Ninja and Pirate

So there was a problem the last few weeks. My computer’s connection to my Cintiq display tablet broke the day before I was supposed to post. So I haven’t been able to really be online. Thankfully, I was able to get this comic done for THIS week. The bonus panel is a comic I made on Reddit the day before I lost my display that went semi-viral. So it’s been a heck of a week. My kids start school, and my son’s birthday is this week. And my little sister’s. This comic is for her. The phrase “when you hear hoofbeats, think horse- not zebra” is often used in medical school to teach future doctors that rare diseases are, in fact, rare. The problem is, this often causes the doctors to completely disregard the disease’s possibility to exist. Astronomical odds are still possible, and many medical experts are conditioned to ignore or disbelieve claims that may lead them to a correct diagnosis, even if it is unlikely. This makes it incredibly difficult and even traumatic for many people to get the care they actually need. Especially women, who are often disregarded by doctors as reactionary and hypochondriac. The way I see it, if you refuse to diagnose a rare disease, then it won’t ever become more common will it? Sometimes when you hear a hoofbeat, it IS a zebra. My sister is one of them. And I know of several more.