Sunday 9 August 2015

Statistics

Statistics are a funny thing.  Some are completely true though difficult to believe:
  • You are much more likely to get struck by lightning than win the lottery 
  • In 2009, almost 20% of all books sold in the United States were written by Stephenie Meyer.  Yes, really.
  • The average person has one ovary and one testicle.  (Think about it.)

. . . while other statistics sound completely plausible yet are complete twaddle:
  • Men think about sex every 7 seconds
  • Humans use only 10% of their brains
  • The average person swallows 8 spiders while they sleep during their lifetime
And then there are some statistics which look so ridiculous, so preposterously unlikely, that it is simply beyond the realm of possibility for them to be remotely plausible:
  • This blog has been viewed 3 million times.

Despite my gaffe a few months ago about being near 3 million hits (my aging eyes somehow erroneously saw "2,960,000" instead of "2,690,000"), as of today SftTB has officially hit 3 million pageviews.  Somehow over the past 4 years, there have been 3,000,000 distinct occasions that someone on this planet has thought, "Hm, I wonder what DocBastard has to say."  THREE MILLION TIMES.  I don't know how many of those people actually stayed to read my silly stories, but I can tell you what sites referred them here:
I can also tell you where they live:

  • 66% USA
  • 10%  Canada
  • 6% each UK and Australia
  • 1% each France and Germany
  • <1% Singapore, New Zealand, Netherlands, and Ukraine
Some other statistics:
  • Most popular post (surprisingly): "That sinking feeling"
  • Most commented-upon post (not surprisingly): "Jahi McMath update . . . sort of"
  • Top three browsers: Safari (62%), Chrome (18%), Firefox (8%)
  • Top three operating systems: iPhone (41%), Windows (20%), Android (17%)
So whoever you are, wherever you live, and however you got here, I sincerely appreciate the company.  The internet can be a pretty lonely place, and you people are the only reasons I continue to write.  Please keep coming back and commenting, and please do encourage others to join us.  And as with my other milestone posts, I humbly (and hypocritically) request that you leave a comment with your (approximate) location and how you found me.  

See you at 4 million.

Best,
Doc

123 comments:

  1. I'm originally from the Chicago area, but I currently live in the Federation of St Kitts and Nevis. I found you through FML a few years ago

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  2. I'm in the UK and also found you through FML. I enjoy reading your posts. Keep you the good work DrB!

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  3. OKC and used to follow you and Perdix on FML.

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  4. I started reading your blog about 2 years ago after seeing some of your comments on the FML app. I live in the Midwest, USA. Thanks for all the enjoyment and I love reading your blog.

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  5. I'm from New Zealand, and a friend linked to one of your posts on face-blargh.
    You're mixture of, frustration, dedication and blunt honesty make this blog an 'immediate subscribe'.

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  6. Huntsville, AL. I can't remember exactly how I found you but I read a lot of doctor and nurse blogs so I'm sure it was from one of them.

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  7. Found you on FML, looked up your blog 2 years ago and was hooked. I always use my iPhone, your posts make GREAT bedtime
    stories! Thanks for doing this all these years, and heres to another million!

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  8. I'm from New York, and also remember your comments on FML. One day another doctor I follow on Twitter retweeted some of your vaccine comments, and I recognised the picture and name from FML and that brought me here.

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  9. Started reading this when I was in India. Thank you for writing! Congratulations!

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  10. Seattle(ish). FML.


    PS: I think about sex every 7 seconds. I'm a woman. ;)

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  11. I'm from Atlanta, GA. My cousin was born with only one kidney, but one testicle and one ovary seems totally jerry rigged.

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    1. Just an example of misleading use of mathematical statistics. :)

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    2. Technically, every person is born with 1.2 testicles and .98 of an ovary.....

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  12. Commenting from Saskatchewan, Canada. Found you through FML, like so many. I've tried commenting from my phone before, but you never seemed to get them (even before you started screening comments), so I'll try from my desktop now. I hope you get this, and thanks for sharing all of your interesting and funny stories with us!

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  13. I started reading your blog while living in the UK 2 years ago, now I'm in Alberta Canada and still love your writing. Thank you.

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  14. I'm from the Los Angeles CA area and I think you were a respected blog on an ER blog I used to read. Thanks for the great reading and reminding me why my sarcasm would not have done me well in nursing.

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  15. I'm in the USA, and found your blog through another longtime e-pal, who's an ER nurse.

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  16. im from Los Angeles, and i found u on FML, and already deciding how funny and awesome i thought you were, i thought id check out your blog. I hadnt realized how far off i was on my guess- it was only a fraction of your true hilarity and awesomeness.

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  17. Orlando florida, found you from flm and followed your account to this blog. haven't regretted it yet.

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  18. From southwest Missouri and found your blog through FML after reading your comments! I am a pre-med student and found your blog great!! I love reading it.

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  19. From WV here a Firefox user. Found this wonderful blog following links on another. As a RN I enjoy your site, Thanks

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  20. I'm from New Zealand. Someone recommended your blog about a year ago on Anne Rice's FB page.

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  21. Lincolnshire, UK, running chrome on windows. Lol. I think I found you via FML too, not entirely certain by now.

    I have your blog saved to a list of pages i check each day for updates. (A few blogs, some webcomics, bbc news etc) and find your musings both entertaining and informative.

    Keep going! Love your work.

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  22. I'm from London. Found your blog through FML around four years ago. Also follow you on twitter :)

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  23. I'm in New Jersey and I honestly don't remember how I found you. I read everything, don't say much and enjoy your blog immensely.

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  24. I'm from Bend, Oregon. I found your blog through a post you shared on KevinMD (I think!) a couple of years ago and immediately added you to my Feedly. Appreciate your irreverence, humor, honesty and (obviously) passion for what you do. My husband (an MD) also reads you now. Keep ON!

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  25. I'm in NY and I found you on FML. I was bored one day and looked through your blog. I was instantly hooked! Thanks for the journey!

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  26. Congratulations on this milestone. Thank you for not making it pay-per-view.

    US. Found you via allnurses.

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  27. I'm from Australia, and found your blog through FML. Love reading your stories Doc, they never fail to make me laugh/cry/roll my eyes at the sheer stupidity of humans.

    I look forward to reading many more blog posts to come.

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  28. I'm from Israel. And I heard of your blog through an off-topic comment on FML observing the fact that your avatar has changed. Sadly I don't see you on FML much these days! The community has changed, everyone is so serious now. We need to change it back.

    Unrelatedly: we now know for a fact that DocBastard is NOT from the UK. There's no way you'd write .com.uk instead of .co.uk if you were ;)

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    Replies
    1. unless he did it on purpose......(x-files theme song)

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  29. Reading from the Netherlands and found you through FML :)

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  30. Hello! I love your blog :) I'm from Switzerland and I found your blog on FML. Please continue to write your excellent stories!

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  31. I'm from the west coast (US) and got a recommendation of the site from a friend in Germany, during a conversation about stupid things people do.

    and remember, there are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics.

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  32. I'm from Ohio and found your blog through FML. I'm also an ER nurse and the comments you write about patients are frequently what I have to restrain myself from saying to the fucking idiots who end up in my ER.

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  33. I'm from Pennsylvania and I started following you over 2 years ago. I found your blog through FML

    Love your blog

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  34. I have been following your blog for a while now and I know I can't be the only one who found you through fml, though you didn't have a % for them. I am in Oklahoma and thank you for your stories, post, blogs, and comments. There are many days they are the highlight of my day.

    Jason

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  35. I'm from Ireland and I found your blog through fmylife.com years ago. Congrats on 3m!

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  36. Baltimore, MD. I am a Shock Trauma nurse and love your stories. Keep them coming, Doc!

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  37. I followed you over from FML sometime early in 2012. I usually read you from my Android phone while sitting in my living room in Austria/Europe. As my long years of following your blog suggests I enjoy your stories tremendously, so keep up your good work offline as well as online!

    @NeatNit: the URL doesn't say anything about Doc's location but about yours. Blogger seems to add the letters for your home country automatically, for me it ends with .co. at

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  38. I'm English and live in Rotterdam, The Netherlands....I found you through a retweet on Twitter. I love your blog because it is honest and truthful and refreshing. Keep up the good work 😀

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  39. I'm from California, and I found you via FML a long time back. I rarely go there anymore but I still come here!

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  40. Rural Missouri USA. ED nurse friend sent me to you. Good call.

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  41. Found you on FML app a few years ago, looked up your blog afterwards and have been a subscriber ever since. Using an Android, located in Canada, and have even contacted you once by email since starting to follow your stories. Keep up the good work!

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  42. I'm in Israel, and I'm not entirely sure I remember where I found you (it was a very long time ago), but I *think* it was via FML, at a time when I used to browse it a lot. Haven't even thought about that app/site in... I don't even know how long.

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  43. Colorado. I'm the opposite. I found your FML through here. I found your blog from google somehow.

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  44. I live in Tennessee. I think I started following you at the beginning of the Jahi debacle. I am automatically emailed your posts -- and it is always a good day when I see that I have mail from you.

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  45. Hi there! I love your blog! I'm from San Francisco. I found your blog through the "sprocket-trial" website. I found the sprocket-trial website via a comment left in a SF newspaper website to follow the (still ongoing!) Jahi McMath story. Please keep up the good work Doc!

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    Replies
    1. Ditto. I'm in San Bruno, California.

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  46. From Utah USA... Found you through searching for Jahi updates... Love the blog!

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  47. I'm from Connecticut. I know I've been following you for at least the past couple years, perhaps longer, but I don't remember for sure. I do remember coming across you on FML but I didn't start following you until a Google search for something brought up your blog. And then I was hooked.

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  48. I'm from Australia. I was recommended by a friend- she's from New Zealand.

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  49. Commenting and reading from Sussex, WI, USA, on Chrome on Windows, relayed here via my RSS feed. Originally came here because of an x-ray of a rectal object (aren't those just the best?) that you were using as an avatar on FML several years ago when I used to frequent the app.
    I rarely (if ever?) comment, but congrats on the milestone, and keep it up! (If only for purely selfish reasons, like my entertainment.)

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    1. I LOVE Good Omens! Awesome username Miss Device!

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  50. South Africa. My brother told me one day "you should read this blog, I think you'll like the way this guy writes". Not a clue how he found you.

    I think I spent the next while reading all the back stories, only about 15 posts back then. Now I'm subscribed so I don't miss a thing.

    And a big congrats on your achievement :)

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  51. I am from Hawkes Bay, New Zealand and I found you when googling updates for Jahi McMath. While scrolling through the many, many pages of comments I found your blog mentioned numerous times so I looked you up. After reading that particular post I went back and started right back at the first blog post and read them all ... the one and only time I was glad of a poorly child so I had reason to sit up all night reading!! I have referred many people here ... so you can thank me for 5 of your NZ hits and perhaps 2 from Australia!!

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    1. Im sure you referred me 😉

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    2. I believe you're responsible for referring me too :)

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  52. From Southeast Pennsylvania, USA and found you on FML read all of your blog posts in one day.

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  53. North Carolina, United States of America. Can't remember how I found this place. Probably some site like 9GAG ranting about Jahi or something and I looked it up and found you. I assume, anyway. Probably totally wrong.

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  54. A student from BC Canada, and found you through the FML app. Your posts are always entertaining and enlightening to read. Please keep writing! :)

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  55. I'm in the Greater Boston, MA (US) area, and I think I discovered you through a FB post/link, although I'm not sure; it was some time earlier this year. As someone who's had more interactions with the medical profession than I care to think about over the past 18 years, it's always interesting to see how the folks on the other side of the white coat live. (Re FB: it was probably a link where you ranted about anti-vaxxers, who drive me nuts as well--when you've seen people, especially children, dying from a particular illness, when a way to hopefully prevent it comes along, you're going to hop right on it, eh?)

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  56. I am in North Carolina and found you through FML.

    I have told you before how much I enjoy your blogs. :) but thank you again for sharing a piece of your life with us.

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  57. I live in Anaheim, CA! My brother told me about "this funny blog" he was reading and now I read every post!

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  58. I'm from Michigan and I found you through FML. I loved your comments on there so I thought I'd check out your blog!

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  59. I live in northern California, and I also found your blog through the "Sprockets" site when the Jahi McMath case began.

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    Replies
    1. Same for me. From the SF Bay Area.

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  60. I found you through FML a while back. I am currently a nursing student in Colorado. I love your blog, keep the posts comin'!

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  61. Western USA. I don't remember how I found you, but I stay because not much impresses me (even I don't impress me), however I find your wit bad your way of dealing with the idiots of the world impressive. Keep up the good work.

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  62. I'm in California and found you when the Jahi debacle started... Seven of my friends now read your blog too.

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  63. From Oklahoma. Found you on the FML app and came here to follow you a few years ago. I love your stories! Please keep them coming I check everyday for new ones.

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  64. Heard of you on FML. I am in college now and lam on going to med school. I live in the USA.
    Love your stories. Entertaining and informative

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  65. I'm from AB, Canada and I found you through FML, like a lot of people here. You're pretty much the only blog I read, because it's freaking amazing. Never stop posting!

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  66. I'm from Sydney, Australia. I found you a couple of years ago via FML. I always browse your site through safari on my iPhone, so one of the majority! Congratulations, Doc. Keep on writing!

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  67. I'm from New Zealand. I cannot remember how I found you but I'm glad I did :)

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  68. Switzerland, found by FML, Firefox, GNU/Linux

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  69. I somehow found you while I was doing research about med school. You're now one of my favorite parts of the week. Thanks for being hilarious, honest, and insightful.
    -Age 18, Michigan, USA

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  70. Salem, Massachusetts over here! Found you through FML and read all previous blog posts from before I found it. You are hilarious and incredibly entertaining. I like to check before I go to bed to see if you've posted and I'm always excited when I see a new post. Keep entertaining us and saving people at the same time :)

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  71. I'm from Minnesota . I found you when I was looking for something on Google .

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  72. Located not far from Philadelphia, PA. Don't remember how I found the blog. Read it often, never post. Until now.

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  73. Im in colorado and been following for over 2 million views. I was around for your 1 million mark. Found you on fml

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  74. Los Angeles,California found you through sprocket-trials

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  75. Found you on FML a few years ago, this site is my top bookmark on my phone's browser. I check multiple times a week (usually right before bed), only blog I read. Thank you, Doc. From California

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  76. I am from the Toronto area in Ontario Canada and found you through FML four years ago

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  77. I left a comment on the last milestone post but why not. I'm still here. I live in Las Vegas, Nevada. Fml.

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  78. I'm in Stockport, UK. Found you via FML.
    Please keep your FML comments and blog coming - very funny and informative.
    Thanks!

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  79. British Columbia, Canada! Found out about your blog about three years ago on FML

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  80. Ireland. Medical student seeking some perspective :) Found you from a google search when I was struggling with my first anatomy labs.

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  81. Texas. Google. Can't remember now, but I think it was just random and I got hooked

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  82. I'm in southern UK and I found you years ago through FML. I've never commented, although I do read the comments regularly. So hello everyone! Lol

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  83. Capital of Finland. Found the blog through FML (surprise surprise) about three years ago and been following ever since. Thank you for the educating and amusing posts! I wish you good health and inspiration.

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  84. Nebraska, USA. I found you through FML. I check in every week.

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  85. I'm from Sacramento, California and i found you through FML

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  86. I'm from Sacramento, California and i found you through FML

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  87. Chapel Hill, North Carolina reporting for duty, Sir!

    I access DB via iPhone, Windows laptop or MacBook. Think I found you from student doctors network forum or some Jahi related post. Daughter of internist and sister of infectious diseases docs who gets all squicky at the sight of blood and/or vomit but absolutely fascinated by medicine -- most especially your tales. Bring on the acerbic reporting and all of the snark! Cheers to your milestone. Thank you for sharing.

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  88. Connecticut, and i saw your fml comments and decided to check out your website a couple years ago.

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  89. Ontario, Canada and I found you on the fml app years ago. I check every week to see what you've posted, keep it up Doc!

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  90. I'm from West Virginia. I read a few of your comments on FML and decided to check out your blog a couple years back. I have a ridiculous amount of love for this blog.

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  91. I hail from Southern Maryland in the US. I actually found you through a friend who lives in Denmark--she know's I'm into medicine and knew I would get addicted to your writing style and humour right away. After I read your homoeopathic journey I went back and binge read all of your posts and I've been caught up ever since. Love the material and love what you do, Doc! Carry on!

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  92. California, USA
    Found you on FML (wish you would post more but glad you are active in this blog)
    Also glad to know that spider stat is "complete twaddle." haha

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  93. Hey, Doc, I got this weird growth- nah. Just messing with you. Anyway, I started reading you at "Not My Story" and have since read everything. Keep kicking ass and defying death.

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  94. I'm in France, and I found you on FML. :)

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  95. I'm from Egypt and found you through FML.

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  96. Australia. I found you on FML.

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  97. Hey doc! From Indianapolis, Indiana, USA. Found your amazing blog through FML! And being a 3rd year Medical student currently, you're my idol!

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  98. I'm from the Chicago area but I currently reside in Iowa City for school. One of my friends told me about your blog, and seeing as I am a pre-med student, I continue to follow it. I hope I can be like you some day!

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  99. Western Canada, I found you through FML recently and you got me through many sleepless nights while my pregnancy insomnia kept me up. I love reading your blog and always look forward to new posts!

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  100. Jen from QLD, Australia15 August 2015 at 14:34

    Queensland, Australia. I came here from FML what seems like forever ago. I have read every single blog post and i enjoy them thoroughly! I look once a week to see if there is a new blog post. Looking forward to our wonderful future together....

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  101. I live in the Pacific North West (USA), and I found you a year or so ago through FML (thanks to your profile pic!).

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  102. I'm from Western Australia and I found you by accident doing a google search on 'Why are some Doctor's complete bastards'...

    ..not really, I made that bit up because it sounded more exciting than I found you while reading about Jahi McMath

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  103. Hi doc! I don't usually leave a comment but, I'm from Singapore. I found your blog years ago from FML and have been keeping up to date ever since. I really enjoy your writings, and always look forward to the next update!

    P.S I used to really hate buckling my seat belt when I was young but I must admit, after all your post about car accidents. It has since been the first thing I do after getting on a car. So that's something I guess :)

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  104. I'm an FMLer from SE Ohio. I found you via that site.

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  105. United States, specifically from Illinois. Found you quite a while ago (can't recall exactly how many years ago) by traveling here from FML.

    I've stuck around for quite some time because stupid patient, stupid doctor, and incredibly stupid administration stories add a bit of humor to my day. Occasionally, the articles prove to be interesting and worth a good read.

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  106. Hi Doc ~ From Chicago and found you through some other blog. I enough your humor, and glimpses into your softer side. Keep writing, I'll keep reading.

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  107. I'm from New York and I originally found out about you on FML.

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  108. I'm from North Carolina, and I sought out your blog after reading your comments on FML.

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  109. I am from Cork, Ireland. I have never commented before but I truly enjoy reading your blog. Well done for all the work you do.

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  110. Fort Wayne, IN.
    I found your blog through FML.
    Thank you for keeping my sometimes sleepless nights and always Long shifts at work bearable!!

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  111. I'm from upstate New York. I like many others found you on the comments section of FML. I've been following you for a bit over 2 years and you have helped me laugh during some of the worst moments in my life. See you at 4 million

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  112. From New Zealand, a good friend has been reading out stories from here at mealtimes in our flat for 2 years and I finally decided to look myself! She's aiming to get into medical school and I'm going into medical research so it's been extremely informative for both of us :p

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  113. This comment has been removed by the author.

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