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Now I'm more confused. Why do people "react weirdly" or "strongly" or think she's "some kind of drama queen" when she gives that name? I'm pretty sure my reaction would be to think "I have no idea what that is" and just move on.

The same reason we don't go around saying we have oral herpes.

You may be atypical. Many people are uncomfortable with disease/death of others (for I suspect selfish reasons and fears).

For answers to that question, I would refer you to this thread, although the connection might require some pondering to see.

I wonder if the rather esoteric/elusive style of Doreen's post may have been in part to invoke the very phenomenon she seems to be alluding to, by my interpretation of her intended meaning anyways. Even if not, it worked out quite well in the end.

Yep, she seems to have another blogspot for that specifically.

https://atypicalcysticfibrosis.blogspot.com/

It's a bit rude to name something someone made a point of not mentioning.