Weird Foreign Diseases I have never had or heard of anyone in this country having

[Pruni]

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First person I knew with sciatica was Canadian. She got it the day after her wedding; turned up at the post-wedding barbecue looking like a flamingo. Wedding dress was a little tight (so she told us )

Huh? Sciatica is nerve pain - usually from your lower back going down one leg. Don't know what that would have to do with someone looking like a flamingo or her wedding dress being too tight.

Mono is definitely glandular fever - short for mononucleosis. And strep is short for streptococccus. Ok, my spelling's not that great but I think the Americans like naming things based on the actual name of the virus or bacteria involved. When my friend's little girl had cellulitis my dad (a pediatrician in America) kept asking,"But is it strep?, Is it staph?".

Also, I don't think strep and tonsillitis are strictly the same thing - you can get an infection/inflamation of the tonsils that is not caused by strep. I used to get both strep and tonsillitis when I was little (in the states) and eventually had to have my tonsils out. Did the trick though!

LOL at french treating babies for snuffly colds. We have a great lass from paris looking after ds 3 days a week. i can tell she likes me well enough, but thinks I am criminally negligent for not taking every snuffly and throat clearning hot foot to the gp.

and now i wonder if any country has hot foot disease.

Sugarmagnolia, her wedding dress being too tight had caused her to hold herself awkwardly all day causing the sciatica. She had returned from 3 months trekking through Africa thin as a pin, had a fitting in Montreal, gained weight and been unable to get back for another fitting and not enough room had been put in the dress to allow for the weight gain.

The flamingo effect was caused by the pain down her leg - she was holding it in a funny position, bit like a flamingo

Perhaps you will understand now I have explained further.

Ah, got it now. When you said she looked like a flamingo I assumed she had gone a funny shade of pink and thought maybe you had confused sciatica with some weird skin condition! Also, did you know flamingos smell really bad!