Typical Hyperthyroid Symptoms

Tuesday September 29, 2015

Wednesday September 30, 2015

Uh oh! Margo's not out of the woods yet; Tommie has changed into her gray turtleneck of foreboding.

I feel like  Tommie's dialogue is the windup for an antithyroid medication. "Hyperthyroidism hurts; Tapazole can help!" "Don't leave me hanging here, Tommie. Should I get in touch with my doctor if after taking Tapazole I have nausea, stomach pain, low fever, loss of appetite, dark urine, clay-colored stools, or jaundice?"

P.S. those are legit side effects, I never in my life would've thought to come up with the phrase "clay-colored stools."

Hyperthyroidism

And the winner is.... Hyperthyroidism?? Oh man. What an underdog. There's no predicting Margo's crazy endocrine system!

According to WebMD, Margo has been exhibiting many potential symptoms of hyperthyroidism, including feeling moody, nervous, weak or tired; shakiness and sweatiness; and of course, eating more than usual (remember the breakfast bowls at Diner?). Things that haven't come up: her frequent bowel movements and missed periods.

Hyperthyroidism doesn't seem super dramatic or life-threatening, but hold on! WebMD says:

In rare cases, hyperthyroidism can cause a life-threatening condition called thyroid storm, which occurs when the thyroid gland releases large amounts of thyroid hormones in a short period of time. 

So here's hoping for the GREAT THYROID STORM OF '15!!

So, sadly, no one wins the guess-Margo's-disease contest. I'll just look for a real zinger of a hyperthyroidism quote in this week's strips to replace the banner caption. I think it's what we all deserve.

I Wish I Knew the Answer

Abigail "Tommie" Thompson is: the least helpful nurse in the world. Seriously, we still don't know if Margo has had a stroke or blood poisoning or delirium tremens or what. And at this point with the writing, I feel like anything could happen, context clues be damned. (e.g. "It turns out she just has a really bad case of gout!")

Readers, it's time to place your bets. What will Margo's diagnosis be? The winner gets to change the quote on the banner. (Even though "Nurse Dawkins has set me free!" still makes me laugh every time I notice it.)

Pray for Her

Hey guys. Do we have any readers who are medical professionals, or have friends that are medical professionals that could give us a second opinion? I just want to get it confirmed that this is a typical examination for a patient suffering possible dissociative fugue symptoms, or possibly a catatonic state.

• First: insist the patient stands up while you talk to about her in the third person. 
• Next, have a man she doesn't recognize hold her hand and murmur soothing sentiments with the goofiest grin ever, while you go get your stethoscope from the car. 
• In fact, nevermind that, bring the patient to your equipment. 
• Have her stand outside on the sidewalk while you hover around her with your invisible stethoscope, making educated guesses about her pulse and breathing. 
• When the patient inevitably collapses and/or disappears into thin air, freak out dramatically and demand someone else call an ambulance. 
• Now's probably a good time to go back inside. 
• Find the patient's roommate and ask them to locate the patient's hand and hold it while you look on anxiously and think about getting a snack.

Can we all agree this is pretty par for the course?

White as a Sheet

 Thursday September 17, 2015

Friday September 18, 2015

Lu Ann, everyone in this strip is white as a sheet.

I like to imagine that Margo is just sprawled out on the sidewalk/carpet between Lu Ann and Eric, and that every time they move around, they have to step over Margo like she's one of the corpses in Clue the movie.

Frightened

Monday September 14, 2015

Tuesday September 15, 2015

 Wednesday September 16, 2015

I don't really have the heart to rag on this anymore until we start talking about what caused Margo's mental break. It better be a hallucinogenic gas leak in Gabby's apartment, created by Diane Devine, or something equally bizarre. (Although if that's the case, I'm almost certain we'll hear about it second-hand, like the fate of Evan Graham.)

Speaking of the Evan Graham-era... what was the point of Greg Cooper coming back to New York if he wasn't one of the spooky strangers haunting Margo? Is he going to appear again? Yes? No?

I Don't See Anything Familiar!

Thursday September 10, 2015

Friday September 11, 2015

Okay, so just so we're all on the same page, Margo has suffered some stress-related psychotic break with reality, and we're along for the ride, which is why the backgrounds vary wildly from day to day and clothing color has no consistency and Margo's new boss was probably just a figment of her imagination all along.

Sad Day for the Funny Pages

Sad news. Brad Anderson, the creator of Marmaduke, died today. He was 91.

Marmaduke was not one of my favorite comics... it seemed like one big overplayed joke (Marmaduke is big and unruly). But actually, my family and I got huge amount of enjoyment out of watching Brad toil to find variations on that theme for more than 60 years. His labors were Herculean. And he seemed like a genuine guy. Thanks for the laughs, Brad.

I'M OUT!!

I really don't understand the characterization here at all. First of all, it's fine for Eric to care deeply for Margo and want to help her, they were engaged before he disappeared in the Himalayans. He doesn't need to blame it on 5 Years in Tibet changing him. Second, Tim liked Margo! They were practically buds. And now, in her darkest hour, he's just like, nope! Too much work! I'M OUT!! "If you ever need anything" my ass. It's disturbing because Margo is truly mentally troubled at this point, not just being her typical sassy devil-may-care self. Maybe he's just upset because he hasn't gotten his breakfast bowl combo at Diner yet.

Street Walkers

Wait, so was Tim lurking outside all night?  Or are he and Eric taking shifts waiting by the neighborhood wood shed for Margo to wander aimlessly by?

And Margo is totally not worth it.  She's hard on those closest to her.  Like her roommates, employees, mother, mother's psychic...you get the picture.  You better do some extra Om Noms before you bother her in the street again.

I Felt Something!

Saturday, September 5, 2015

Monday, September 7, 2015

The facial expressions and lighting in these strips are totally appropriate, YES, I approve, let's keep this moving!

P.S. If you think it's cheesy and unbelievable that Eric Mills is having premonitions, Margo was having dream premonitions six years ago, complete with a head bobble. Oh, how I miss the bobbles! And the swivels. I feel like we haven't had regular bobbles and swivels for ages.

Roll with Butter

 Thursday September 3, 2015

 Friday September 4, 2015

There's been a little confusion in the comments (as there is from time to time) about the authorship of the strip. To clear things up: even though the Washington Post (which the blog links to) says the strip is by Frank Bolle and Lisa Trusiani, Margaret Shulock has, in fact, been writing the strip at least as long as I've been writing the blog. Or at least I thought she was. The past couple of of months have definitely felt more Samuel Beckett than anything.

As for this week's strips: are we headed towards a Margo gets kidnapped / "More zippers, mule!" situation, updated with Millennial overlords? This... this pink-shirted gal is supposed to be a young person, right?

You Have Money?

Tuesday September 1, 2015

Wednesday September 2, 2015

WHAT IS GOING ON! Is this really Margo, or am I reading some OOC fanfic?? Is she talking to the same woman in these two strips? Where are all the people? Did Margo somehow wander into New Jersey? Wasn't Margo just at Diner with Thelma? Why didn't she eat there? Nevermind Diner, THERE ARE LITERALLY TENS OF THOUSANDS OF WAYS TO BUY FOOD IN NEW YORK, why would you ask a stranger for food, and then offer to pay them??

I can't even. Until things start making sense again, I'm just going to write secret messages for the panels. As always, hover over the strips above to read my secret thoughts.