What’s it like to have monkeypox? I spoke to someone who had it.

You’ve likely read about monkeypox in headlines, but this week, I dived deeper into the diagnosis by interviewing people who had their own experiences with the virus to bring our readers info on what it’s really like.

One person I spoke to was Matt Ford, who learned in mid-June someone he had been in contact with the weekend prior was experiencing monkeypox symptoms. The following weekend, intense flu-like symptoms hit the 30-year-old hard. Fever, chills, sore throat, coughing, swollen lymph nodes and sweating through his sheets at night.

After being swabbed for monkeypox at his doctor’s office, flu-like symptoms lessened but lesions appeared and became “quite painful.”

Dull, constant soreness. Bursts of sharp jabbing pain whenever he moved the wrong way or irritated a lesion.

Not only did I hear from someone who had it, I also interviewed people who got vaccinated against it.

One person who decided to get the vaccine is Will Kellogg, a 29-year-old based in Brooklyn, New York, who said “it just made sense” once he heard there was one available.

“I am a gay man and obviously I know a lot of gay people and spend a lot of time with them. So it just seemed like the most proactive thing to do,” he explains. “I can obviously protect myself, but in theory, if it can decrease the amount of cases among gay people, it won’t necessarily spread to everybody else.”

To read the full story and learn more about monkeypox, click here. 

The debilitating condition you likely haven’t heard of yet

Though juvenile arthritis affects nearly 300,000 kids and teens in the U.S. – causing issues like joint inflammation, swelling and pain – it is still widely misunderstood or outright unknown to the general public.

In order to help shed light on what it’s like to live with juvenile arthritis, I interviewed people with the condition to learn more. Here are some misconceptions about the condition they busted: 

click here.

How to ‘summer-proof’ your child 

July 4 has come and gone, but summer continues. What are the best ways to help keep your kids safe this season? That’s what our medical columnist, emergency room doctor Michael Daignault, discussed this week. Here are a few things he says to consider:

How to pick the best helmet: A helmet is absolutely essential for any kid who is riding a bicycle, skateboarding or roller blading/skating. All helmets manufactured after 1999 must comply with the mandatory safety standard issued by the Consumer Product Safety Commission but always be sure to check the inside of the helmet for this label.

click here.

Today’s reads

• This week’s advice column: Am I wrong for choosing my boyfriend over my toxic family?
• If you are in a relationship that no longer is good for you, ask yourself these questions.
• Stars spoke out for abortion rights. It didn’t save Roe v. Wade. What was the point?
• Headache? Dry mouth? What to know about hangovers and whether those ‘cures’ actually work
• How to decipher those confusing food labels at the grocery store
• Brad Pitt says he has prosopagnosia. What is that, and what do experts say about it?

Today’s pet

Meet Obi.

Introducing my nephew, Obi! My sister just adopted this adorable orange kitty, and I got to meet him for the first time this week. He’s very sweet, loves treats and was thoroughly entertained with the laser pointer I brought him. We can’t wait for him to meet my cat Theodore one day and be best friends and cat cousins!

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