Sometimes, people hope that their problems will just go away. But when it comes to health, sometimes waiting makes it worse and worse—until even the doctor wonders why you didn’t just come in sooner! Whether they were the concerned doctor or the one putting it off, these Redditors shared stories about patients who should get to the hospital ASAP.
1. My Aching Back
I managed to reach a young lady who had just been involved in a car accident. She was there with her visibly panicked boyfriend. I did a quick health check and tried to calm her down while we anticipated the ambulance. After the ambulance arrived, they began asking the same questions—and that's when the shocking truth unfolded. The boyfriend confessed that he was the one who actually got struck by the car while covering his girlfriend.
Incredibly, his back had shattered the entire windscreen of the car! He was initially too anxious and worried for his girlfriend to realize the shock of the situation; he hadn't even started feeling any pain yet.
2. It’s Not That Bad
A man in his 50s came into the trauma unit needing stitches in his left thigh—a common occurrence in farming regions. As I was stitching him up, he shared that he'd fallen from a ladder while hacking at a tree branch, and his machete had sliced him as he fell. I suggested an x-ray of his entire leg just to be safe.
Despite insisting he was okay, he did mention his knee was a bit sore, which made sense considering his fall. However, I pushed for him to get the x-ray just to be on the safe side. After some persuasion, he eventually made his way to and from the x-ray department. The x-ray revealed a spiraling break almost all the way down his femur! Not only a serious injury, it's generally considered the most excruciating bone to fracture—yet this guy was still on his feet.
Ultimately, I had to physically show him his broken femur to convince him to finally sit in a wheelchair and seek appropriate treatment from an orthopedic specialist. His capacity to endure pain still astounds me.
3. Falling Apart
We once encountered a 65-year-old man, living outside the city, who had been diagnosed with lymphoma eight months prior to our interaction. He preferred not to make the hour-long drive for treatment, so he actually decided against getting any professional help. Instead, he chose to remain at his secluded country home, living alone. This turned out to be a grave error.
Without any treatment, his cancer spread, particularly affecting his skin. When his neighbors visited, they were so alarmed by his condition that they immediately called an ambulance.
At this point, his cancer had dispersed so extensively that it covered him from his head to his knees. It had begun to infringe upon his eyes and mouth, impairing his ability to drink and nearly blinding him. Moreover, his skin was peeling, and he was severely dehydrated due to the excessive fluid loss through his broken skin. His condition was so serious that we had to apply strategies generally reserved for critically burned patients!
4. A Serious Headache
I had a pounding headache. A bit later, I noticed that the size of my irises was uneven. Even though I didn't want to, I decided to go to the emergency room. Soon after I arrived, neurologists were examining me and I was quickly sent for a scan.
The reality was chilling—turns out, the artery that sits just below my brain was damaged. The doctors were essentially on standby, thinking I was going to have a stroke. But I didn't. Remarkably so.
5. Do I Have To Come In?
I once found myself working in a place where there were many Mennonites. I received an unexpected call at the clinic from a mother whose child had been in an accident. The wheel of a contraption had malfunctioned, and shockingly, one of the spokes had lodged itself in her toddler's eye.
But what surprised me the most was her reason for contacting us. She hadn't called for an ambulance—she was just checking whether it was necessary for her child to be examined by a doctor. She had already removed the spoke herself and was aware that her son would lose his eye.
So she wanted to know—did he really need to see a doctor? And of course, the answer was a resounding yes!
6. A Stab In The Gut
When I turned 18, I wound up in the emergency room with excruciating chest pain. It felt like that scene from Alien – dreadful! After few hours, the ER doctor told me I had indigestion, reassuring that I'd be okay. Yet, over the next two years, this became a recurring nightmare. Like clockwork, the first Saturday night of every month brought intense chest pain.
Nothing seemed to alleviate it. From over-the-counter pills to prescription meds, none of the antacids did the trick. I tried skipping meals that day, downing milk, maintaining an upright position all night, but nothing worked. One time, I even fainted from the intense pain right in front of my startled mom.
Eventually, she persuaded me to seek medical help again. Based on a hunch, my doctor suggested an ultrasound of the gallbladder. Surprisingly, they found over a hundred gallstones in there.
Consequently, an emergency operation was in order, leaving my surgeon and doctor utterly shocked. They couldn't believe that I had been suffering from regular gallstone attacks for two years.
7. Short Of Breath
In 2014, for a six-month period, I kept telling my family doctor that it felt like I had a bouncy ball stuck in my throat. Even the short walk to fetch mail left me gasping for air and needing a full ten-minute pause to get my breath back. Moreover, I was occasionally coughing up significant amounts of blood. My doctor was becoming frustrated with my constant complaints and kept giving me steroid prescriptions.
He told me bluntly that being overweight and a smoker, I needed to accept that I had COPD. He said this was my new normal. Finally, I asserted, "Do whatever deep throat test is needed, and if nothing shows up, I’ll quit bothering you about it." Finally, three weeks later, I went in for an ultrasound. When they found something, they suddenly became alarmed and uneasy.
Without a moment's pause, they said I needed to get to the ER in an ambulance direct from the testing center. But when we arrived, their hospital turned me away. They tried a different hospital, which also refused to take me in. We were kept in the dark about what was happening.
Eventually, I landed at my current medical center where it all began to make sense. They told me I needed immediate surgery to remove a cancerous tumor lodged in my airway, leaving only a narrow 4mm straw-sized channel for me to breathe.
Had I resigned to my alleged new life of breathlessness, I might have had only a week or two left to live. Needless to say, I switched family doctors after that experience.
8. Back And Forth
This story involves an elderly woman who called me insisting she required pain medication, feeling certain she had contracted shingles from her neighbor. It had been nearly two years since her last medical examination, so the doctor required her to be examined prior to writing a prescription.
However, she rebuffed the doctor's request, persistently calling for a prescription the following day. And she didn't stop there—this game of cat-and-mouse lasted an entire week, with the woman requesting pain medication and the doctor responding by urging her to schedule an examination. Eventually, she acceded to the doctor's request.
To everyone's surprise, the diagnosis wasn't shingles but advanced breast cancer manifesting as skin ulcerations.
9. A Kick In The Gut
About 17 years ago, my grandpa passed away because he didn't get medical help when he needed it. Here's what happened: While caring for one of his mules, it got startled and kicked him hard in the belly. The pain was intense, so much so he could barely move. He chose to rest on the sofa for a week, hoping to feel better.
Despite his discomfort, he didn't want to go to the hospital. Sadly, the mule’s kick tore open a previously undetected tumor in his intestine. The doctor said the tumor was as big as a volleyball and that he could've possibly survived if he had sought medical help earlier.
By the time we got him to the hospital, he had developed a serious case of gangrene. His condition quickly worsened, leading to his leg being amputated on his first day in the hospital, and a week later, he passed away.
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10. Seeing Spots
During my mom's pregnancy check-up, she casually mentioned to the nurse about her vision being blotchy due to her contact lenses as she was getting ready to leave. This casual remark turned the nurse quite pale.
A moment of panic ensued when she urged my mom to remain seated and quickly called the doctor back to the room. Soon, an urgent decision was made to commence an emergency C-section for me.
In fact, unbeknownst to everyone, my mom had suddenly developed pre-eclampsia, threatening her with soaring blood pressure levels. She was on the brink of suffering a seizure, which might have ended tragically.
Had she simply left after her appointment without sharing her vision problems, or if the nurse hadn't responded appropriately, an unfortunate situation might have unfolded.
11. Dragging It Around
I'm a doctor, and while on duty at the emergency department, an elderly gentleman, probably in his 70s, came in. A few days before, he'd had abrupt and intense chest pain and started throwing up while putting his groceries in his car. He brushed it off, and with considerable difficulty, made it home.
The day after, he began losing the ability to walk, and by the time he made it to us, he'd spent days crawling around his house hoping it would simply improve.
He'd experienced a significant heart issue and this lead to the formation of a clot. This clot had been pushed out by his heart, traveled down his body, broke apart, and blocked blood flow to both his legs. His legs had essentially become non-functional. I don't know the final outcome, but the prognosis wasn't promising as his legs were beyond saving.
12. Have You Been Flossing?
I'm a pediatric nurse and during my initial week at the children's emergency department, we attended to a small girl with an extremely inflamed face and jaw. Tragically, she couldn't move her jaw without severe discomfort and hadn't been able to consume food for a few days.
Apparently, she had only recently begun brushing her teeth, leading to multiple abscesses and tooth decay—but that's not even the worst part.
Her mother, who was recovering from similar dental procedures due to almost identical circumstances, shared the backstory. She didn't want to trouble any doctors, presuming her daughter was merely playing tricks to avoid school.
13. A Tiny Little Secret
When my little sister was around four or five years old, she had an issue with her eye. Mom initially took her to our family doctor, who diagnosed her with conjunctivitis. After receiving medication, our expectation was that she'd recover quickly.
But her eye wouldn't stop watering and didn't get any better, so after a few weeks, Mom took her to the hospital, insisting on consulting with a specialist. This specialist was noticeably irritated, expecting just an ordinary case of conjunctivitis.
However, the reality of the situation was far more alarming. It was discovered that my sister had accidentally poked her eye with a pair of scissors and was too frightened to admit it. What had been presumed as tears was actually fluid from her injured eyeball trickling for weeks!
The doctors quickly took her into surgery where they were able to repair her eye using artificial liquids and minuscule stitches. Although her vision in that eye is severely compromised, at least she didn't lose it completely.
The specialist clarified that if they had waited even a few more hours for treatment, my sister would have lost her eye. It's remarkable what situations kids can unknowingly get themselves into!
14. Don’t Worry, It’s Fine!
My brother works as an EMT in a warehouse. Not too long ago, a coworker approached him, complaining about a problem with his toe. My brother asked him to take off his shoe, which he did. As he was going to ask him to remove the bandage from his big toe, he realized in horror that it wasn’t a bandage—it was the man's skin. Evidently, the guy had dropped a 20-pound tote on the same toe a week prior but kept coming to work regardless.
After that discovery, they quickly sent him off to a doctor, who then forwarded him to the ER. His diagnosis was dual-fold—a tissue infection as well as osteomyelitis, an infection in the bone. But then, the plot thickened! When the guy returned from the ER, he told my brother he’d prefer to bypass the emergency room doc and instead use his own insurance.
Trying his best to get through to him, my brother clarified that his toe could already be too far gone to save. If he procrastinated seeking proper treatment, he could face an even scarier possibility—losing his entire leg. I'm not sure what transpired later on—I can only hope the gravity of the situation sank in.
15. Out In The Yard
During my internship in the emergency room as a paramedic, an elderly gentleman walked in, his hand wrapped in a bulky bandage. He shared that his thumb just wouldn't stop bleeding. As the nurse carefully unraveled the bandage, we discovered a large, bloody wound in the place where his thumb should have been. The nurse, puzzled, asked him where his thumb might be.
The old man casually inquired about the day of the week. Confirming it was Thursday, he responded nonchalantly, "Ah, that means my thumb must have been thrown out with this morning's trash." Shockingly, he confessed that he'd lost his thumb to his lawnmower three days prior, and only now had he decided to seek medical attention!
16. What Even Is That?
I got asked to come to a neighborhood emergency room to meet a guy who was convinced he had severe stomach cancer and needed to shed some pounds to recover. He had axioms that a renowned gastroenterologist had identified him with "Barrett's stomach", which doesn't exist at all. The hospital staff probably called me in due to the weirdness of the situation and they were unsure how to respond.
Finally, he revealed a disturbing truth—he had purposefully wounded his own leg a couple of days ago, expecting gangrene to develop. His logic was that if his leg were to be amputated, he would lose the necessary weight, and hence, his cancer would be cured. I took a step aside to inform the ER team to check his leg and requested the region's psychiatric department, which was standard procedure at this hospital.
I have no idea what ended up happening to him, but his delusion was incredibly intense, to say the least!
17. Cut The Complaining
A few years back, while I was still in the throes of my ER training, I found myself treating a man in his 60s. From the moment I stepped into the room to check on him, it was clear something serious was up. It seems his grandson had dropped by for a post-Christmas visit and was hit with an off-putting smell permeating the house.
Unfortunately, the man had diabetes but hadn't been proactive in his self-care. This lapse had resulted in an infection which had escalated into Fournier's gangrene.
For the following three days, he underwent two bouts of surgical debridement from the knees to just short of his belly button, only a small part of his perineal region was spared.
Thanks to a potent mix of antibiotics, meticulous care, and a truly dedicated team, he pulled through. Despite our best efforts, the whole time he remained ungrateful, belittling our every action as if we were causing him undue stress even as we worked tirelessly to preserve his life.
18. Hiding It Away
Around a dozen years back, I was called upon to give advice on a case of a woman suffering from a slow-progressing growth on her nose; a condition known as Basel cell carcinoma. This is a condition which can be easily treated with timely surgical intervention or a brief period of radiotherapy, generally speaking. But, this woman had a strong concern for her appearance, and to avoid drawing attention to the growth, she decided to cover it with a scarf.
Unfortunately, for nearly two decades, she kept it hidden from both the view and from medical attention. By the time professionals came to be aware of it, the growth had aggressively spread, impacted her nose, one of her eyes, and altered the appearance of her entire face. It had grown to intertwine with the nerves and blood vessels. At that stage, surgical removal wasn't possible, and even radiotherapy held a high chance of causing collateral damage.
It was a real shame because the growth could have been handled effectively 20 years ago. I urge everyone to get any unusual lumps or unusual bleeding checked immediately.
19. Some Real Good Care
A man brought his mother in, he was her primary caregiver. When she was admitted to our ward, I conducted a skin check on her. Upon removing her socks, I made a rather shocking discovery—her toe had gangrened and fallen off.
It seems hard to believe, and I wish it weren't true, but it was unequivocally the most horrifying thing I've ever seen. The son was oblivious as to when his mother's foot condition had deteriorated to such an extreme extent. I was left utterly speechles.
20. Is That Your Story?
In my past work as a dentist within the Texas prison system, one day, a man came in whose bottom four front teeth were all wobbly, causing him slight discomfort. I took an X-ray and what I saw was genuinely surprising. A perfect semicircle of bone that held these four teeth inside was completely broken.
Unfortunately, jail dental care doesn’t include services like root canals or dentures. So, I had to perform a minor surgery, removing this piece of bone along with all the teeth that were in it.
I initially thought he must have gotten into a fight, but he claimed he ran into a pole. Being involved in a fight within prison can lead to serious consequences. Naturally, he was quite upset about losing his teeth.
Only a few days later, another guy came in with his upper two center teeth snapped off right at the base. In my mind, he must have bumped into the other side of that same pole.
21. Back In My Day...
During my last years of medical school, we were tasked with conducting patient interviews and physical exams independently, then reporting back to our supervising doctor. On one occasion, I was working with a classmate to interview a patient and act as a translator between them.
During our conversation, the patient commended us, saying, "So you guys are doing patient care on a Saturday? Good on you for going the extra distance." But it wasn't Saturday—it was Friday. I initially chalked it up to a simple error.
However, my fellow student noticed this discrepancy. He suggested we should ask the patient what the date was. Skeptically, I questioned him, "Are you sure? He's here for an infection, not a head injury, he might find it a bit demeaning." Despite my reservations, my classmate was adamant, so I asked the patient for the date.
The patient responded quite casually, "Ah well, it's 2002, of course!" I was taken aback. It was, in reality, 2016! As we continued questioning him, it became apparent that his responses consistently indicated he thought it was 2002. Ultimately, we discovered he was suffering from late-stage neurosyphilis, which had gone undetected for a long period of time.
22. The Practice Lesson
As a vet, we often have class training sessions where fellow students bring in their pets to help us learn different techniques. For instance, dealing with an aggressive pet, one that requires specific handling, or one with a certain medical condition. It gives us hands-on experience in the classroom.
This one time, a classmate brought in her two senior dogs. One of them had multiple health issues, including blindness. The other one was there mainly because the two dogs hate being apart. Naturally, most of the attention was on the one with the health problems, but at some point the "healthy" dog made an odd throat sound. The owner casually said, "Oh, she does that sometimes, it's probably allergies or something, don't stress."
Our teacher thought it beneficial to practice our listening skills, or auscultation, on the seemingly "healthy" dog too. As it turned out, the dog had a severe tracheal collapse. The student was completely unaware of the symptoms until then. Had our teacher not decided to check on a whim, she might never have known.
23. Patching Myself Up
When I was a surgical intern, our team was summoned to the Emergency Room to attend to a patient suffering from complications after a hernia surgery. On arrival, we found the patient with a plastic bag over their belly. On removing this, we were shocked to see that the surgical incision had reopened, leaving their guts exposed.
This horrifying situation didn't happen suddenly, it had unfolded over several days. The twisted explanation was that the patient started using plastic bags and newspapers to cover the wound when they ran out of proper dressings, which is the reason why they landed up in the ER.
24. More Than A Hangover
When I was fresh out of school and working with the military, we had a soldier rush into the emergency room. He'd just come back from leave and was suffering from an intense headache.
The reality of his situation was intense—he'd taken a blow to the head from a beer bottle the day before. Even though he seemed alert and nothing about him immediately appeared concerning, I became worried after a check-up revealed he was experiencing high blood pressure and a slow heart rate.
So off to a bigger hospital he went, and wouldn't you know, he was diagnosed with a significant subdural hematoma. I can't help but marvel at how this guy was up and about despite his serious issue.
25. A Surreal Shock
I visited the doctor as a patient because of a mouth infection I was dealing with. When the doctor asked, "How have you been feeling in general?" I admitted to feeling a bit fatigued. But considering my new athletic activity had me waking up at an ungodly fours in the morning, it wasn't surprising.
I also thought that the early morning wake-ups were the reason for my sudden weight loss. We covered a few more topics before the doctor mentioned the possibility of diabetes, suggesting we do a blood test and reconvene the following week. I took it lightly, oblivious to the looming danger.
Imagine my shock when just a few hours later, the doctor rang me up and urgently advised me to head to the nearest emergency room. My blood sugar had soared beyond 40 mmol, and he feared I might slip into a coma if I passed the night without medical intervention.
The bizarre part was that I felt perfectly normal – the same way I had felt for many months. Surprisingly, I'd even managed to maintain a healthy appearance.
At the hospital, I remember telling the medical staff why I was there. They turned ashen-faced, and panic washed over them. To cut to the chase, it turned out that I have type one diabetes.
26. A Routine Check...
My mom was given an epidural to deal with neck and back pain just a few days before she was meant to see her heart doctor. This heart doctor ordered a regular chest x-ray after she'd been through a major heart surgery about nine months ago, then asked us to go home. But shortly after, his office gave us a call, urging us to head to the emergency room for a CT scan because they noticed something unusual in her chest x-ray.
While it could have been a false alarm, it's always best to be cautious. As it turns out, my mom's large intestine had burst, which was causing waste to leak into her chest area. Because of the epidural, she wasn't feeling any pain and had no idea what was happening. If not for that heart doctor's appointment, she could have faced serious health dangers within the next 24 hours.
27. Following My Gut
I felt something was off with my 9-day-old son, so I asked my husband to take us to the local children's hospital. When we got there, I expressed my concerns to the front desk, saying, "I know you probably hear this every day, but something seems off with my son."
Just half an hour later, our worst fears came true. Our son was having a heart attack. For five hours, the medical team tirelessly worked to get his toxin levels down so he could be moved to a nearby heart hospital—a transfer they warned us he might not make.
Fast forward to today, he's a lively 12-year-old with a passion for basketball. I recently visited the hospital for a heartwarming news story. Doctors there recalled how my son's medical report said his toxin levels were "incompatible with survival".
They shared that out of the 50,000 children admitted each year, only about 100 have a heart condition like my son. What was even more striking was that no family had ever brought in a baby with his condition before. Such babies usually came in ambulances and, sadly, most didn't survive.
28. A Hard Loss
An often-seen patient who was exceptionally kind yet sadly struggling with alcoholism was brought into the hospital by his roommate. The moment I saw him, I knew in my heart that he didn't have much time left. I've encountered quite a few individuals with jaundice but this man was an unnatural shade of yellow I didn't even know existed.
Tearfully, his roommate shared, "I've been begging him to get medical help for weeks”. The patient, however, kept reassuring his roommate he was perfectly okay.
He was overwhelmingly in denial about his condition—and this would later cost him big time. I assisted him into the examination room, and when the doctor saw him, he immediately asked me to call an ambulance. Maybe seeking medical attention a few weeks earlier might not have changed the end result, but it could have at least eased his suffering a bit. He passed away at the hospital a week later. His death hit me really intensely as I'd known him for several years.
His interaction varied. Sometimes he’d call while sober, other times, he'd sound intoxicated and incoherent, but he was ALWAYS nice.
29. Not Just A Runny Nose
In my job, which involves going through medical records, I once encountered a peculiar case about a young man. This guy kept suffering from consistent headaches at the front of his head. His doctors had tried all typical migraine treatments, but none could relieve his incessant headaches. As if that were not enough, he then started to have a constant runny nose that refused to stop.
In a rather shocking turn of events, it was discovered that the fluid leaking from his nose was not just mucus but cerebrospinal fluid. A brain CT scan was performed, but the results looked normal. After some time, a decision was made to image his sinuses.
Amazingly, the images revealed leftover packing material in his left sinus cavity. The leftover material was a result of a sinus surgery he had undergone over a year prior. The material had decayed over time, causing damage to structures in his nasal passages and ultimately creating a hole into his brain cavity!
30. My Aching Foot
So, although my dad isn't technically a farmer, he always heads out to his in-laws' place to lend a hand during lambing season. Last year, after spending three weeks there, he came back and told us an interesting story. Just four days into his farm stint, a ewe stomped on his foot hard when he was attempting to help with the birthing process of a lamb.
However, that didn't stop him. He stayed for another couple of weeks plus some, then made the five-hour drive back home. Despite the pain, he hobbled straight into work where he took a guy he's been looking after to a medical appointment.
When the doctor noticed my dad limping, he got curious. After attending to the other patient, the doctor turned his attention to my dad and asked about his foot. He quickly rang up my dad's boss, requesting someone else come to pick up the patient.
Also, an ambulance was immediately called for my dad. Upon reaching the hospital, an x-ray revealed that he had broken eight of those tiny bones in his foot, and was still dealing with some nasty bruising. My poor dad ended up in a surgical boot for three months because of his broken toes!
31. Rolling With The Punches
A patient came into my office reporting that he was unable to see. When I asked him how long this had been going on, he told me five days. Believe it or not, he hadn't sought medical attention because he thought it might simply "clear up like a cold". The situation took an even stranger turn during the checkup.
As I asked him to move his legs, he casually responded, "Oh, I can't do that". So, I inquired about how long he'd been experiencing difficulty walking.
His wife then informed me—it's been two full years! They hadn't sought medical assistance; instead, they were using a friend's wheelchair to get around. It came to light that he'd suffered multiple strokes and hadn't addressed several risk factors.
Considering his lack of understanding about his condition, I couldn't help but feel sympathy. He had no insurance, which likely contributed to his reluctance in seeking medical help.
32. Pandemic Pauses
In the midst of the pandemic, a man with a pre-existing heart condition suffered a heart attack, accompanied by the usual chest pain. He soon began experiencing symptoms of heart failure—something he was familiar with from past episodes. However, fears of visiting the hospital during the pandemic caused him to delay seeking help for a few days. It only went downhill from that point on.
Eventually, his condition worsened to the point where he couldn't breathe due to fluid build-up in his lungs. At this point, he had no choice but to visit the emergency room, which of course, led to his hospitalization.
33. It’s Off The Charts!
I work in a laboratory and I had an experience I'll never forget. A man came in late one day. He'd been struggling with chest pains over the weekend. One of the emergency doctors asked for a troponin blood test. This test is crucial in identifying whether it's a heart attack. The threshold is 0.03—any higher and it becomes a trigger for treating a heart attack. I nearly passed out when I saw the results.
This man had a whopping troponin level of 21.00. Just to give you perspective, the previous highest we'd seen had been 8.00. The fact that he had survived this long really surprised us. It's a stark reminder of why nobody should ever downplay chest pains.
34. A Bad Bike Crash
I can still recall at eight years old, having a nasty spill on a small motorcycle. After my parents' split, my dad didn't have custody, so the emergency room wanted confirmation from my mother before treating me. Even though I wasn't in obvious agony, minus a few teeth and split lip, they were insistent on contacting her. A few hours later, my mom arrived, and they finally allowed for my x-rays.
The technician examining the x-ray immediately rushed to find a doctor after seeing the results. The doctor wasted no time calling for an available surgical room and requesting the presence of a surgeon. It surfaced that I had a severe skull injury and a tooth had become lodged in my eye socket! This had created a considerable amount of pressure causing fractures in my forehead. A piece of bone had dislodged and fallen into my brain, causing a swelling issue.
35. It Won’t Stop!
I suppose a doctor might describe me as a case of severe late treatment. At the age of 16, my body, or more specifically, my uterus, went rogue and I began to experience extremely long and heavy periods. My belief was that it would naturally fix itself over time, but, spoilers, that didn't happen. For a year, I was stuck in a brutal cycle of month-long bleeding spells with barely two days respite.
One memorable incident occurred during school play callbacks. I was so heavily menstruating that no product was enough and I ended up spending half an hour in the toilet. Eventually, my complexion turned pale, my body began to convulse, and alarmed, my friends made me sit down. I then took myself off to the doctor who drew some blood and tentatively suggested birth control, but wanted to wait until the test results came in for a final decision.
The very next day, my mom gets a call from the clinic. They wanted to check on my condition before instructing her to rush me directly to the ER. My hemoglobin levels, apparently, were dangerously low at 5.6, in comparison to an average woman's level of 12.
It was a mystery to the medical team how I could even still be on my feet, let alone having endured this for a whole year. I ended up having a blood transfusion, was prescribed iron supplements for anemia, and started on birth control for hormone regulation.
36. Shrugging It All Off
During a vacation a few weeks ago, my dad, who is in his 60s, took a tumble. We didn't even realize it happened! In the past, he's had a few slips and falls but never made a big deal of them. This fall, though, was serious—he just didn't know it. By the following week, his speech had become scrambled and his actions unpredictable, catching the notice of his coworkers.
They brought it to our attention, at which point we started piecing things together. Despite having a fever of 39 degrees and being sick two days straight, my dad insisted on working as if everything was normal. He finally sought medical advice and, after an examination, the doctor said he needed to be admitted to the hospital immediately.
The consequences were totally unexpected. It turned out the fall had left him with a wound that developed into a severe infection. He ended up staying in the hospital for a week and a half.
37. You Did WHAT?
One day in my clinic, a man walked in having a problem with his swollen finger. He explained that his finger had been increasingly swollen and painful for the past week. Things took a nasty turn when a hole formed at the tip of his fingers three days before his clinic visit. This was the moment when, if I were him, I would've immediately sought medical help.
On the day he came to the clinic, he mentioned, "Just so you know, I pulled an unfamiliar object from that hole in my finger yesterday using tweezers, and I'm clueless about what it could be". He pulled out a tissue from his shirt pocket when I inquired if he had taken a picture or preserved the object. I was so shocked, I nearly fainted.
Bizarrely, the object turned out to be the last bone of his finger! Apparently, an infection had set into the bone, and his body had naturally tried to expel what had become a painful foreign object. The man had basically extracted the tip of his own finger! It was the most astonishing and perhaps, the goriest 'magic trick' I've ever come across.
38. One, Two, Three, Clear!
I'm employed at a hospital located quite a ways off the beaten track. Our patients seem to visit us only as a last resort. I've witnessed numerous heart-rending incidents, most commonly involving foot ulcers in patients with diabetes, which more often than not, end up in a toe removal.
One standout story, however, involves an elderly farmer—he came in complaining about a persistent chest pain that wouldn't ease off. He mentioned having experienced similar discomfort on and off for years but found an unusual object—his farm's electric fence!
Just as it happened, the first time he felt the chest pain, he was by his farm's electric fence. He ended up touching the fence while steadying himself, got a shock, and surprisingly, his chest pain disappeared! So, logically to him, every time he felt the pain, he simply grabbed the fence again, which seemed to help. Unknowingly, he'd been self-administering electric shocks for years as a cure.
We treated him and sent him on his way. His carefree demeanor about his unconventional treatment continues to amuse all of us, and we often exchange chuckles over it.
39. Don’t Ignore That!
During my second year at university, I developed a habit of drinking coffee, a habit quite common among college students, one that saw me downing it in great quantities. One night during exam week, a splitting headache hit me.
Like any other study-focused student, I decided to down some coffee and bury myself in a few hours of hard work. As if by magic, my headache subsided, however, I became aware of an alarming tingling sensation and numbness spreading through the right side of my body.
This uncomfortable feeling escalated to the point where I could literally trace the line on my face where the numbness ended. My entire right side felt devoid of any sensation. Because it was exam week, I brushed it off, thinking that all I needed was a good night's sleep to get me back on track and everything would be okay.
So I hit the sack, woke up for my 8am exam, and alarmingly, my condition was significantly worse. By around 10 AM, I was in bad enough shape to ask a friend to drive me to the emergency room (ER).
The ER doctor's reaction was frightful, he was shocked that I had been unphased by such a stark symptom of a potential stroke for more than half a day. What I had experienced turned out to be an elaborate migraine triggered by, of all things, an overdose of caffeine coupled with lack of sleep.
From that point forward, I resolved to reshape aspects of my lifestyle, amongst them, keeping a check on how much coffee I drank. Since undertaking these changes, I haven't experienced a similar episode.
40. Just A Small Hole
I work as a physician's assistant in orthopaedics, specialising in hand surgery. One time, a patient came in saying he had previously gotten a wrist replacement and now had a hole in his wrist. I initially thought it was a small infection drainage, which isn't uncommon. When the patient arrived and I saw his X-rays, it looked like he had a significant muscle contracture, which isn't ideal but is not unheard of either.
The patient had a bandage around his wrist, which I carefully removed, revealing a hole about the size of three by six centimeters. But there was something very weird about it—astonishingly, this hole was directly over his wrist replacement; particularly over the poly insert which helps the two components of the replacement to slide over each other.
What shocked me was that he had noticed the hole around four years ago but only sought medical attention when it became this big.
41. That’s...Unexpected
When I was learning the ropes to become a nurse, I was teamed up with a child life specialist for a few weeks. We had a visit from a mom and her young son, who must have been around four or five. The doctor instructed us to help keep the little guy at ease while carrying out his examination. He was all smiles and quite talkative, especially because he seemed perfectly healthy from the neck up.
Surprisingly though, his stomach was so swollen that it appeared as if he were pregnant! My colleague and I were taken aback as we had only brought the usual toys with us. Regardless, we stayed by this brave little boy's side supporting him as he underwent a series of tests. When asked, his mom informed us that his condition had persisted for three months.
As it happens, he had a tumor. The surgeons were able to extract it, but post-surgery, the young boy was left self-conscious due to his stretch marks and loose skin. Even after all this time, I often find myself thinking of him – a feeling that has intensified since having a child of my own. I genuinely hope he is doing well today.
42. The Tattoo Troubles
Although I'm not a doctor, I served as a medic in the military. One late night, around 2 AM, a guy entered the medical bay with his arm heavily bandaged. When I unwrapped his arm, it appeared to be severely infected. Wondering how this happened, I questioned him. That's when he revealed the unsavory reality.
Apparently, prior to our deployment into the wilderness the preceding weekend, he had his entire forearm inked with a tattoo. Throughout the week, he traversed swamps with water up to his chest, assuming his arm would remain unaffected as long as it was wrapped up.
Clearly, it didn't quite work out that way.
43. Saving Face
This man I know had been neglecting a skin cancer issue on his nose for years, which had sadly resulted in an infection. Eventually, it progressed into MRSA and extended across his face. So bad was the spread that he lost his nose, one of his cheeks and eyes, and was beginning to lose his other eye as well.
Quite shockingly, even a portion of his skull was visible. I'm not sure why he decided to ignore it all this time, nor do I know how long it took to reach this severe stage. But the sight, smell, and feel of his deteriorating face are something I'll never forget.
On a positive note, we finally managed to persuade him to undergo reconstructive surgery. As a result, he received a skin graft that made up for his lost eye, nose, and cheek. So, if you ever cross paths with a rather surly guy who has just one eye and a mouth, remember—it could have been a lot worse.
44. A Hairy Situation
While on my shift, I looked after a female patient who was on a ventilator. She needed an EEG, a test that checks for brain activity, which required electrodes to be attached to her scalp. But we faced a problem—her hair was so tangled and clumped together, we couldn't reach her scalp. So, we had to ask the family's permission to trim her hair in order to carry out the test.
As the nurse assigned to her that shift, I was handed a pair of medical scissors and was told to start cutting. Once I began, a large chunk of her terribly tangled hair peeled away all at once—leading me to a rather shocking discovery.
It was clear that the knotted mass used to be a wig, having over the years, dreadlocked with her natural hair. When I had finished removing this matted mix of real and faux hair, I found some unexpected extras—petrified bugs that had been lodged therein. It was quite gross and it made me feel a bit queasy,
45. Just Go To The Hospital!
My mom was the type to trust alternative medicine, opting for online-bought herbal remedies to manage her long-term health conditions. Her symptoms included relentless constipation and a stubborn sore on her stomach that was resistant to her Manuka honey treatments. I wish she had given these symptoms the gravity they deserved.
To cut a long story short, my brother finally persuaded her to see a doctor about her relentless abdominal sore. There, they found a tumor. This was the culprit behind her persistent constipation and had also eaten its way through her internal organs and abdominal wall. Unfortunately, she only survived for another six weeks after this discovery. My advice? Don't use the Internet as your doctor, folks.
46. Some Sketchy Swelling
During a visit to my doctor for back pain, I also mentioned that my leg was a bit swollen. The doctor brushed it off, suggesting that it was most likely because of my salt intake. However, a week later, my leg was hurting so much that it was difficult to even walk. Unable to go to work, my husband drove me to the doctor's office. The doctor took one look at my leg and immediately realized it was serious. He told me to rush to the hospital, thinking I might have a blood clot.
Eventually, it turned out I had a significant blood clot extending from my hip to my knee, along with a pulmonary embolism. They moved me to another hospital to have surgery, and I spent some time in the ICU. If I had delayed any longer, it would've had serious consequences!
47. Feeling A Bit Heavy
Working as an emergency radiologist, I encounter numerous patients whose mild symptoms disguise severe, complex diseases. Yet, there's one particularly heartbreaking case I can't forget. It involved a little boy, just four years old, who had been experiencing a hard, unyielding abdomen for several months. The boy's pediatrician initially thought the issue was merely constipation. Even when the symptom prolonged, the parents didn't bother to get it rechecked.
The shocking truth came to light when I performed an imaging scan of his abdomen. His liver had been completely consumed by a large tumor, indicative of hepatoblastoma. I couldn't help but ask his parents why they hadn't sought treatment earlier. Their response was equally saddening—they had been content with their doctor's initial diagnosis of constipation.
48. A Frustrating Result
Once there was a gentleman in his mid-life who tried acupuncture to help with some numbness and weakness he was experiencing down his legs. After being unable to find relief for two months, he decided on a regular doctor's check-up somewhat reluctantly. By this time, he was also starting to have some problems with controlling his bladder.
As I got to talking with him, the signs became clear—and it wasn't looking good for him. His complaints matched the symptoms of a spinal cord compression, which is a serious medical emergency. We immediately rushed him to the hospital where scans revealed he had cancer. A tumor was applying pressure on his spinal cord. He began undergoing treatment and taking steroids that very day, but unfortunately, it was too late.
He eventually lost the ability to walk and several months later he lost his battle against cancer. It was deeply heart-rending and frustrating, as his combination of symptoms would have immediately set alarm bells ringing to anyone medically trained. If only he had come to get checked out a few months earlier, it might have altered his prognosis.
49. Leaving Things Out
I had the task of removing the remaining teeth of a gentleman in his 60s. He assured us, both verbally and in his medical history, that he wasn't taking any medication.
Therefore, I proceeded to extract his final eight teeth, which was quite straightforward due to infections and gum disease. However, I encountered a significant issue—I was unable to stop his bleeding. I questioned him again regarding his medication use.
Eventually, after nearly an hour of intense effort, I was able to control the bleeding. I even had to seek advice from our in-house oral surgeon. A few months later, when the patient visited the oral surgeon for potential implants, he revealed that he had been taking blood pressure medication and blood thinners. After that incident, I decided that I could not continue providing his dental care.
50. Putting It Off
I received a phone call from a patient who injured their forearm two months prior but failed to attend their follow-up meeting. I arranged another appointment, but the patient missed it. When I scheduled it once more, the patient didn't show up again. On the third attempt, the patient came in, but their arm was clearly misshapen due to the untreated fracture.
Just by visiting as originally planned, the patient could have bypassed this trouble completely. It truly baffles me that they spent nearly three months without seeking proper medical attention.
Sources: Reddit,
