Joe Rogan SHOCKED By Rare Bone Disease Story

It didn't get really ramped up until Barack Obama in like 2010 when it was clear that Barack Obama was a neoliberal corporatist who was going to do the bidding of the war machine and Wall Street and Big Pharma, which is why when the Democrats got control of government they had the presidency, the Senate, filibuster-proof Senate for a few months and they had the Congress and the House and they didn't pass single pay or even a public option, what do we get? We got a right-wing health care plan anyway, which is a giveaway to the pharma and health insurance companies that left out 28 million fucking people. And infuriated small business owners, infuriated people that had a small practice, that there were doctors and all sorts of people that were... It was better than what we had. It was a bad solution. It wasn't a solution. What it was was a solution for the pharmaceutical companies and the health insurance companies. How was it better than what we had in what way? Well because before there was pre-existing conditions and you couldn't get coverage, so now you could always get coverage. So that part was better, the fact that you could get covered even if you had an issue. Right, right. So then you could go on an exchange and stuff like that. I didn't ever had to do that. I always got through my wife's employer, I'd always had my health insurance, right? And by the way, having health insurance doesn't really mean that much. I got really sick and... Well you were talking about this before the podcast. This is a different thing, but I had an illness that they couldn't diagnose for a few years and it almost killed me, right? What was it? It was called hypophosphatemic osteomalacia. Whoa, that should be on late night TV. Like one of those commercials? Do you have Oscar-pharmatrucialishe? Do you have osteo? Did you have osteo? Side effects occludocious? Side effects occlude death. What is it? I... What is it? It's a bone disease, so my bones were emitting... The bottom line is my bones were having bone disintegration. Whoa. So, yeah, I used to be much taller. I know that sounds funny, right? That's actually true. Is that true? When we met, I was taller than you. Get the fuck out of here. How tall were you? I was around 5'10". And you shrank to 5'8"? I'm a little under 5'8". Wow, that's crazy. Yeah. So, I know, right? And when that happened, I was going to kill myself. Did you try to stretch yourself out? Yes. Like, you get one of those things that uses medieval torture devices? Ah, the rack. So I'm one of those guys who, if I want something, no matter what price I have to pay, physical, whatever, I'll pay it and I'll get that thing I want, right? Like I'll get it. But this book, can you mind elaborating on this thing? Yeah, so I couldn't fix it by stretching. Okay, I was just joking about that. But so what does it do to your, it's making your bones shrink? Yes, so it gives you osteoporosis and then my bones got hollow like an old lady. And then my spine collapsed. When I stepped off a curb and too hard and they didn't know what it was. I don't like talking about it too much, but they told me all different kinds of things. Oh, it's your muscles. It's your nerves. It's in your head. It's in this. And I was limping for a few years and people were always like, how are you doing? And I'm like, I'll be all right. And you know, because no one likes to hear about anybody else's. And so, and then when that happened, they were like, oh no, it's your bones. I was like, you motherfucker. So everybody told me that you should go. So I started going to bone doctors and everybody told me I should go see this guy, Dr. Charles Sharp. And I called him and he was expensive and he didn't take insurance. And so I was like, well, I'll go to someone he trained. So I would go to someone he trained. I wouldn't get any better after six months. I go to someone else he trained, he wouldn't get any better. So finally I was just about to die and I went to see him. I was going to pay the money and go see him. And he figured out what it was like that. He says to me, he goes, you know, no one in the, nowhere you go, no one's going to know what this is. I go, yeah, I know. I've already been everywhere. And he said, I only saw this once before in 1968. And he says, and you have it. Yeah, yeah. So then he causes it. He was just of my own, they didn't know at the time he thought I was a tumor, but they fit sense figured out it was just my own bones leaching of hormone that makes your body leach the chemicals that I need to make bone. So anyway, this is boring, but no, it's not boring at all. So he fixed me and I started to fix you. He just diagnosed me what was wrong and what I needed. And so I need to take supplements, right, for my bones to make more like some people take calcium. And take this thing called phosphorus because you need phosphorus and calcium and vitamin D to make bone. So we did that. And it was amazingly, you know, he's just an amazing doctor. And he's very right wing, as far as I can tell, right? He doesn't like to talk politics, but it comes up. And he was in the military and all this stuff. And he's just a great guy. I just love him. He's so smart. He's so smart. And he fixed me. So getting back to when I was going to kill myself, so when I stepped off the curb and I shrunk and I was shrunk even more, they did an operation that gave me about an inch back. I was even shorter, right? So I'm like, holy fuck. I'm like, this is like, I wanted to kill my, I was literally going to kill myself. What was the operation they did? They had to put some kyful splasty. So bar or something like that. They cement. They puff it up and then they stick cement in it. Oh, Jesus Christ. Anyway, but I saw, I was serious. I cried one day. I couldn't stop. I didn't know how to stop. And my eyes puffed up like I couldn't see almost. And I was going to do it. I was like, I'll just kill myself. And the only thing that kept me from not killing myself was my manager called me and he said, hey, you got that hour special on Comedy Central. And I was like, what? Central saved your life. I was like, what? Talk about it was the best of times. It was the worst of times. I could not believe I'm like, what? And then I just knew I had to do this special because I couldn't let all those motherfuckers who said I shouldn't move to L.A. and be a commander. I couldn't let them win. It was about that. It was about I'm going to show everybody who doubted me and said I was crazy and I'm going to show them. I'm going to do this goddamn special. It's going to be fucking awesome. And then I kill myself. Jesus Christ, Jimmy. And by the time, so I had to get this. Anyway, long stories. I had to get this operation in my leg. It was the Bo Jackson surgery. You got a hip replacement? It was a thigh bone was dying. And I went to so my doctor sends me to this other doctor who vented the operation at USC. And I walk into the office just like my doctor predicted. He's looking at my chart and he looks up and he goes, what? I've only seen this in books, meaning what I have. Wow. I was like, that's what Dr. Sharp said. And so he was going to give me this operation. He goes, we're going to take this bone out from your shin. We're going to put it in there and then you can't step on that foot for six months straight. And I said, I have a I have our special. I'm taping in eight months. I go, so I can't do this operation. He goes, well, you're if I could just snap at any moment, I go, I guess that's the chance I got to take. Holy shit. If I can't do this special, I'm going to kill myself anyway. Yeah. Give a fuck. Right. By the time we got to do the special eight months later, Dr. Sharp's treatment had kicked in and they didn't know it was going to fix it, but it fixed it. They're like, it fixed it. Holy shit. You could have got that crazy operation. Yeah. Nothing for nothing. Fuck man. So his treatment is just supplements. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And do you take that to this day? Every day, every time I eat, I have to take two. Did you alter your diet? No, he just, he tells me to make sure I eat meat because I need the whatever it's in it. I need the stuff. Yeah. Whatever's whatever the good stuff is. He'll look at me like, he goes, you're from Chicago, right? And I go, yeah, eat meat like that. You're not one of those fucking plenty. No, you're not one of those. Are you? Right.