Episode 12 • Health
Be in unbearable pain
Be diagnosed with
Prescribe
Relieve the pain
Be back on one's feet
Story
My nutrition hasn’t always been the best. As a child my parents would force me to eat with them. When I turned 16, I told them I was old enough to decide what to eat and what not to eat and I stopped eating fruit and vegetables and started eating junk food every day. After a few months of poor eating, I started to get headaches. I was in unbearable pain most of the time. It got so bad at one point that I couldn’t even go to school anymore. I finally decided to listen to my parents and I went to the doctor. I was immediately diagnosed with vitamin deficiency and the doctor prescribed me a bunch of supplements to take daily as well as some other medicine to help relieve the pain. Within a few days, I was back on my feet, thank goodness! And now I make sure I eat lots of fruit and vegetables EVERY DAY. Maybe it is true that an apple a day keeps the doctor away!
Questions
Ready to learn a few new words?
Be in unbearable pain
'I was in unbearable pain.'
• If you are in unbearable pain, on a scale from 1 to 10, how much pain are you experiencing?
Oh boy, if you're in unbearable pain, that's probably a 9 to a 10. It's as painful as you can get.
• Have you ever been in unbearable pain? Why? What happened?
I don't know. I tend to exaggerate, so even if my pain is, let's say, a five, I'm going to be like, "Oh my gosh, I'm in so much pain," but there have been a few times where, for example, I had to stay in bed because either my stomach hurt really bad or my back hurt really bad. I don't really have back problems, but yes, sometimes I get cramps and I have to stay in bed because I'm in unbearable pain.
• If not, what do you think would cause you unbearable pain?
Lots of things can cause unbearable pain. Well, I don't know. You could maybe break a leg. Ooh, you know what's a good example of unbearable pain? You know when you're walking and you hit like a bed or a chair with your little toe. Just think about that pain for a second and I'm sure you realize that that's unbearable pain. I don't think-- there's few things in life that hurt as much as hitting your little toe.
Be diagnosed with
'I was immediately diagnosed with vitamin deficiency.'
• If you’re diagnosed with an illness, do you know what illness you have?
Yes. If you've been diagnosed with an illness, that means that they tell you what is wrong with you. You walk in, you go into the doctor, you don't know what's happening to you. Then, they diagnose you with a certain illness.
• Can anyone diagnose you with an illness?
Can you say, "Oh, my parents have diagnosed me with blah, blah, blah."? No, your parents, unless they're doctors, they cannot do that, because you need to be a medical professional.
• Two months ago I had a fever. It's not true, but for the sake of learning, I couldn't breathe and I coughed a lot. Fever, couldn't breathe, and coughed a lot. What do you think I was diagnosed with?
Let's play doctor. What do you think it was? Two months ago I was diagnosed with pneumonia. Again, not true, but you get the point.
Prescribe
'The doctor prescribed me a bunch of supplements.'
• Who is authorized to prescribe a medicine or treatment?
Again, not your parents, unless they're doctors. The person who's authorized to prescribe a medicine would be a doctor or a medical professional.
• When you doctor prescribes something, do they normally just tell you or also write it down?
Whatever they're prescribing, do they write it down or do they simply tell you the name? I don't know if that depends on the country, but normally what happens in my experience is that they will tell you what you need to take. Then, they will take a little piece of paper, that's an official piece of paper, and they will write it down. Sometimes, you can't read it because a lot of times doctors have really bad handwriting, but they do write it normally.
• What would your doctor prescribe in order to treat a headache?
It depends on your doctor obviously, and I'm not here to give any medical advice whatsoever, but some people, if they go to the doctor complaining because they have a headache they will probably be prescribed something like, an Ibuprofen or a painkiller in general to help them.
Relieve the pain
'As well as some other medicine to help relieve the pain.'
• If you take something to relieve the pain, does the pain pain go away completely or partially?
If you're trying to relieve the pain, the idea is to make the pain less, or less intense. Now, it may go away completely, but to relieve means to make it more tolerable.
• If you take something to relieve the pain, will the pain be really bad or will it be tolerable?
Again, it will be tolerable once it has been relieved.
• If you experience pain, do you normally take something to relieve it or wait until you feel better?
Things have kind of changed for me recently. In the past I used to-- because my mom was really against medicine. Not really, but like, unless it was something serious, she wouldn't want me to take any pain killers. If I had a headache, I'd just have to sleep it off or wait and, yes, wait for it to go away. Now, because I don't want to be in pain, I sometimes take an Ibuprofen if I'm not feeling well. It depends. If I know that it's something that maybe sleep can cure-- sometimes you have a headache because you're tired, and if I have the chance to sleep, then I'm just going to try and sleep and I try to avoid it.
Be back on one’s feet
'Within a few days, I was back on my feet.'
• How do you feel before being back on your feet? Good or sick?
So, before being back on your feet, you're feeling sick. Then, after being back on your feet, that's because you feel good, you feel better.
• If you are back on your feet, are you fully recovered or only partially?
If you use the expression to be back on your feet, it's normally because whatever you had is gone, and so you're fully recovered. You may have still like a few symptoms or something like that, but, you feel good. You're ready to go back to school, ready to go back to work.
• If you have a fever, how long does it normally take you to be back on your feet?
We already talked about a cold in a past episode. I think for a fever maybe it takes a little bit longer than a cold, so, probably a week before I'm back on my feet. So, yeah. I would say a week or so.
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