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We asked about the best presents you've ever given. The answers will make you smile.

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Hershey's

The holidays are here, which means that gifts are on everyone's minds.

Sure, you're probably dying to know what your friends and family got you (we hope it's what you've wanted all year). However, when it comes down to the actual gift exchange, you might find that giving leaves you feeling better than receiving.

Whether you're gifting jewelry to your wife, a bag of Hershey's Kisses to a work colleague, or a sweater covered in dachshunds that your friend will show off at every holiday party this year, there's just something about giving that warms all of our hearts.

In order to prove this theory, we asked real people about a time in their life when giving a gift was better than anything they could have found under the tree. Take a second to grab a tissue before you read these responses.

1. Tracey Carnazzo calls her best friend Noelle her "soulmate." For her, there was no greater gift than buying the gown the woman she loves most would be married in.

Tracey and Noelle. Photo courtesy of Tracey Carnazzo.

"Noelle's been my best friend for over 20 years," says Carnazzo. The pair, who live in New York, Ā do everything together ā€” from traveling to hosting a popular podcast. When Noelle's mother couldn't make it wedding dress shopping with her daughter, Carnazzo (who also served double duty as both officiant and maid of honor) Ā took the reins.

"She was planning on buying the dress herself," explains Carnazzo, "but your mom is supposed to buy your dress! I bought it for her because I am her 'other mom,' even though she's three years older than I am."

"It made her feel loved and taken care of. It made me feel great to be able to give her something that she really deserves. Seeing her walk down the aisle in it was better than any gift Iā€™ve ever received. I really love her. To see her happy is when I'm truly happy."

2. David Pardo said 'thank you' to a mentor who had helped him through so much.

Photo by Lucas Lenzi on Unsplash.

"I had a mentor who, when my life was difficult, spent a couple years effectively playing my therapist by phone every week or two, even though he was 1000s of miles away," writes Pardo in an email. His mentor was training to be a counselor, but wasn't comfortable accepting anything in return for his guidance. That didn't stop Pardo from repaying him down the road, though.

"About 4 years after we last spoke, my finances improved along with my mental state, [so] I gave him $1000 as a bit of a start on paying him back," he continues. "He'd been living in his van while finishing his PhD. A divorce while in grad school wrecked his finances. He didn't have a place for his son to live with him."

"After getting the money, he was able to get a place where he could live with his young kid. Being able to fix the thing that is most hurting someone brings a special type of satisfaction."

3. Martha Miller gave a memory that will endure for more than a lifetime.

Photo courtesy of Martha Miller.

"My father-in-law, Hubert, was turning 80 right before Christmas and certainly didn't need a single thing," writes Miller in an email. "I was trying to think of something meaningful we could give him and it finally struck me. He waited a very long time to become a grandfather and was thrilled when two grandsons were born just six weeks apart."

"I got the idea of giving him a photo shoot with them as a present. My sister-in-law and I took Hubert and our boys dressed in Notre Dame jerseys Grandpa had given them for the photo session the next week. My father-in-law wanted several sets of pictures so he could send them to his six brothers and sisters."

"When Grandpa passed away at 88, my son, then 10 years old, spoke at the funeral. He said his favorite memory of Grandpa was having the picture taken with his cousin and Grandpa in the jerseys Grandpa had given them. I tear up just thinking about it. We have the picture placed prominently in my son's room so he will be reminded of his wonderful Grandpa who loved him dearly and the fun time he had with Grandpa and his cousin. I love that this present was so meaningful to Grandpa, and that it is still bringing joy to us and to our son."

4. For Lisa Umar, bringing all of her mom's friends together for her birthday showed her that there's no better gift than making someone happy.

Photo courtesy of Lisa Umar.

"I was living in Washington, D.C. at the time while my family lived in Phoenix," Umar says. "For my mom's birthday, I decided to plan her a surprise party. I managed to track down a bunch of her friends, another friend donated their house for the evening and I sent out printed invitations and everything."

"I also flew home the day before so I could help set up the party and surprise her. She was totally surprised and cried a lot. I may have cried a little too. It felt awesome to pull the entire thing off as a complete surprise, and I was able to get so many of her friends all together in one room.

"There's really no better feeling than making someone that happy. Then, of course, she's reminded me every single year that no gift I ever give her will ever top it. Worth it!"

5. Rachel Toburen gave her mother a very different gift ā€” one of a heartwarming companion.

Photo of Petal via Rachel Toburen.

"I fostered a litter of puppies, and my mom (two time zones away) fell in love with one," says Toburen. "She was trying to figure out some way to adopt the puppy, but coming to Colorado wasn't a possibility."

"To surprise her, we paid Petal's adoption fee, and flew to Michigan to deliver a 12-week-old puppy to my mom for Mother's Day. We told her about it in advance so she would be prepared and have her house ready. It was a lot of work on our end, but seeing my mom fall in love with this puppy from across the country, and then getting to have her...that was pretty awesome."

6. Jess Keegin gave a child the gift of education. Ā 

Photo courtesy of Jess Keegin.

"I started sponsoring Tasila through Children International in 2012 when she was five years old," writes Keegin. "Zambian children typically start school when they're seven, but when I got Tasila's family report at age eight, it said she didn't attend school because her family (which consists of a single mother ā€” her father is deceased ā€” as well as four other siblings) can't afford it."

"I immediately knew I was going to change that, so I reached out to Children International to see what the costs would be to get her in school. She started school in January of 2014."

"She went from a child who looked constantly grumpy and unhappy to one whose smile could light up a room. When I asked CI what her school costs would be for 2017, I received a note that said she was 1st in her class."

"Her education will cost $171 in 2019. It's the best money I'll spend all year."

7. And David Pemberton proves that you can make people feel loved and special no matter how much or how little you spend.

Comic courtesy of David Pemberton.

"When I lived in Denver, I had absolutely no money, and my parents had to scrape together what they could to buy me a ticket back home to Tennessee for the holidays," says Pemberton.

"I have a big family ā€” my present list that year was in the teens ā€” and I knew that I wouldn't be able to buy anyone anything. So I got a ream of computer paper, some pencils, and a few sharpies from the office and I drew a one-page comic for everyone in my family. Each comic was inspired by my favorite memory with them. I bought several $1 frames from the local Goodwill to frame them."

"That year, as we all sat around to open gifts, it was always the comics that made people cry. And I mean everyone cried. Why does that make it better than receiving a gift? Well, I think it's because it let me know that everyone cherished these memories just as much as I did."

This holiday season, the best present you can give is one that you've wrapped with love. The joy you get in return will last you all year long.

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Mental Health

There's a new personality type called the 'otrovert' and one major trait sets it apart

"I feel seen for the first time in my life!"

Photo Credit: Canva

A person stands out in a crowd.

So many of us have the desire to compartmentalize our personality traits into neat little boxes. "Oh, she's such an INFJ. Oh, he's such a Gemini." Some of it is rooted (well sort of) in psychology, such as the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, based loosely on Jungian ideas. Others rely on arguably less scientific data like stars and "rising signs." Humans aren't usually that simple.

That said, there's still value in understanding one's own personality and inclinations. Here's a confession: I've taken countless personality tests because I just couldn't figure out if I was an extrovert or an introvert. Neither description quite fit, and as someone constantly trying to understand what makes me tick, this has been frustrating.

Turns out, there are other options. The term "ambivert" got popularized in the 1930s (after being coined by Edmund S. Conklin in 1923), and it refers to a person "who has features of both an introvert (someone who prefers to spend time alone) and an extrovert (someone who prefers to be with other people) in their personality."

@tedtoks

Replying to @FacturašŸ›„ now knowing what an ambivert is, how would you describe yourself? #ambivert #introvert #extrovert #adamgrant #psychology #TEDTalk #worklife

But for those who still don't quite relate, meet the otrovert. Just recently, psychiatrist Rami Kaminski published The Gift of Not Belonging, in which he discusses his coined term to describe a whole new type of personality. In an Insta-reel captioned "What is an Otrovert?" Kaminski mentions the polarization of introverts and extroverts. "When Jung invented the terms extrovert and introvert, he saw them as two fundamental orientations of the personality. I see the otrovert in the same way. A personality trait that faces away from the group."

He continues, "Extroverts and introverts are inherently communal, while the otrovert is an outsider to the group. In itself, it is not a problem or condition, nor is it a diagnostic label. It simply means that while most people learn to develop a sense of belonging to a specific group through social conditioning, otroverts remain social but not communal."

In writer Sarjna Rai's piece, "Struggle to Fit the Mold? The 'Otrovert' Personality Explains Why" for Business Standard, they write: "Unlike introverts or extroverts, otroverts are not defined by where they draw their social energy. Instead, the concept captures people who constantly feel like outsiders, and tend to look in a different direction altogether, not necessarily aligned with the rest of the group."

While it's impossible to group people into perfect categories, Rai explains that Kaminski claims the main thing that sets otroverts apart is their "reluctance to conform to group norms."

Writer Avery White lists signs one might be an otrovert in the article "7 Signs You Might Be an Otrovert" for VegOut. Among them is preferring "high-signal conversations and low-maintenance relationships." They give this as an example: "Youā€™ll happily spend three hours exploring one idea with one personā€”and then not speak for weeks without either of you taking it personally. In other words, low pressure, low expectations, high connection.

Another on the listā€”and this is a big one according to Kaminskiā€”is: "You can look extroverted in publicā€”yet feel fundamentally 'other.'" This is actually the crux of the term, and in fact, what Kaminski formed The Otherness Institute for: as their website says, "those who feel they don't belong."

The site also shares that recognizing aspects of this type in yourself and others (if it applies) will help "balance between your individuality and your function as part of the social matrix that determines your well-being. The experience of otherness in a togetherness-minded world can be emotionally bruising. Often misunderstood and misdiagnosed, otherness may lead individuals to feel strange, lonely, and unwelcome in groups. Left unidentified, otroverts' non-belonging can result in a frustrating, futile lifetime effort of trying to 'fit in.'"

Some Redditors are scrambling to figure out if they fit into this category. In the subreddit r/INTP (referencing one of the Myers-Briggs personality types), the OP asks, "Maybe I am an 'otrovert?'" Under this, they write, "Dr. Kaminski described the otrovert child as 'neurotypical, friendly, curious, well-adjusted, and often popular' yet 'they resist being pressured into group activities.'"

While this can seem inconsequential in childhood, joining the peer group "becomes critically important" in adolescence, said the psychiatrist, and teens "start to gauge their self-worth based on the groupā€™s ranking of popularity (or unpopularity).'

"Membership in a group, no matter how lowly, is better than being an outsider," he added. "Otroverts, however, are comfortable with being outsiders and find it impossible to feel like insiders, regardless of how welcome they are.'

There are a handful of commenters who feel seen, but many push back, claiming the term could easily apply to other personality traits. One writes, "I think it's easy to resonate with this description... but as some warning noted, there aren't enough studies done about this term that people should be running to adopt it. I resonated with it after reading about it... But I have ADHD and persistent depressive disorder... both of which coincide with the descriptions of an otrovert."

Time will tell if this new term sticks, but for now, it's helping a lot of people feel more understood.


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Teachers

Ex-teacher shares the 4 things she couldn't tell parents until after she quit

"Please start putting deodorant on your kids before you notice that they need it."

via Canva/Photos

A woman looks very embarrassed.

Though many teachers are leaving the profession, not all of them are making national news. Maggie Perkins, 32, made headlines in 2022 when she quit the teaching profession to work at Costco, and showed no interest in looking back.

"The conditions were worsening rapidly, and I realized they weren't getting better, and nobody seemed alarmed enough to do anything. I was 29 when I decided to leave," she told People, noting she was making $47,000 at the time.

"The more I learned about Costco and the different roles at the company, the happier I was at the idea of working there, whether at the warehouse or corporate, for the rest of my career," she added. "I feel like there was a great potential reward for pursuing it."

Three years later, she trains fellow employees and has no regrets about leaving her former career.

Now that Perkins has been out of the classroom for a few years, she can say the things she couldn't when she was working as an educator. So, she created a TikTok video where she revealed four big things that she had to keep to herselfā€”and all of them are centered around kidsā€™ hygiene.

"I used to be a teacher, and I couldn't have said any of these things to your kid or to you while I was a teacher,ā€ she opens her video.

@itsmaggieperkins

No, I was not planning to stack up like sardines ready to be slaughtered #backtoschool #teachersoftiktok #teacherlife

What do teachers want to tell their students and parents but canā€™t?

1. Cut your childā€™s nails

ā€œIf your kid's nails are long and dirty, other kids are noticing, and also it is gross. Kids literally get impetigo from their own fingernails,ā€ she said.

2. Start using deodorant before they smell

ā€œPlease start putting deodorant on your kids before you notice that they need it,ā€ she said. ā€œFifth grade, guys, fifth grade, deodorant.ā€

3. Your child needs to start wearing a bra sooner than you think

ā€œIt doesnā€™t have to be like a real bra. This is just like a soft, athleisure-type situation,ā€ she said. ā€œNo one wants to be made fun of because it looks like they should be wearing a bra and they're not.ā€

4. Wash that sweatshirt and hoodie often

ā€œOnce those cuffs start to be like literally brown and ratty, wash the jacket. I am watching them wipe their snot on the jacket sleeve day after day after day,ā€ she said. ā€œThey're walking around in a dirty snot rag.ā€

student, hoodie, computer, school, classroom, studying, teacher A student looks at his computer. Credit: Pexels/Kaboompics.com

Perkinsā€™ advice is for the childā€™s health, but also to save them from embarrassment.

ā€œThere's no worse feeling than being a sixth grader who has this like acute sense of being different than others and criticized,ā€ she said. ā€œYour child is probably more aware of it than you are, and they're just not talking to you about it, because kids don't talk to their parents that much.ā€

The TikTok post, which garnered over 2.4 million views, resonated with Perkinsā€™ followers, who shared how hygiene issues had caused them a lot of embarrassment when they were young.

"Parents, please also teach your kids to be compassionate because not all kids come from a loving home," one viewer wrote. "Be the love they donā€™t receive and donā€™t make fun of the kids who may smell or are not wearing a bra." Another added, "I would have loved for a teacher to tell this to my mom. I went to middle school without a bra, and I was so embarrassed to change in the locker rooms."

students, classroom, teacher, lesson Students in a classroom. Credit: Pexels/Arthur Krijgsman

Ultimately, Perkinsā€™ tips are all about helping parents anticipate and address any potential hygiene or attire issues their child may encounter before they become a problem, whether thatā€™s causing illness or embarrassment. The former teacherā€™s tips are a great reminder that a little extra care at home can make things a lot easier for kids on the playground and in the classroom.

This article originally appeared in May. It has been updated.

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Humor

Gen X mom reenacts 'coming home from school in the 80s' and it couldn't be more perfect

"This is why we turned out self sufficient, independent and successful."

Canva Photos

If you lived through an 80s childhood, this will send you back.

Generation X, made up of those born between 1965 and 1980, has many claims-to-fame in their younger years game. Gen X brought the world Prince and Kurt Cobain. We were The Goonies and The Breakfast Club. We took down the Berlin Wall while watching MTV.

But perhaps the most iconic thing about Gen X is our semi-feral childhoods of benign neglect. The standards of parenting and child rearing have shifted a lot in the past 40 to 50 years, as has the technological landscape that kids grow up in, so naturally, today's kids won't have the same childhoods previous generations had. But there's something particularly nostalgic about being a child of the 80s for those who lived it.


One mom nailed the experience with a video reenactment of what it was like to come home from school in the 80s.

Elizabeth Stevens (@BennettPeach on YouTube) arrives at the front door in her backpack, then pulls out a house key on a string around her neck. (Ah, the "latchkey kid" era when children were expected to come home to an empty house and let themselves in.)

Then she goes into the kitchen in her Care Bears t-shirt and finds a handwritten noteā€”in cursive, of courseā€”on the back of an envelope. "Working lateā€”make your own dinner, watch your brother and the dishes better be done when I get home from bowling. ā€“ Mom"

- YouTube www.youtube.com

That's right. Mom wasn't just working late, she was also going bowling while her kids were home caring for themselves.

Then we see her washing the dishes despite barely being able to reach the faucet, even with a stool, and then her making a Gen X stapleā€”the cinnamon-sugar and butter sandwich. On white bread, of course.

In just one minute, Stevens managed to capture the essence of so many Gen X memories, as commenters shared:

"The mom notes on an unopened bill is memories."

"Nailed it! The best thing about growing up in the '70s/'80's was being ALLOWED to grow up."

"Why this video made me almost cry?? How quiet it is inside the home. Lovely."

80s childhood, 80s, 80s nostalgia, gen x, latchkey kids, gen x nostalgia, generational differences, generational humor Wash the dishes before I get home from bowling! Photo by CDC on Unsplash

"Facts!!! No babysitter, go in the house, read the note, do the chores n not let anybody in!!!! I remember the homemade the 'cinnamon bun.'"

"70s and 80s ā€¦ latch key kid here elementary, junior high and high school. we turned out self sufficient, independent and successful."

"Just so frickin on point!!! All of it from the clothes to the key on the necklace to the note. Even what you chose to do for a snack. Too good!!! The windbreaker that's memories. It's all coming back to me now lol thank you for this. You have brought a huge grin to both me and my inner child."

80s childhood, 80s, 80s nostalgia, gen x, latchkey kids, gen x nostalgia, generational differences, generational humor music video 80s GIF Giphy

"I was met with a note everyday, too. On the back of an envelope, my daily chores would be listed. If I was in trouble, I would cry as soon as I saw the note....lolol Love you momma. How I wished I could have saved those notes! They were historical treasures."

Tons of people gushed over the nostalgia of remembering those "good old days" when they were given both freedom and responsibility, with many saying kids today have no idea. One thing that might surprise the younger generations was how young the theoretical kid in this video could have been. We're not talking about young teens hereā€”kids as young as 5 or 6 could be latchkey kids, and kids any older than that were often given responsibility for looking after younger siblings. Even official babysitting jobs could start around age 11, or sometimes even younger.

Gen X kids had learned to take care of themselves early on, which has its pros and cons. The rose-colored glasses many Gen X adults view their childhoods through can sometimes cloud the parts that were not so great about growing up in the 70s and 80s. Sure, that benign neglect resulted in resilience and independence, but for some that came at the cost of parental relationships and a sense of safety and security. We have more knowledge now about things like mental health support, parent-child attachment, and healthy relationship dynamics, and some of that learning is reflected in shifting parenting practices.

As often happens, the pendulum may have swung too far from the absent parents of the 70s and 80s to the helicopter parents of the 90s and 2000s, of course, and the "right" approach (if there is one) probably lies somewhere in the middle. But it is still fun to look back on those iconic childhood experiences with joy and humor and appreciate that they helped us become who we are today.

This article originally appeared in April. It has been updated.

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Pop Culture

Mariah Carey secretly made a grunge album in 1995. Now she's finally sharing it.

Her alt-rock alias was "Chick."

Wikipedia

Is there any genre she can't do?!

Itā€™s not uncommon for famous singers to create tracks, even entire albums, under a fake name. Taylor Swift as Nils Sjƶberg, Paul McCartney as Bernard Webb, Harry Styles as Mick Greenberg. Prince even racked up a collection of songwriter pseudonymsā€”including Joey Coco, Alexander Nevermind, and Jamie Starr. Itā€™s often a chance to branch out creatively without any restrictions their current brand image might inflict.

For Mariah Carey, that alias was a ā€œangry, angsty, and messy" grunge singer, aptly named ā€œChick.ā€

The year was 1995, during the height of Careyā€™s fame as an R&B/soul artist. She was recording Daydream, her fifth studio album, which featured tried-and-true hits like ā€œFantasy,ā€ ā€œOne Sweet Day,ā€ and ā€œAlways Be My Baby.ā€

Little did anyone know, but Chick was also recording an album at that time, titled Someoneā€™s Ugly Daughter. Usually after the stroke of midnight, after recording of Daydream had ended, and going as late as six in the morning.

mariah carey, mariah carey grunge, mariah carey new album, grunge music, r&b. jimmy fallon, music The cover for Daydream, Carey's 1995 album. Wikimedia

Record label executives, concerned it would damage Careyā€™s image (a bit of a repetitive bane throughout her career), refused the album be releasedā€¦at least, they wouldnā€™t allow it to be released under Careyā€™s actual name.

And thus, Chickā€™s one and only album made its clandestine way into the world, and it became something of a secret legend among hardcore fans, especially those who read Careyā€™s 2020 memoir, The Meaning of Mariah Carey, where the singer first shared about it.

You even catch a glimpse of Chickā€™s dark haired, goth girl attributes in Careyā€™s ā€œHeartbreakerā€ music video, thanks to Biancaā€”the key villainess in the story, who Carey plays, alongside herself.

Fast forward to now, and talk of this long-lost grunge persona has made the airwaves again. As part of Apple Musicā€™s new live show Flowers, Carey sat down with fellow artist SZA and shared gratitude for Someoneā€™s Ugly Daughter allowing her to ā€œfeel free when I wasnā€™t free yet in my life.ā€

A copy of the album even made its way to Careyā€™s hands, where she discussed the smudged lipstick, dead cockroach, and kiss print that made up the cover (all her ideas). Gotta admit, she nailed the grunge aesthetic pretty well. SZA even convinced Carey to play two tracks from the releaseā€”ā€œHermitā€ and ā€œLove Is A Scam"ā€”which you can hear below.

@applemusic @SZA got @Mariah Carey ā™¬ original sound - Apple Music

ā€œThis would have scored so many movies in the 2000s,ā€ one fan wrote.

Another echoed, ā€œthis would have been fire on the Clueless soundtrack.ā€

Then, on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, we heard a snippet of another song, ā€œProm Queen.ā€ Carey also got to share how making that album gave her a chance to ā€œrebelā€ and get out ā€œwhat was in her head.ā€

- YouTube www.youtube.com

This is not only a really cool thing to learn about an artist we all easily recognize, but a great reminder to always, no matter what ā€œbigā€ thing weā€™re working on in life, have something weā€™re doing thatā€™s purely for ourselvesā€”whether we have record labels to contend with or not.

By the way, you can find the full Someoneā€™s Ugly Daughter album on YouTube and Spotify.

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Women's Health

Woman has cyst removed and is shocked to learn it had teeth, hair, and maybe even an eyeball

"Can we see it? Can it see us?"

Canva Photos & E.dronism - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0

Woman lying in hospital bed

The human body is fascinating and, to this day even, full of mysteries. Did you know there's a condition called Stoneman Syndrome where a person's ligaments slowly transform into bones? Or how about Persistent Sexual Arousal Syndrome where a person lives their entire life on the brink of orgasm? Or how about Auto-brewery Syndrome, where a person's gut biome naturally creates alcohol out of normal foods and beverages, thereby making them intoxicated without drinking a drop of booze?

The body is capable of extraordinary and extremely bizarre things, that's for sure.

That was certainly the case when 20-year-old Savannah Stuthers went in for a relatively routine cyst removal that turned out to be anything but.


teratoma, ovarian cyst, women's health, viral TikTok, Savannah Stuthers, medical story, patient advocacy, tumor with teeth, health education, gynecology A female patient speaks with her doctorCanva

Stuthers dealt with months of cramps, pain, and even bleedingā€”which doctors told her was normal after having an IUD insertedā€”before she couldn't take it anymore and took herself to the emergency room.

There, ER docs discovered a sizable cyst on one of her ovaries. Because the cyst was so large, the OBGYN at the hospital wanted to have it removed as soon as possible. Within a few days, Stuthers went under the knife.

When she woke up from the anesthesia, the doctors had news. Her mom was there to capture the moment Stuthers heard that what was removed from her body was no normal ovarian cyst. It was a teratomaā€”a unique kind of tumor that grows from germ cells (cells that eventually become sperm or, in Stuthers' case, eggs). Because of their origin, teratomas frequently grow hair and even teeth, along with various kinds of tissue. The teratoma inside Stuthers' ovary had all that, and more... The surgeons even thought Stuther's teratoma may have had an eyeball! (Later testing ruled this out... close call!)

Here's the exact moment Savannah Stuthers learned what had been growing inside of her:

Savannah Struthers was horrified to learn that her cyst was actually not a cyst at all.TikTok

Stuthers posted the photo on TikTok where it went mega-viral to the tune of 34 million views. The morbid curiosity in the comment thread was absolutely off the charts. Many people had never heard of teratomas before, and most of them wish they still hadn't.

"Girl I could have went my entire life without looking up what a teratoma is," one wrote.

"I just looked at photos of teratomas and it made my arm get chills," a user added.

"it's crazy the body can actually create new eyes and teeth and THIS is what it chooses to use that ability for," said another.

Other commenters were just here to applaud the teratoma representation:

"this happened to me, they removed my ovary with the teratoma and my surgeous said it burst on her šŸ˜© I was the first surgery of the day"

"this happened to my sister but there were brain cells in hers, causing her anti bodies to fight off both the teratoma braincells as well as her actual braincells putting her in a coma for 4 months. it was awful."

Of course, there were plenty of jokes, too:

"Why am I picturing Mike Wazoski from Monsters Inc???" one user said.

"Can we see it? āŒ Can it see us? āœ…" joked another.

Mostly, people just wanted to know if they could see a picture of the actual teratoma. Stuthers did eventually show a photo briefly in a follow up video, but luckily for us, we can get a better look at these things through a plethora of high-res online images.

Ready? If you're squeamish, you might want to look away now.

teratoma, ovarian cyst, women's health, viral TikTok, Savannah Stuthers, medical story, patient advocacy, tumor with teeth, health education, gynecology A teratoma with lots and lots of hair growth.Ed Uthman, MD. - Public Domain

Stuthers was not about to let her newfound virality go to waste: She set right to work busting myths and misconceptions about teratomas.

Obviously, with 34 million viewers and many who had never heard of teratomas, she was going to get a lot of questions. She also got a lot of opinions that needed correcting.

"Those things form from sperm so tell your man to get a better pull out game or use protection," one commenter said. In a response video, Stuthers simply wags her finger: Uh, no. Teratomas form from germ cells, which can turn into sperm, but they have nothing at all to do with sexual activity.

Another asked if the teratoma formed from a pregnancy gone wrong in the early stages. "So you would've maybe had a viable pregnancy but it didn't make it down into the uterus." Stuthers responded by citing that teratomas are actually congenital tumors, meaning they are present or begin forming prior to birth. So this was lurking in her body for a long time before it reached critical mass and had to be removed, and again, has nothing to do with her sexual activity whatsoever.

(Sorry, one more photo incoming.)

teratoma, ovarian cyst, women's health, viral TikTok, Savannah Stuthers, medical story, patient advocacy, tumor with teeth, health education, gynecology An ovarian teratoma with a long strand of visible hair.E.dronism - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0

In an interview with Newsweek, Stuthers said that discovering the teratoma inside of her made her feel "gross."

"It messed me up for a while thinking about how I never knew that it was there. In a way, it made me feel gross. The photo of the tumor truly altered my brain chemistry," she said. But that couldn't be further from the truth. Teratomas, while admittedly a little freaky and frightening, are really no different than any other kind of tumor. It's their origin from germ cells which makes them capable of growing human tissue, teeth, hair, and eyeball-like structures.

But they're understandably hard to talk about. And so as a result, the general public doesn't understand teratomas very well. But Stuthers is working to change that with her follow-up videos on TikTok.

She also wants to encourage young women to advocate for themselves medically. Doctors dismissed her pain and discomfort for months before she finally went to the ER, and she's urging women to trust their gut and fight for their own bodies:

"I got lucky as we found it in time so nothing too extreme happened. But I can't help but think that if my doctors in Illinois would've listened, I would still have both ovaries. It is so important for women to express our pain and not allow doctors to invalidate us."

This article originally appeared earlier this year. It has been updated.

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