About The Glaucomfleckens

Our Story of Medicine, Humor, Crisis, and Advocacy

Our Story

Timeline Headline

While you might know Will as that wisecracking ophthalmologist from the internet, or Kristin as that also-wisecracking co-survivor advocate, there’s a whole business operation behind the scenes.

Month

Year

Young Lovebirds

Our shared story goes back so much further than that – back to [year they met?], when we were fresh-faced undergrads who met and decided we’d be snarky together forever. Our next stop was Dartmouth, where we celebrated our nuptials with his-and-hers graduate degrees (an M.D. for Will and an M.A. in cognitive neuroscience for Kristin).

Month

Year

Cancer Strikes Twice

On the not-so-bright side, Will also went through his first occurrence of testicular cancer. Yes, ‘first’. Because if one mutating testicle wasn’t enough, it happened again – during Will’s ophthalmology residency at the University of Iowa.

Month

Year

Social Media Subheading

All while Kristin began her career in higher education and marketing, and both of us began the adventure that is parenthood. Will also started posting jokes on social media, which people really seemed to like.

Month

Year

Recovery

He thankfully recovered from both occurrences, with Kristin at his side through it all. After residency, we settled in Oregon. And on May 11, 2020, Will gave Kristin the worst Mother’s Day gift ever – a cardiac arrest in his sleep. Armed with love, superhuman strength, and a desire to not raise two kids on her own, Kristin called 911 and performed 10 minutes of CPR until paramedics arrived. Thankfully, he survived and made a full recovery.

How its Going

Or, How We Turned It All Around

After an incredibly challenging few years of cancer treatments set against the backdrop of higher education and young parenthood, the cardiac arrest was the devastating cherry on top of our giant trauma sundae. We had to pick up the pieces, just like we’d always done – but boy, was it a journey.

Will was, of course, deeply shaken by what had happened. The fear of another health crisis would always loom. But he coped with this new horror story the way he had with all the rest: humor and connection. Things got better, and putting his energy into creating silly social media content helped bring him back down to earth.

Kristin’s Journey Headline

Co-Survivor Subheadline

Meanwhile, Kristin had a very different experience. At the time, there was very little language that accurately described her experience. Compound that with the truckload of weird guilt about struggling with things like dissociative PTSD despite not having been the one whose heart stopped, and you’ve got the recipe for a really dark time.

But when she came across the term “co-survivor”, everything changed. She had something to hold onto – and a way to communicate the reality that our healthcare system is underequipped to support co-survivors in the way they need. So using the same tool that had already brought our family so much comfort and inspiration – social media – she began to share her story, advocate for others like her, and build a co-survivor community of her own.

Now We're Here!

And now, we’re here. As the Glaucomfleckens, we transform our clip show of crappy life and healthcare experiences into laughter, education, and advocacy. Will still creates medical-themed comedy shorts for an audience of over 6 million across social media.

Kristin teaches healthcare workers about the patient and family experience and advocates for caregivers and “co-survivors,” CPR and AED use, and sudden cardiac arrest survivorship. Together, we’re building a bonafide platform for educational media that brings everyone who experiences the healthcare system together, and inspires real change.