"How Are You Alive?"

Doctors and medical professionals see patients in all sorts of conditions. There are times that even they are stunned that the person in front of them is still living and breathing. These Redditors share their stores of people who should have been long gone yet weren’t. Miracles indeed happen every day.


1. What A Fall!

We were the closest hospital, so they brought a civilian in. His safety gear failed, and this guy fell 128 feet from a communications tower. It had rained the night before, and he fell into a marshy puddle of high grass, flat on his back. When I took a look at him, I couldn't believe what I was seeing. He had a concussion and whiplash. No broken bones, but the bruises that covered his body from head to heel were something to behold. He spent a week in the hospital before he could move comfortably.

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How Are You Alive?

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2. Are You Kid-neying Me?

A friend of mine was feeling unwell for days. He'd go to work, feel exhausted, come home, sleep 13 hours, and repeat. Finally, he got to feeling so bad he decided to go to the ER. He drove himself at around 3 AM. He got out of the car, and the security guard said, "OH MY GOD", and ran to get him a wheelchair. ER admissions also said, "OH MY GOD", and got the ER doc.

The ER doc noted my friend was quite yellow. They ordered blood work, and when it came back, the ER doc didn't believe it and had it done again. When the second round came back, the doc asked my friend for next of kin information. My friend said, "

You can't call my mom, it's 4 AM", and the doc said, "Your kidneys have completely failed."

"We are going to send you upstairs and give you a pint of blood and an hour of dialysis, and we need to know who to call if you still don't make it. You should have been [gone] a month ago".

He got a kidney from his sister and is still doing well today. Apparently, the kidney was as close a match as one can get, and he should live an essentially normal lifespan.

NovaRunner

I’m Not Faking It: Medical Nightmares

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3. The Sweet Life

I had a patient who was already blind from diabetes and lost some toes and part of a foot. I checked their blood sugar, and it was 45. I thought I must have made a mistake. The normal range is 4–7. I checked it again, and it was 45. This patient had no symptoms of hyperglycemia. He just took his insulin pen, cranked it, and self-injected. I had to wait around a bit to see what would happen, but eventually, we left, and he ended up being totally fine. Most home glucometers don't go past 30. I was with my trainer nurse, who was dumbfounded.

mattttherman

Medical Nightmares facts

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4. Everything But The Kitchen Sink

As a lab tech, I had one I dubbed "Everything Guy". He was complaining of a sore stomach after coming home from overseas, so he got the usual, "what were you doing"? questions.

He was in West Africa and didn't bother to get antimalarials and didn’t have any vaccines. He admitted to eating bushmeat and also said he thought it was undercooked.

He drank water from a "local source", which turned out to be directly from a river, without filtering it. The river was apparently badly polluted. He also hired ladies of the evening while there and didn't use protection.

He basically did everything you shouldn't do on holiday and used it as a checklist.

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