molly Lewis · Tom Milsom

← Previous: Question Tuesday! · Next → WROCK!