Doctors, what have been your "why didn't you come in sooner!" moments?

[@akasakasvault7597]

the old man having frequent heart attacks for years and just sending the heart back pumping with his electric fence has gotta be the most insane one

[@Vieweracc99]

It may not have been multiple heart attacks. It sounds like an electrical issue with the heart - an arrhythmia - which can make your heart hurt in a weird way. The treatment for both atrial fibrillation and arrhythmias can be a pacemaker, which helps control electrical signals to the heart. He was, in a sense, rebooting his heart's system whenever he felt this happening.

[@axehead45]

Dude is badass

[@FizzieWebb]

@@Vieweracc99 I was thinking that to myself, like "Okay, dude needs a pacemaker, cause it sounds like the zap from the electric fence was kicking his heart back into a normal rhythm."

[@arthurmoloch]

I'll be one of these stories one day, if I'm not already. Worked through serious chest pains for over a week

[@valenciageode25]

He definitely should’ve come in after the first time, but he had the right idea (albeit accidentally). Pretty rare for the home cures to actually work.

[@dr0g_Oakblood]

13:21 - bro performed self-defibrillation with his electric fence lmao.

[@haplessasshole9615]

If there's an r/ExtremeDIY subreddit, the hot-fence defib story belongs there.

[@valenciageode25]

It’s so rare that a home cure actually works, though this was more of an accident.

[@CharlesFroehler]

@@valenciageode25 To be fair; so was pennicillin.

[@v3ru586]

Not sure if it counts, as I did seek help as soon as I was legally able to. When I ended up with an adhd expert, she told me that people with symptoms as severe as mine usually get training and meds much earlier. I didn't know I had adhd, until my mom asked why I won't grow out of it. She knew of my diagnosis and waited over 25 years for me to just grow out of it. In her defence, the school psychologist told her that I won't need treatment, as I'm intelligent.

[@TheGuindo]

oh, something similar happened with me. i didn't know i had ADHD but after being diagnosed in my late 20s, I mention to my mom that the assessment was a lot like that test I did in 3rd grade, and she goes "oh, yeah, they told me you had it back then but we decided you didn't need medication because your grades were fine." so she decided i didn't need meds because i was smart enough that it compensated for my bad studying/homework habits :| and then she just forgot about it for 20 years, apparently. she wasn't waiting for me to grow out of it, at least, but i'm not sure if "forgot completely due to her own undiagnosed ADHD" is better or worse, lmao. but yeah, sad bro-fist from the "mom decided you didn't need ADHD meds because you were a smart kid" club.

[@RandoWisLuL]

@@TheGuindo Diagnosed early, tried a few different medications. Ridlen worked but wasn't strong enough and i felt depressed. I got put on 56mg of Concerta, worked well but killed my whole personality. Went from smiling and happy to a worker drone. got average grades. Stopped taking it when i was 17, was probably the best thing i have ever done. I got all of my creativity back, happy again, was able to tackle a lot of my mental health, realized i wasn't going to be happy sitting in an office( after being there for a number of years). Currently working up to going solo and working on my own. I do get distracted sometimes( im in my 30s) but not enough to bother me, especially since i could ALWAYS concentrate on things i liked. It was the boring matrix-like part of the system i hated and would do bad in lol would not have pulled out of that if i didn't stop taking ADHD meds. Thats just how it worked for me, different for everybody. those were the olden days of ADHD might i add. not recent times

[@ladymorrigan5950]

I’m pretty sure I have undiagnosed ADHD. I don’t think it was a thing when I was a kid. I wasn’t allowed to have candy/sugary snacks because parents thought it made me hyper.

[@RandoWisLuL]

@@ladymorrigan5950 eat some red dye 40, youll find out lol

[@allisond.46]

She thought you would *grow out of it*?

[@fleurpouvior2967]

My mom wasn't feeling good, and ignored it till she passed out at the airport and was rushed to the ER with internal bleeding. Her sickness had dehydrated her to the point of bleeding intestins. This was just before thanksgiving. I have recently found out she had gone to her doctor a few times when it started, and was told she just had a bad diet and needed to eat healthier (she's a farm wife, who cooks everything from scratch, and they grow/raise their own food.) Her first doctors visit since hospitalization, and the doctor refuses to talk about it at all, and continues to say nothing is wrong and it's all in her head. Moms friend has the same symptoms, and a diagnosis with treatment. Mom is working to switch doctors, but she's getting worse and might need to go to the hospital again. I'm looking into a lawsuit

[@kimberlypoole5325]

Take her to the hospital immediately. She needs a cat scan of her gut. Tell the Er that she no longer has that idiot doctor. I had a idiot gastrointestinal doctor that told me basically the same thing when I first got sick. For a whole decade this doctor told me it was my nerves & stress when it was severe Crohns disease. I found out when I got sick & almost died. Get your mom to the hospital & tell the doctor all you told in your post. Stand firm, don't back down & threaten law suits until you get her diagnosed. Sometimes you got to show your ass to get something done. Good luck & God bless.

[@scarlettrazor5374]

It's really hard hearing stories where the nurses and doctors are saying not to ignore some thing in to make sure to go to the hospital when I've had doctors and nurses not believe me or my mom. It's so frustrating because there's real pain and there's real fear but a lot of us just aren't taken seriously and so whenever we finally need a doctor or someone who actually believes us, they're acting like we're stupid for not coming in when the truth is we just thought that we weren't gonna be believed

[@ca44444]

Yup, they’re acting shocked like “how could you ignore this” when so many other providers have done just that

[@Anei888Zotto]

I went to the hospital for stomach pain they just said it was period cramps and accused me of being drug seeking, and sent me on my way. Later on my appendix ruptured and I was seriously asked why I waited so long to get help. 🫠

[@jenniferlloyd9574]

Yep. This is where I am now. My best experience has been at my local urgent care. Not even kidding. They're amazing. Everyone else,not so much. Medical gaslighting needs to STOP 🛑!!!

[@chasecarter8848]

I had an oral Xray once prior to having my wisdom teeth surgically removed by a maxillio facial surgeon. He asked me who had set the old break in my jaw. I said I wasn't aware it had been broken. He gave me a look and said that the injury and reduction would have been very painful and obvious, no way I could forget it. I explained that I'd once thought my jaw dislocated, severe pain, lots of swelling, difficulty moving it etc. So I iced it down, got a bit tipsy on booze, and pulled and played with it until it popped back into place. What I'd done was reduce the full fracture of my jaw. In the process I also severed the nerve that was supposed to be telling me that my poorly set jaw had resulted in a bad case of TMJ. However, since I can't feel it, and it doesn't interfere with eating talking or breathing there just isn't a good reason for intervention now. You read that right, I got drunk and set my own fully broken through jaw by looking in a mirror, and furthermore, didn't even realize what I had actually done. Apparently I'm double tough and triple stupid.

[@v1pero734]

Kind of similar situation here - Early in the spring I was landscaping. I stood on the trailer, where it hitches to the truck, and grabbed a back pack blower. I slung the blower over my shoulder and due to the morning dew on the trailer hitch, I slid off. I landed awkward on my left foot and immediately thought it was a really bad sprain. I took a day off, then started wearing my ankle reinforced hiking boots to work. Three months later my leg had an incessant itch where the sprain was. Went to my doc, got an xray, and found out I had been walking around for three months with a broken leg. It was itching because it was healing. It healed up perfect though, so no worries.

[@Roadent1241]

Can't say I'm not impressed. Is it fixed now?

[@Keelinosity]

Gave yourself the ol' pirate treatment

[@Pornbelly]

You know the sayin "God protects fools, drunks and babes"? That was you. And no, I don't beileve in god, but that saying always makes sense some how

[@timothykohout9503]

I AM one of these type of stories. A year and a half ago I was doing some land clearing. I had just cut down a maple tree, gotten it all de-limbed, and had cut it into two 25 ish foot sections (the tree wasn't that thick, so the logs weighed about 100-150lbs or so.). I had dropped the first section on a pile that i was making with all the logs and was carrying the second log when I tripped over a log that was sticking a few inches farther out than the rest in that pile. I still remember it all playing out in slow motion. I felt myself fall, hit the ground, and realizing the log hadn't fallen all the way yet and thinking "This is going to hurt so much" and then the log slammed down. It pinned my leg between it and the log I had tripped over. After taking a few minutes to get out from underneath the log I went to stand up and immediately fell on my face. Sat for 15 minutes or so and then was able to stand up and walk around albeit it hurt like hell. I stupidly went back to doing what I had been doing. I figured, well I can walk on it, it can't be that bad. I probably just bruised it really badly. I made it three days walking over uneven ground, clearing more brush, carrying more logs. End of the third day I was talking with my old man and he saw me stand up and "walk" and immediately drove me to the walk-in (hah). His reaction when I tried to say no was actually pretty funny. "Boy, you're walking like you just got bent over by an elephant, your consent is optional so get in the damned truck or get dragged into it." I discovered a very interesting fact about the human body after a few x-rays and stunned looks from the doc and nurses. You really CAN walk on broken ankle, apparently even a badly broken one so long as you break your fibula and not your tibia. The break itself was bad but walking around on it and carrying stuff after it basically ground the bone as well as making it twist and deform, also they aren't sure whether it was the initial crush injury or the continuing to walk around on it but I have nerve damage that has resulted in permanent pins and needles, random feelings of it being on fire and then doused in ice water. It has essentially destroyed my ankle and I walk with a permanent limp now. If you get hurt, if something is wrong, don't put it off, don't expect it to just get better. Go to a damned professional.

[@RJMeta]

i worked as a radiographic assistant for a while - basically the guy that gets you prepared for your mri/ultrasound/ct/etc. one time when i was working the inpatient ct scanner, we had a patient we weren't sure would fit in the scanner because of how large they were. they'd just been admitted to one of the acute med wards off the back of an ed visit and the radiographers were back and forth over the clinical history because it was a bit shit. in the end we sent them to get scanned in the radiotherapy planning scanner because it was bigger and they'd fit easier. turns out the patient was so large because they had a tumor taking up most of their abdominal space. the radiographers were shocked that they'd only just come in to get it checked out.

[@JadeAkelaONeal]

I have a lump in my breast.. I've tried to get it checked out 3x. The first time they told me it was concerning and set up a second appointment. Arrived to the second appointment and a psychiatrist diagnosed me with about 6 mental disorders in 6 minutes, said id never spoken to anyone or been talked to by anyone about breast cancer. When I showed her the paperwork from the first appointment she tore it up, threatened me with a 72 hour psych hold and told me I must have printed them at the library, and to stop attention seeking. I tried one more time a few weeks later and the doctor LAUGHED IN MY FACE and called me "Dr Google" for bringing up the possibility of a tumor. Me and my pea sized breast lump have been ignoring eachother for 3 years now. I will die before I beg doctors to look at me again. If I end up looking like I have a watermelon under my arm I'll still stay home unless I literally get forced into a hospital. If that happens I'm sure they'll talk shit about me behind my back "how could you not come in as soon as you feel a lump?!?!" but the answer is that medical professionals treat women like shit. It's literally so bad some of us would rather die.

[@RJMeta]

​@@JadeAkelaONealnot surprised honestly - half the bloody trouble is getting past the gen med or family doctor to get a referral to a specialist. it's why i haven't bothered seeking diagnoses for half my shit, because i know i won't be believed.

[@jessh5310]

A guy I went school with developed diabetes at 15, After we left school he became a heavy drinker, didn't take his insulin, didn't check his blood sugar. Recently had his leg removed due to lack of blood flow and gangrene. Still drinks, doesn't take medicine and is due back to have more gangrenous bits removed... Our health care is essentially paid via taxes so free to access.

[@already-taken]

Oh, older people will follow what the doctor said to the letter even when misunderstood. I think it is a culture thing. When i was a pharmacy tech, so many older people would come in unable to tell us what they were taking the medication for, but going for it because "doctor's orders". There were so many cases where the person was clearly exhibiting symptoms related to their meds and how they were taking them, but i couldnt say anything because i was a lowly tech. One patient kept getting upped and upped on stimulants, had bad tremors and muscle spasms that was also now heavily medicated, and said his concentration was just getting worse. As someone who runs a thin line with serotonin syndrome constantly, i know what it is like and would be surprised if he wasnt dealing with it. But, doctor's orders and i couldnt say anything due to my position. I couldnt even tell him that he may want to ask his doctor about it. That story with the socks does not surprise me at all because of this.

[@redjoker365]

I had that problem when I was living with my Boomer parents after I went to a psych hospital. I was having bad reactions to some of the meds, but I was forced to keep taking them despite that. I begged my psychiatrist to prescribe me some placebos so they could see me take a prescribed pill while we were sorting out what the correct medication would be

[@autisticwitch7581]

Honestly, I would've been the electric fence guy. I would've been like "if that fixed it, it probably wasn't that serious" and then went about my day.

[@KitsuneYashaX48]

Honestly, 100%, I get that, but at the same time, if it KEPT happening... idk, I just don't like the idea of having to go out and grab a live fence every time, first of all lmao

[@moonstar_draws6283]

My high school math teacher’s husband is a doctor and she told us about how apparently some dude came into the ER where he worked pretty late at night and was all like “my tummy kinda hurts a little bit” (yes he said tummy) and it turns out his appendix had literally burst

[@HONEYBEAAA]

"A minor inconvenience"

[@Iam1Person]

Oh my goodness. I had Appendicitis when I was young and it literally kept me up ALL NIGHT from the pain. When my mom woke up in the morning, (she's always worked early shifts, starting around 5) I managed to explain enough of what I was feeling to convince her to take me straight to the hospital... it was close to 15 years ago now, but I remember that pain clearly. It was *not* just a tummyache.

[@cjstar01jones17]

Lmfao me

[@Roadent1241]

I will put up with 3 days of pain and major discomfort, apparently a normal thing for autistics to have gastric issues which I didn't know before, and just be told it's anxiety when calling to make an appointment TO SEE A GP. I just wait for it to go away. I'm an adult, it's not even like I'm trying to bunk off school or was trying to bunk off my carer job. Clearly carer can't be carer if they're struggling with their own health. So when I finally DO have a real problem in the future, bound to happen, I'm gonna go in, whatever is literally missing and just be "It's just anxiety, right~?" and they can't blame me. Yes X Organ is dead, but it's just anxiety because that's what it's always been. I'm just a silly little worrywort with nothing actually wrong even if dying. Lol how dare I worry about my health. I wonder if they'll stop telling people crap's anxiety before testing for anything genuine?

[@moonstar_draws6283]

@@Roadent1241 Yeah I actually experience this a lot. So far it's never been serious but I've just felt random intense pain and ignored because I tell myself(or others tell me) that it's just anxiety. It's gonna get me in trouble one day...

[@BambixLynn]

The blind guy not having insight into his condition? The irony

[@nicolefallwell4333]

My grandmother passed due to sepsis because of kidney stones. She had them so often that she was used to the pain. By the time the pain was too much, it was too late.

[@hatredddd]

As a disabled person, this really puts into perspective to me that abled people.... really just genuinely believe that they are invincible, whether consciously or subconsciously. The worst thing they have experienced is a fever, pneumonia, or a not serious fracture, and those always get better. And because every injury or illness they had always got better they cant understand that there are things that really will never get better. So they wait to see a doctor until they are continuously bleeding and passing out and having their intestines out in the open because they thought it will get better.

[@Roadent1241]

Also disabled, agreed. They really thought I as a kid born HoH would just.... grow out of it. So I've been thinking that and am still impatiently waiting 30 years later. Didn't help we started off in a religious school which solidified my lack of belief for obvious reasons. Yet they always blame us for just 'not switching off' the disability. I mean I could switch it off, but that was the hearing-aid. I'd get into even more trouble than I was already in for not lipreading through their spine. -_-

[@jenniferlloyd9574]

Disabled, here. Completely agree. Oh, and we're supposed to "hurry up and get better" and "just get a job" and simply "stop being disabled". Like it's a choice... Like I want to be broke and sick and in pain and gaslighted for the rest of my life.

[@TsukiNaito1]

If you think most people behave like the people in the video, you're nuts.

[@catulusinferni8612]

My uncle, a farmer, used to always walk leaning on his bike. For years. He didn't drive it very often, but he used to walk it everywhere he went. When it broke, he was left with an almost 70 year old cane from some relative I never even met. One christmas eve he was short of breath. Pale as a ghost and lips blue, so my mother brought him into the ER against his best ability to fight her, which wasn't much anymore at this point. Triple pulmonary embolism. They told us, he will not live to the new year. Was the best christmas I ever spent in my parents home because for once, no one fought, no one drank to much, everyone just had a familymember in mind and we were for once somehow together. We visited my best friends place (our fathers were friends) every day after spending some time at my uncles hospital bed until he was so tired from listening he just slept. Uncle lived and we celebrated the new year still with him in hospital. At that point everything was back to normal: fights, drinking and everything... After he recovered, which was a little miracle in itself, he walked around in hospital with his cane and his doc thought he walks like he is made out of rubber, so they scanned him. No connection between legs and pelvis, and I mean none! I Saw the x-rays. The thick part top of the femur: gone in both legs. Totally gone, his femur looked like a good portion was just cut off. Pelvis looked the same, parts of the bone missing, deep gaps in the bone where the femur must have rubbed against. He basically must have used up the bone for years, walking must have been a terrible pain! Thats why he always took his bike for a walk or needed over 30 minutes to walk the 3 houses down to our place. He always refused help, never went to a doctor, took some of the shelf pain-meds, thats all. And he still worked as a farmer for all that years! Granted, not to financially support himself, that wasn't possible anymore, but just because he did this for over 60 years and couldn't stop. They talked him into the operation to replace his bones and to get an artificial hip joint with the simple argument: "You will either walk for maybe 6 to 12 months, then your femur will become to short to support your wobbely walk, and then thats it, you will spent your days in bed. Or you die at the operation table. Or, best case, you live with your new hip joint and will walk into your grave, whenever your time will be up." Part of me thinks he hoped for the die on the table part, but he got the walking until death part, many years later. The doc also found the reason for the embolism: uncle cut his leg with a scythe once. Throu the calves muscle up to the bone. Never went to see a doctor, instead, he somehow managed to stop the bleeding on the field he was working on and stuffed the wound with chamomile teabags. That must have been about 10 years prior to the embolism event and thats most likely where it came from. So they took care of that wound in an operation, too. Worst thing is: we live in germany, he did not have to pay for anything! He never would have, buying his pain meds must have cost him a lot more then the monthly insurance fee during his hospital stays. So, there was never a financial reason to wait things out. He was just a stubborn old farmer. And I have to say, those are just build different. Sadly, our name is not Ackerman(n), would have been fitting, though.

[@jenniferlloyd9574]

Germans are made of strong stock. My mother was German, so I know.

[@YunxiaoChu]

Wow

[@althealee9375]

You know a country’s government truly cares more about money than its citizens when some people die from completely preventable or somewhat preventable things simply because “I can’t afford to get medical help”

[@TibrisXVII]

A lot of people ignore early signs of something major because that can't afford for it to even be nothing. Getting sacked with thousands of dollars in debt for tests that concluded that you needed rest, or were having a panic attack quickly trains people to put off medical treatment until you're on death's door.

[@janemiettinen5176]

I also read that governmental healthcare ends up costing much less than the American version, because that money has to support the insurance companies too and they take a lot. Im a Finn, we pay abt 30% taxes (US 3%) and healthcare cost are nominal (also free education etc included). Grandmas ambulance ride & two weeks in ER, hospital & rehab was 300€. In US system.. ten times more isnt enough, its more like hundred times. I read about a guy who had to have emergency heart surgery, it was over 100 000! Like, do you buy very fancy house, couple sports cars or do you wanna keep living.. I dont get it!

[@jfleisch365]

​@janemiettinen5176 American here. Our tax system isn't built to actually support us having things like free basic health-care, schooling, or anything like that. But hey, we get some of our taxes back at tax time 😂😂😂😂😅😅😅😅

[@janemiettinen5176]

@@jfleisch365 I have adjusted my taxes so that Ill get 150,- every year, I think my husband gets more. It used to come in early December, it was perfect xmas shopping money, but now it comes in July. I guess the vacationers like it, most peeps are off for July (schools are out, kindergartens are closed), but I liked the old way. But you guys deserve free/affordable healthcare too, I think its human right. Im especially passionate about mental care, prisons are just cruel method for holding mentally ill peeps. Prevention would be cheaper too.

[@Wolfie54545]

@@jfleisch365We need universal healthcare and education, but are unable to support it at the moment with the currently economy.

[@MalloryHasCats]

Nah the rural stuff is "I don't have any money for healthcare and the nearest hospital is horrible anyway."

[@GiordanDiodato]

It's a bit of both Source: grandchild of a very stubborn farmer

[@TsukiNaito1]

I've been told some people in my smalll town will drive 45 mins to avoid the local ER. Comforting.

[@MalloryHasCats]

@@TsukiNaito1 Yesss as someone from Salem, MO who used to drive to literally anywhere else, I can totally understand!!

[@YUL695]

Thank you for calling out men who put sex above their partner's health

[@SewardWriter]

It's sadly common.

[@DesiréeIluminada]

Hell YES.

[@Addersea]

For real, that's the only thing that cheered me up in that section. Absolute loser behaviour.

[@EddieM1994]

I hope the parents in the fifth story lost custody of that poor kid. I've had a couple of abscesses just from genetically bad milk teeth, and it's so painful and uncomfortable. I looked like Stuart Little.

[@lostbutfreesoul]

While I can't say for certain, the larger issue is often the lack of health care. Do you think Americans have much in the way of Dental care? The concern I have is how easy a lot of these regulations could become 'poverty checks.' As poverty is a sociological issue, we would be endlessly harming families by attacking a symptom instead of the cause. If the end goal is to have healthy children, then the effort and resources need to be spent on providing those services to children. Now if a parent has those services provided and refuse? I vote jail, such people need time to think on what children should mean.

[@EddieM1994]

@@lostbutfreesoul I know, but she hadn't even cleaned her teeth. That's what pushes it into neglect territory. At the very least, the kid should be housed somewhere with adequate care while the parents learn how to parent.

[@qwerty2008100]

Not sure if the doctors said that about him, but they should've. My dad waited 3 days to go to the hospital after breaking his hip. He kept insisting that it'd hurt more if it was broken and only went in after the pain got too bad for him to handle. Edit. He also had several heart attacks before finally having one bad enough for him to consider going to the hospital. Still refused to call an ambulance. He returned home after having surgery to put 8 stents in his heart.

[@WomanRoaring]

The blood clot one. Me too. I kept having a cramping pain in my leg. I thought I pulled a muscle but it came and went. After about a week I realized it only hurt when I was sitting on the floor playing with my son who was about 7 months old. We went to a nearby town that has a cute town square and decorates Christmas, the next day I woke up feeling congested and it was hard to breathe. I thought I had a chest cold. We mostly were outside, this was December 2021 so Covid was still bad but I started to think, maybe I got it because I was having trouble breathing. So one night my hubby and I had put the baby to bed and were relaxing and I got up to pee and was out of breath just walking to the bathroom I thought, ok I need to see a doctor, I checked the urgent care hours and they were about to close so I told my hubby, I’m going to shower quickly and you can drop me at the ER. He said, that’s a good idea, the steam will help the congestion so he went to get the baby carrier while I showered. When I got out I didn’t dry off, the shortness of breath was worse and I just laid down on the bed. He came back upstairs and said, omg you’re really not feeling well. I hate being wet and cold so laying there not dried off was odd for me. I said yes, it didn’t help at all and I feel dizzy. So I got up to put some clothes on and put my hair in a ponytail and he came in and said, I think I’ll call the neighbors and see if they can watch the baby for a few minutes. I said that was what I was thinking too since the hospital is 5 minutes away and we didn’t want to wake him. So I get to the ER and mention the only prescription I take is birth control, I have POCS and super heavy periods so that’s what I do to control them. The nurse put an IV in my forearm and didn’t get it in the vein so when she flushed with saline it hurt and caused me to hyperventilate. I passed out because I was already short of breath, I was in a wheelchair when she did that and the next thing I knew I was being pulled up into a bed. They put an oxygen mask on me and I immediately felt better and was conscious of my surroundings. The doc was there right away to and ordered a CT, someone came in super quick and we got that done, less then 15 minutes later the doctor said I had several blood clots in my lungs. They did an ultrasound on my leg when we discussed the symptoms and how it started, eventually I had a procedure to vacuum them out. The hematologist said she’d never seen someone with so many clots before. The ER doc said if I’d waited until the morning I would have died in my sleep due to lack of oxygen. My oxygen levels were super low. I was brought up to not bother people and told I was a hypochondriac so I kind of ignored things but not anymore. I found out I have an autoimmune disorder that causes blood clots and the hormonal birth control aids with clotting and I can no longer take that. I’m not sure how long I’ve had the autoimmune disorder but it would have gone undiagnosed if I hadn’t ended up with the clots. I was really scared going to the hospital, I thought, I have Covid and I’ll be out on a respirator and die. I didn’t think it was blood clots in my lungs. I’m just happy I didn’t wait any longer.

[@LorettaMoore1234]

My dad had pain in his elbow. Wrapped it up to keep it warm because he was sure he had bursitis. Turned out it was bone cancer. It had started in his lungs and mestisisted to his lungs, brain and bones. He was given 6 months to a year. He lived 3 months.

[@karenlloyd945]

So sorry for your loss

[@dopedreamz]

In the states there are a ton of programs for under income people. The stories you hear about no insurance are a large majority of people unwilling to reach out for government handouts, well fare. Even if not they are required to treat you and you can pay $20 a month for the rest of your life to pay it off. The real issue lies with underemployed or part time employees who make too much for help but no company required to provide it. 90% of the time it’s not lack of availability or lack of insurance.

[@colinhaney]

Thank you and I need to take your advice but here is the problem I encounter when trying to get medical help - they wanted me to make monthly payments on EVERY BILL, so every time I went to the doctor, even at the lowest payment plan they offered, i was adding another $~20-30 payment. This was just for a few thousand dollars but it was so nice when i got those paid off and didn't have 3 medical payments to make every month. Ever since then i just don't go to the doctor. I wanna learn how to "work the system" but I guess I need to either try different insurers/hospitals, or, really, find some professional expert to help me navigate these systems. Because I can't tell you how many times people have told me "they'll work with you if you ask them to," and then the "solution" was STILL something I couldn't manage. I've heard stories of people getting ridiculous amounts of medical debt waved off, but I feel like it's really both a skill and a personality trait to be able to "work the system" like that, and i'm too afraid that by going to the doctor and then trying to learn the system afterward, i'll just fail and screw my finances over again. 😢

[@dopedreamz]

@@colinhaney I’ll be honest, I was raised in a very low income welfare home so NYS help was normal until I started working. My dad drove school bus but it wasn’t enough so we qualified for state help. I’m not sure how well your state works with those who earn enough to not qualify. I do know my parents sent a small check monthly. No matter the dept, as long as something was received monthly.

[@seatbelttruck]

My podiatrist and all his nurses reacted that way when they saw my last ingrown toenail. The thing was, I've suffered with them since I was little, so I was used to just pushing through the pain, antibiotics had stopped doing anything, and every time I got surgery, even with acid to burn the nailbed, it just grew back and got ingrown again. Fortunately, this last podiatrist was able to do what my GP and the previous podiatrist failed to do and actually got the nailbed to (mostly) stop growing back, and I haven't had another ingrown toenail since.

[@cmdrezeri]

In 2016, something around a week and a half before I last saw her, me mum was experiencing some serious chest pain to the point where she complained about it, mind we’re speaking about a person who had broken several toes essentially without even thinking of them. My dad asked her if she wanted to go to the ER and she talked him down with “I’m sure it will pass”. Two days after I saw her, she ended up dying from a massive heart attack. Chest pain is no joke in my family. Side note, if you happen to quit gabapentin cold turkey for whatever reason? Don’t. Don’t do it. You will at minimum THINK you are having a heart attack. I did this with a dosage of 600mg three times a day and cut flat to zero. Never again! And referencing story 16, I happen to have those migraines! Hemiplegic migraines are horrific. Almost certain that’s why I first got a Bell’s palsy diagnosis. Complex migraines can have a multitude of etiological factors and head trauma and caffeine happen to be right up about the top there

[@meghanbrown4139]

I was the patient. I had an abcess in my right arm that i ignored until it made it too painful to bend my elbow. While i was sitting in triage, it ruptured in a way that also ruptured my brachial artery. To stop the bleeding, the triage nurse used a compression dressing instead of a tourniquet. That forced the infection into my brachial artery. They discharged me with care instructions for my arm and antibiotics for the infection. Went back 3 days later when my arm continued to spontaneously rupture blood and eventually developed what appeared to be a blood blister. Then i was admitted for 4 days to the ICU for high powered IV antibiotics. The kind that requires daily blood draws to ensure its not making your organs shut down. Then i was discharged again, and they never addressed the "blood blister" the whole time i was there aside from making me keeping my arm above my head (the whole 4 days) and getting mad at me when it would rupture and bleed everywhere if i had to lower me arm for any reason. I ended up apologizing for the fact i had to use the restroom and my arm exploded! The "blood blister" also grew in size while i was there but it was never acknowledged. I went to Atlantic City for my birthday a few days later and ended up having to call an ambulance after my arm exploded 5 times in a relatively short time and i lost a ton of blood. The ER diagnosed me with a pseudo aneurysm of the brachial artery and i was sent to another hospital for a consult with a vascular surgeon. The vascular surgeon said he was unsure if he could save my arm and recommend Cooper University Hospital because it was close-ish (1 hour by ambulance) to where we were, and they have some of the best vascular surgeons on the east coast. The ICU at Cooper got me in and set up for emergency surgery in under an hour, and off to the OR I went! They saved my arm but couldnt save the artery. I lost the whole right side brachiak artery and the massive blood loss required an emergency transfusion. In total i lost about half my blood and should've died! It was traumatic and i dont trust doctors as easily now, but I survived!

[@rainHellsing]

mine isn’t as bad but ive had allergies all my life and was blown off by doctors most of the time but i finally got tested this year and i was allergic to damn near every single thing i was tested for plus asthma, i left with 3 new medications and an epipen lol

[@TheTee5231976]

People in rural areas may want to go to a doctor but unfortunately there is very little available in their area. In my small town our hospital closed and it's become even worse especially since the closest hospitals 30 minutes away and we have zero public transportation

[@kkerr1953]

I lived in a very small town in Montana just north of Yellowstone national park. I slipped in the driveway and broke my leg one snowy day, and my roommate had to drive me 55 miles in a snowstorm to the nearest medical care, so I understand your predicament completely!

[@TheTee5231976]

@@kkerr1953 I'm sorry you had to deal with that. Too many lives are lost each yr because of the American hospital system. We need more smaller facilities that are closer to ppl especially in small towns and for better health care costs. I know we lost quite a few ppl in my area cuz they couldn't get to the hospital in time.

[@redraven8963]

​@@TheTee5231976a shockingly large contributing factor to this is the illegal immigration. When small hospitals face large amounts of loss due to people not paying bills not having insurance or not even giving correct information because they aren't even entitled to be in this country in the first place That's a 50% 60% loss.

[@lotsaspaghetticodejr.6488]

Patient here ☺️ About 7 or 8 months ago I began to have stomach pains; Flu like symptoms. Whatever that's what the body has autoimmune cells for. As the days went on, the pain got worse. Went from a dull pressure to a constricting pain. From that to feeling like I swallowed red hot bolts and washers. From that to piercing stabbing pain like my stomach was a pain cushion. I would slowly begin to vomit just by walking or standing too fast. Then I'd wake up choking on vomit and acid fumes if I were laying on anything but my right side. Then I'd wake up, on my right side, vomiting over my bed. I had refused to go to the doctor because I assumed it was probably just an ulcer. So I amended my diet. Cut out fast food, reduced caffeine, drank more water, began to eat more fruits, vegetables and breads, etc. Bread was the only thing that helped so I kept eating it. Ended up gaining 24 pounds because bread makes you gain fat. This is because bread is grains, grains are carbohydrates, and carbohydrates are metabolised as simple sugars which, in excess, are stored as adipose tissue - aka body fat. I was also self medicating with various antacids and pain killers. After 7 or 8 months of self care, the pain was manageable. I work six days a week, 12 hours a day. My one day off is Sunday, where I am either too busy or too tired to go to the clinic. Definitely not going to the ER for a fucking ulcer. Until last week at the time of this post. Woke up shitting out stomach acid for 20-25 minutes and a pain like I was an MMA fighters punching bag. I couldn't even stand up straight. After I woke up, I passed out an additional 4 hours. Went to the clinic. The doctor said there is literally nothing they can do, I need a CT with indicator. Between the clinic and ER, I was there for 12 hours having blood, mucus, CT, X-ray, urine and physical tests done with an IV in my arm for 8 hours. They said it's one of two things Either I had a series of small ulcers that managed to extend to one large ulcer, and that it generally wont show on the CT scan Or Stage 1 stomach cancer and the tumors are too small to be seen I have an endoscopy scheduled to determine which one it is

[@payelizabethh]

I need an update to this

[@lotsaspaghetticodejr.6488]

@@payelizabethh Sever ulcer. Likely multiple ulcers that "connected" Got put on a special diet and given medicine to help with the healing and to stop any means of infection Feeling good now. Sometimes my stomach feels like I got punched in it and am healing from a bad bruise, but the acidic hot pains have stopped and I am no longer experiencing flu-like symptoms

[@jenniferlloyd9574]

​@@lotsaspaghetticodejr.6488 Did they test you for Helicobacter Pylori (H. Pylori)? The bacteria that causes ulcers. I had it and was treated with high potency antibiotics.

[@BlueAversion]

A girl around my age (late 20s at the time) was working at site when one morning she woke up to find one of her eyes bizarrely discolours- (later found out it was the iris opened as far as it would go). She brushed it off as she felt fine so seemed like a fuss over nothing. Her friend who was at the same site refused to hear it and insisted she was taken to the doctor and would not drop it. The girl eventually agreed and went - to be diagnosed with a detached retina and scheduled for emergency surgery. Had she waited she could very well have lost her sight.

[@tookitogo]

The friend was a hero. A close friend of mine who’s a bit older waited a week or two before seeing a doctor after starting to get visual anomalies in one eye. Turns out it was macular degeneration, and he nearly lost the sight in that eye entirely, and with treatment has at least recovered some. No guarantees of course, but it’s likely that they could have saved more of his vision if he’d gone in promptly. (Unfortunately, my friend and I live on different continents, so I don’t get to see him often and thus didn’t know about the issue until after the fact.) Apparently, with many eye problems caused by retinal disorders, getting treatment within _hours_ of the onset of symptoms is decisive. Visual anomalies need to be treated as acute emergencies. Better to go once too often than once too little and literally go blind.

[@kriss-annwilson8884]

One of the stories that resonated with me, is the young guy who died from alcohol abuse. My mum died May last year at 41 from end stage liver disease due to her being an alcoholic for around 8 years. So I can understand what the people around him where going through. I miss her everyday 😇

[@karenlloyd945]

I'm so sorry for your loss. Alcoholism is a terrible disease

[@thebyrd433]

There are rare occasions when it's the doctors and not the patients who cause the delays. When I had my fourth (yes, FOURTH) attack of gallstones, I went to urgent care once it became obvious this wasn't going to pass after a few hours like the other three attacks had. As soon as the doctor found out I was a teetotaler, they said it was almost certainly going to be my gall bladder and that it was going to have to come out. I just needed a CT scan to confirm. Then the problems started. It was Friday afternoon (the attack had started in the middle of the night) and that weekend was when a very popular annual citywide event was held. Radiology had already closed down early for the weekend festivities, and they weren't going to open back up again unless the patient was emergent. The issue now was simple: I couldn't prove I was emergent because I've never had a fever in my life and I certainly wasn't able to magically produce one right then just to satisfy those knuckleheads. I got to wait over the entire weekend - just me and my agonising gallstones - until Monday morning when I could finally call those tools in radiology for an appointment. I got my CT scan that afternoon (still no fever, so I wasn't emergent, according to them, so I couldn't get an appointment any earlier), but it was too late in the day to have it read, so it had to wait for Tuesday morning. Tuesday morning comes and I get a panicked phone call saying I needed to get down to the ER immediately and that a surgical team was already waiting for me. I get there and some clown in the ER says I can wait because I don't have a fever. Mid-afternoon Tuesday they finally knock me out and I have my gall bladder removed. Or rather, I should say "I have what's left of my ruptured gall bladder removed." I got to sit around for FIVE DAYS until my gall bladder exploded like an inflamed appendix just because no one can be bothered to listen to me when I tell them I never get fevers. Oh, and by the way, during that entire ordeal (to include my post-surgical hospital stay where I received IV antibiotics) my temperature never rose above 97.4f/36.3c.

[@KitKat10281]

I never get "real" fevers either - my normal temp runs 96.8-98 degrees, and I ended up having a similar gallbladder infection for the same reason - fortunately, mine didn't burst!

[@thebyrd433]

@@KitKat10281 I hear you loud and clear. I understand the need to screen for patients who are faking symptoms to get drugs, but when no one is asking for that (I never asked for pain meds - I already knew they would do nothing at all for gallstone pain, so why bother), couldn't they at least entertain the possibility that people could be correct when they say things like they don't get fevers?

[@YunxiaoChu]

Wow

[@YunxiaoChu]

@@KitKat10281oh no

[@avigailwaters6219]

My father in law passed away because he didn't go to the hospital. He was sick for over a week and couldn't keep anything down. His wife forced him to go to the Er, but after hours of waiting they gave up and went home. The next day he passed away. I had to break the news to my husband. The hardest thing I have had to do so far.

[@miss.dazzle.05]

My dad slipped on ice and hurt his ankle. It started swelling and turning yellow but he swore it was just a sprain. 10 days after he slipped, my mom forced him to go to the instant care. Some 20 minutes later, we found out he broke his fibula and had been WALKING AROUND ON IT FOR 10 DAYS. My dad had gone to work and even a basketball game where he had to walk at least ten minutes from parking to the stadium all on a broken ankle.

[@Roadent1241]

My mother, back before she needed caring for and she could walk, managed to break her leg without knowing helping HER dad in a theater because she stood on one of them folding seats. She drove coaches so she gave it lots of exercise. I wasn't in the theater so I must have been about 10. Too young to be her carer. Two weeks later she went to the hospital because it was still bothering her and they told her it was broken but were impressed she'd just worked through it and kept it exercised. I don't remember ever seeing it in a cast but then I was used to seeing her on a scooter or on crutches out of the house. Sometimes stubbornness can be a good thing?

[@JustSaiyanDude]

First one made me mad lol. That son aint worth anyones time if your own mother is decomposing in front of you and you "have no idea when it got that bad" did you never give her a bath, change her sheets, if you're her caretaker tf have you been doing this entire time. He knew/put her in those conditions.

[@ChrissyBae]

This! So true!

[@yoshiyajoshuakiryu3198]

It’s funny that people think we’re weird for waiting but after you’ve had multiple doctors say “it’s just another symptom of” and “you’re not sick enough to treat yet” you don’t care. Because you know they can’t or won’t help you. I’m in constant pain and on medication to ease it. I’m going deaf in one ear. I have numbness and tingling all over in different spots. I can’t feel my feet some days to the point I can kick a wall and the only way I know is the vibration and sudden stop in movement. I have photosensitivity where fifteen minutes in the sun I will get little spots all over my face. I drop things due to weakness. I have memory loss and confusion. I have seizures (being treated). I’ve been told it’s lupus and possibly MS. “Can’t treat you until you lose another organ” for the lupus. “You’re not sick enough” for the MS.

[@douglasmarshall6949]

Becoming numb on the face can be a sign of stress and/or anxiety

[@KitsuneYashaX48]

A perfect bifurcation of numbness though?

[@smilygriffin1144]

All of these should have locations attached! I'd bet the overwhelming majority are American, and most of the rest are places without good healthcare. Only the odd one would be crazy people that just decided they didn't need a doctor for no good reason

[@junrobin9335]

Eh depending on who you are and what you look like you can still be turned away. For example. I was fifteen when I got a first flare up of Arthritis, the inflammatory genetic type. Got it from my mom. Uhm I wasn't tested on Arthritis for a whole year. I just kept getting more inflammed muscles and joints as I went. And thanks to my immune system being overworked I also started to get sick more often. I only got diagnosed after my mom's therapist agreed to get my blood tested and a few other tests done to see if I got it or not. Then I was told it's rare to have young patients like me. My meds got updated and I got told to do back muscle exercises. I also still got an entirely shot immune system and a cold could kill me. Thanks to my issue running rampant for a whole year.... I live in Europe.

[@NightL3gacy47]

I have two stories like this. Not from me, but from my dad. The first time, he had some redness and severe swelling in his leg. At first he ruled it off and, after a week, he started developing blisters all over his leg, and about 4 days later, started hallucinating. My mom convinced him to see a doctor. When he got there, it turns out he got septicemia in his leg and his blood Kal count (the level of bacteria levels in his blood) was 500. The doctor was shocked that he wasn't dead. The second story is that my dad felt some pain in his stomach, followed by burning all over his gut area. When he went to the doctor after a week, it turns out his ulcer burst. When the doctor saw this, he said straight up: "You waited a week!? Shit, you were supposrd to come to the doctor within 24 hours

[@Magical_Thinking]

The doctor who told the patient with ONE swollen leg that it was probably from sodium intake is a total idiot! Swelling from salt intake affects BOTH legs! She’s fortunate to be alive.

[@YunxiaoChu]

Wowwwww

[@ezlife4690]

I shouldn’t have searched that, I should not have searched that up lol

[@YUL695]

The electric fence made me gasp out loud

[@DrgnLdyLizzie2001]

The dad of one my friends almost cut his thumb off with a saw. He wrapped it up in paper towels and electrical tape and went back to it like nothing happened. His wife, friend's stepmom, finally dragged him to the ER, where he got a LOT of stitches and a tetanus shot. He refused the pain meds, stubborn mule.

[@EddieM1994]

This is probably a contributing factor to women living longer on average. A lot of men of a certain cultural persuasion will try to get through anything with spit and willpower. It's admirable perseverance but definitely misdirected.

[@rebeccaconlon9743]

14:12 my FiL took the therapy advice to talk through problems, he now talks all the time, repeats himself regularly and has the emotional development of a hormonal teen... he shakes in fear of any small road bump life gives him, like a channel doesn't work on his TV, etc. He flips from extremes where every thing is OK he thinks is great to when one small thing goes wrong or unexpected he thinks everyone and thing is out to get him and 'heads are gonna roll' etc he tends to us inflammatory language to shake the hornets nest etc...

[@llamawalrushybrid]

Therapy has so many severe risk factors and is almost rarely helpful.. I remember being told I should label my feelings when having them and say "I feel anxious" when I'm anxious and that reinforces the anxious behavior terribly but it's become a compulsion I can't stop..

[@brynnexsmile]

I went to basic training for the Army and knew I had injured my hip and an old achilles injury was acting up while I was there, but didn't want to miss training to go to medical in risk of having to stay at basic longer. I later went to AIT ( job training) after I graduated from basic and since I was there for 7 months, I decided to go to medical. I had also injured my shoulder while at AIT, but the doctor at medical just determined I had a pulled muscle and had tendonitis in my hip and achilles. Okay, whatever. Well, before I was about to go home, I wanted to make sure this was documented that I was injured while in training, especially my hip, and I went in again. I had a different doctor this time who felt my hip and was immediately concerned and told me immediately to go to the doctor while I was home. Well I did physical therapy for a whole 4 months while home and did not really see improvement and kinda just accepted my fate. Flash forward a couple years later, and I decided to go to a chiropractor because my hip was out of place and did not go back into place like it normally did and I had the worst back pain. I got x-rays done for the first time for any of my injuries and oh boy. I have absolutely no cartilage on my hip, so my hip and femur are just rubbing against each other. My shoulder is completely out of place and I have no reflex in my achilles. I have an appointment to get my hip properly looked at by a doctor in a week. TLDR: I'm about to be 22 and probably get my hip replaced, my shoulder is out of place, and my left achilles tendon has no reflex. This is all because a doctor told me it was minor and I was too young and naive (aka a 19 year old) to disagree.

[@Stick_and_stone]

I will never understand people who'll avoid getting medical help when they're in pain/ having a problem just because "they're tough" or "can take care of themselves" Do you care more about reputation/ independence than being alive? You only have one shot at life, don't cut it shorter than it needs to be just to seem cool.

[@MsWolf8129]

I have so many medical conditions with my stomach that I’m in constant pain and just ignore it. (I know why btw)

[@F1areon]

"Do you care more about reputation/ independence than being alive?" In a lot of these cases, yes; it's bc they pride themselves on being independent and the breadwinners of their family, and they believe if they lose those things, they'll be seen as worthless lazy schlubs by others.

[@kitsunemeio]

When I was 14ish, my mother would leave for the weekeneds to her bf's 3 hours away. Left Friday afternoon and about 7pm I broke my leg. I called her and said so, but she simply didn't believe me. Said if it still hurt when she got home Sunday we'd go in. I wasn't the type of kid who'd fake illness and had no history of doing so, so she couldn't even blame it on that. We go in Sunday after being forced to walk around on my leg all weekend or not eat/take care of myself, and the doctor was PISSED.

[@KitsuneYashaX48]

Regarding Story 2. As someone living in a... ssssorta rural area? I guess? Like, we have a proper small city, but I literally live next to a small pasture, that kinda deal. Can confirm that some of the older folk are just foolhardy like that. I'd joke and say my grandmother's the same, cuz she is stubborn - WONDER WHERE I GOT IT FROM - but in honesty, her reasoning is more she has one of the most uncaring docs ever but refuses to switch because she's been with him so long... I dunno which'll happen first, him "unaliving" her or me "unaliving" him.

[@HL-th5fr]

I appreciate you covering so much medical stuff c: I feel like it keeps me sharp in downtime. I think more rural people have a "Well, we'll just cope" attitude from generational poverty (in the U.S. w/ our busted ass system) and lack of easy access to medical care, leading to a kind of blase attitude about health. It's the only attitude you can afford to have sometimes. A lot of rural areas are either far from urgent help and also in "ambulance deserts"--so far out even an ambulance won't come pick you up. It's really unfortunate when prompt care is extremely important for many cases.

[@nofrackingzone7479]

To the “Superior Canadian” your health care system works fine if it’s something simple or if your able to wait to see a doctor. Otherwise, those that have money or subliminal insurance go to the US. Live in Arizona and see waves of Canadians line up for surgery and other treatments.

[@PinkAgaricus]

Related to this, but it's in the UK, the NHS has a wait list. (I heard this from earwax cleaning videos. If I recall correctly, there was at least one patient who had to go private because of the NHS' wait list.) I wonder if any other taxpayer funded "free" public health care services are having problems with a long wait list after the pandemic eased up.

[@MajoradeMayhem]

@@PinkAgaricus The NHS is under severe strain. But it's not the NHS that is the problem. The problem is bad management and an even worse government that refuse to properly fund the service and make necessary changes to improve it. The NHS has consistently proven it is value for money, keeping the populace happy and working fit, and stupid politicians only ever see the price tag.

[@fee6362]

long waiting time, is also normal in the US, just that most patients have already waited to long to even make an appointment. Yes a few experts are better, but other than a the really rich people, no one can afford that Canadian or people from the US. And on average, the quality is not better in the US. The USA has all the same problems but they pay a lot more.

[@MajoradeMayhem]

@@fee6362 The stats clearly show that the UK's NHS absolutely blows the USA out of the water when it comes to value for money. Americans pay vastly more for the same service.

[@skyepilot4074]

My father died similar to the man at 7:00... He wouldn't go to the doctor despite having abdominal pain until he passed out. After a week of pain. His eyes had always been yellow my whole life

[@ninanoodles9775]

the diabetic not taking his socks of: people who listen to their docs, sometimes take the given instructions too literally. you really have to be careful with your wording. I remember as a kid the dentist said to me "don't chew on that side for the near future." So i chewed on the other one. For a day, for a week. is that long enough? hm, better keep on chewing on the other side. it became second nature and about half a year later I realized: i only chewed on the other side. prooobably he didn't mean that long and I had to retrain myself to chew on both sides again.

[@RedHeadForester]

On not getting fractured bones seen to within 5-7 days: I fell over and broke my rib a few years ago, right next to the facet joint, and bruised my intercostal muscle in the process. I didn't even realise it was broken until I was at work 2 or 3 days later and felt the two ends of the broken bone crunching against each other. Despite being in the UK where we have socialised healthcare, I didn't bother seeking treatment because there's nothing much that can be done for a broken rib anyway, aside from take it easy while it heals. I did end up with some adhesion to the muscle tissue that was being rubbed by the broken ends of the bone, though at long last after several years that seems to have stopped causing me much pain as of a few months ago. Broken bones always hurt less than I expect. Except for my wrist, which hurt like hell two weeks into the healing process if I brushed my fingers against anything, complete with a 5 second countdown to the pain arriving.

[@TheGuindo]

ribs are kind of a special case because yeah, you can't exactly splint and cast them. but bro, if it's a complete break you should still go have a doctor look at it to make sure the break lines up correctly and that there are no large bone fragments to worry about, at least!

[@KaitouKaiju]

They would still want to make sure that rib isn't gonna puncture a lung or something

[@RedHeadForester]

@@TheGuindo I suppose you're correct, but given the outcome would've been the same I just didn't see the point in sitting in A&E for 4+ hours just for them to tell me "Yeah, it's broken, go home and rest."

[@RedHeadForester]

@@KaitouKaiju That was actually the first thing I checked after the initial injury. I took several deep breaths and checked my trachea was still central to rule out pneumothorax, and then concluded that I couldn't have a broken rib anyway because the pain wasn't bad enough... In fact for most of the first week the torn intercostal muscle hurt significantly more than the fracture, and neither scored much higher than a 6/10 pain at any point. When the rib broke, all I felt was a painless clunk sensation, which I thought was my back cracking, chiropractor style.

[@verica4b]

every time i went to the doc or hospital i got told that its my back or psychosomatic. so i dont go anymore cause i dont have time to sit 3 hours just to get told that every time. dont even get told what i can do to improve it appart from exercises (that i do but they dont change anything)

[@empressmarowynn]

When I was 19 I suddenly started having severe chest pain and shortness of breath whenever I would exert myself even slightly. Like even walking a little fast on flat ground. I kept going to my university's clinic but by the time I'd be seen I had been in the waiting room relaxing for at least 30 minutes so everything would have calmed down. They would listen to my lungs and heart and say it sounds fine. I kept telling them to watch me walk up a flight of stairs but they refused. After three weeks of passing out frequently from not being able to breathe I went home for spring break and saw my pcp. He ran all kinds of tests and finally one showed that I had a pulmonary embolism blocking off a large portion of my lung. He said it must have started in my leg from the long car ride to school, went through my heart, and then lodged in my lung. He was amazed that I managed to not die after dealing with that for three weeks. Had I been in my hometown and able to see him immediately or was within easy reach of a hospital I would have been diagnosed way sooner. But instead I had to deal with useless uni staff who basically only see students with the flu or an std and would not listen to a single thing I was saying. Had to be on blood thinners for a year and was forced to rely on that same awful clinic to give me my injection every week for a few months. Unfortunately sometimes we do try to do something about it sooner but medical staff just don't listen.

[@Telos_Randomness]

Honestly, I understand these people. I have a chronic illness (MELAS syndrome) If I made a doctors appointment every time I had stroke like symptoms or chest pain/SOB it’d be daily multiple times a day. I just don’t see the purpose of making a doctors appointment unless your arm is hanging off by 1 tendon and three veins.

[@TheGuindo]

i mean, the metric for when to see the doctor isn't actually different for chronically ill people, we just don't usually put it in these terms: the time to see a doctor is when you are having *unusual* or *unusually severe* symptoms. that means relative to what is normal _for you._ if I started experiencing stroke-like symptoms, that's unusual for me and I should go see a doctor immediately. but for you, those exact same symptoms might be normal and expected, so going to the doctor is a waste of everyone's time because you already know what's happening and why and what you need to do about it. you should only worry about going to a doctor if you experience a sudden unexplained significant change in what your stroke-like episodes are like, or in the severity/frequency of those episodes. you would want to try to figure out the reason for the change, because while it could just be a normal expected progression of your illness, it could also be some new compounding issue that needs to be treated separately.

[@RandoWisLuL]

14:39 super glue is actually almost the same thing as liquid stitches. They are both cyanoacrylate glues. Super glue uses generally is Ethyl cyanoacrylate whereas Liquid Stitches is usually the less toxic form of it, octyl cyanoacrylate and n-Butyl cyanoacrylate. Some manufacturers include a little bit of formaldehyde too. Ethyl cyanoacrylate is also used in aquarium glue, all of these glues cure in water ( or blood). So if you own an aquarium, don't be fooled by the 14 dollar Seachem bottle of "aquarium glue". just use super glue. Anything that doesn't dry will cure in water. Also in a pinch, super glue works fine on cuts. Its just not medically clean, so its not recommended. But in a pinch it works fine. people do it all the time.

[@bonnitaclaus2286]

I live in a rural community. I’m 77 years old, when I go into see the doctor or the emergency room because of an injury, no one is surprised or even questioning why someone my age is doing what I was doing…. Give an example cutting and splitting wood. A piece of wood flew off and had its way with my leg. I was wearing shorts because it was summer and I was hot. I did have my boots on and gloves. It did need to be cleaned, some pieces of wood removed, and a little bit of trimming, and only a few stitches. Age means nothing to farm people. You just keep going until you can’t go anymore. Take two aspirin go to bed, and start again in the morning. The reason why I went in is because of the bleeding, and quite truthfully, I didn’t feel like picking up pieces of wood out of my leg then. They also gave me a tetanus shot. I can’t remember when I had my last one.

[@MrBanzoid]

Regarding the room mate who drank himself to death. I watched two of my brothers do exactly that. Despite rehab and other interventions (free on the NHS in the UK) they decided that they loved alcohol more than life. One died from uncontrollable internal bleeding and the other from complete organ failure. Tragic and very upsetting to family and what few friends they had left.

[@lostbutfreesoul]

I had numbness in fingers and toes for a while, just put it down to bad circulation. One day I noticed it getting a little worse and talked to a doctor about it. After multiple rounds of tests it was determined that everything was fine with my heart, I have good lungs, circulation looks good, and this tingling...? Well I had a brain malformation this whole time! Chiari malformations are quite common, at the first stage where they are mostly harmless. Lot of strange symptoms such as light sensitivity, tingling fingers and toes, as headaches that are located at the back of the head. Just part of having too big of a brain to fit into your skull, as the cerebellum decided the spine needed a little company.... So if you have tingling in the hands but a good heart...? Have them check the back of your skull, you may be big brained!

[@andrediamond4374]

I was this patient once, well technically twice. Once fell down and injured my leg, it hurt bad but I thought no biggie probably just a sprain or something. I struggled to walk for days until I gave up and went to the doctor, found out I had severely torn each of the muscles in my quadricep. Was ordered to rest, but told there was a chance the internal bleeding may cause an abscess. Cue me resting but ignoring more intense pain for about a week. Go back to doctor, find tennis ball sized abscess in my quad. Rushed to surgery, and now I've got a sick scar. I might tell new people I meet that I got it in a sword fight to mess with them for a bit

[@deusex4905]

The worst I've done is going more than a month with two diseases succeeding. I was moving to my college's city, very far to my mom and didn't have a doctor yet. I was also really stressed for a lot of reason, and the first week of college, at the first class with the almost 40 people's I would see all the year and doing group's work, I fainted, twice, from exhaustion, lack of food and sickness. What a way to introduce yourself lol

[@kevinnguyen3389]

I have the opposite experience, my family doctor took 4 years to finally refer me to a specialist who was able to diagnose me with arthritis

[@simpleman806]

Back in 2017, I contracted lyme disease. I believe it was March or April. By May, the same Dr figured out that the lyme disease triggered rheumatoid arthritis for me. By August, I saw a rheumatologist and was officially diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis

[@plastiqueneurosis]

Around 2:00 this could have been prevented if doctors looked at everything as seriously as the patient does. Yes it costs money but I’d rather spend trillions of dollars finding out I had cancer than to pass 15 years later because no one took me seriously. And still no one does so I’d pass happily with a note in my pocket saying I told you so.

[@marryannc7691]

It’s not so much that “we can fix it ourselves” attitude in rural areas. It’s also that the hospitals are 30+ minutes to get to. So yeah we wait till we absolutely have to go there.

[@itt2055]

I had an infected tooth for over 6 months and when I finally went to the dentist, the infection had destroyed the nerves on that side of my face and was so bad that they removed all my teeth. I have permanent loss of all feeling on the right side of my face and get extreme pain from what remains of the nerves. Never delay seeking medical treatment because it just makes things worse.

[@Josh23761]

The amount of people who died because of media scaremongering during the pandemic is criminal.

[@slc1161]

ICU nurse here. Had a guy with a severe untreated tooth abscess that ate through his sinus floor and into his brain. Ended up dying several days later from sepsis. And a guy with new onset seizures and behavior changes that turned out to be a sizable worm in his brain. Third guy, new diabetic. Was supposed to take insulin shots. Read it Ted about a week later with very high glucose. When asked about his insulin, it turns out he was injecting it into an orange because the nurse had shown him how to do injections on an orange but never followed with him giving the injection to himself. Had a laugh after but it could have killed him.

[@Syphaxis]

If you're a doctor, nurse, or pharmacist... This is all your fault. You lost everyone's trust in 2020, broke your oaths, and you should feel deep shame every day. The reactions of the people in this are all reasonable to me when I consider this grisly truth. Please cope below, if you wish.

[@Trestin13]

Omg story 22! My mother was similar, she had had ACL surgery, and we flew to Virginia to visit her family. While there she had a hard time breathing, we took her to the ER there and they said it was pneumonia and gave her meds and sent her on her way. We get home and she sees her doc, he takes one listen and says get ti the ER now! She was having a pulmonary embolism due to a clot being thrown from her injured knee

[@NaniTaysha06]

HOW DOES YOUR EYE, NOSE, AND CHEEK BASICALLY FALL OFF AND YOU'RE JUST LIKE "IT'S FINE" ??????????????? 😭😭😭😭😭

[@QueenSunstar]

I walked on a broken foot coupled with a sprained ankle for a week. My sister saw my foot and promptly dragged my butt to urgent care. I earned myself six weeks in an air cast.

[@Ninjicorn]

My fiancé and I both have heart problems (tachycardia) and bumping into the electric fence around our cow pastures does make our hearts feel better. 😂 I also got diagnosed with my fibro after telling my doctor “yeah the pain in my bones seems to be getting worse”. She was like “what do you mean pain IN your bones?!” I grew up with all the ladies in my fam having fibro so I thought pain was normal and I was the weird one for thinking it was too much to handle 😅

[@joosyjulie]

Hubby went into hospital because of severe abdominal pain. Which was astonishing, because he was already on tramadol painkillers, 8 tablets a day, plus 3 diclofenac a day. When his liver enzymes were checked,his result was three times what other patients, with the same reason for the abdominal pain, are usually curled in a ball and screaming for an ambulance. If anyone on heavy painkillers already, then tells you that they are hurting in a way that's not related to their pre-existing condition, get them to the doctor or hospital. If something only a tiny half a step from morphine, isn't killing a stomach ache, then there is something seriously wrong with that person.

[@rebeccaconlon9743]

My FiL has been spending the Christmas holidays up with us... due to having had a stroke and woke up in his bath tub of water 3 days later, he didn't think to call an ambulance when he started hallucinating ants in a line crawling up his stairs and memory blackouts... instead he called my husband and we told him to call for an ambulance... he delayed, called 111 after 999 told him to call them, deeming him being conscious not an emergency... 111 said they'd get a GP to call him back... they didnt... he then stayed home on his own and the following day called another relative who actually called him a taxi, because the ambulance wasn't going to get him... this was Essex in the Uk

[@liciewhiteley7376]

15:00. Um thats called SA. If a woman says no that means no. Not keeping begging until she gives in. Coercion until she says yes is still a no.

[@wisecoconut5]

True story, when I was 12, my mother left me with a friend while she went on vacation. While my mother was away, I tried Clearasil and had a massive allergic reaction to it. My head, my entire head, swelled to at least twice its normal size. Seriously! My eyes were swollen shut, and I couldn't lay down to sleep. My caretaker did not call my mom, take me to the doctor, or report my absence to school. Her daughter finally convinced her to take me to the doctor after 10 days! This same woman, later, let a puppy die because of worms. My goodness, she was a wreck of a human.

[@rderee20]

As a patient I'm guilty of not going in to get checked right when I suddenly started having issues. I went about a month without getting anything seriously checked on blood counts and chalked my unusual fatigue and racing heart on being out of shape. No moron your body is suddenly running around on 5-6 hemoglobin and almost 0 platelets because you have cancer again. Which wasn't actually successfully diagnosed for two months, because the doctors couldn't get an accurate count on all but the last of four separate bone marrow biopsies, because my counts were too low to begin with. AML this time and hopefully the last time.

[@olien333]

A run of the mill heart attack consists of part of the heart not receiving blood properly and becoming damaged/leading to tissue death. Troponin is a chemical released by the tissue upon said damage or death, so the higher amount of troponin, the more damage has happened and more likely they should act really, really quickly. It also can be lower than the relative damage upon testing depending on how long it's been since the heart attack as naturally your blood will continue to filter the nonessential chemicals out like usual unless somethings really gone wrong

[@valenciageode25]

Thank you for suffering through these for our entertainment

[@GiordanDiodato]

if you're wondering, troponin (pronounced "Tra-po (long O sound)-nin) is to test for a heart attack. it takes a bit to spike, but when it does, it can last for a long time, hence why it's considered the "gold standard" for testing a heart attack. it's also specific for the heart muscle.

[@john2510]

On the rural thing… one of the issues is often the patient’s distance to medical care. I was recently at the Grand Canyon and became so ill that we decided to find an emergency room. The nearest hospital was FOUR HOURS away by car. Because it was after hours, the nearest urgent care was similarly distant. I guess that if you’re REALLY sick, the state police take you by helicopter.

[@certifiedautist5387]

90% of these are “How the fuck are you still alive?” stories

[@gooseyghost9138]

Not a doctor, but am super interested by medical stuff. Supergluing wounds shut actually can work really well. However it only works if you're able to completely seal the wound, so it doesn't work on wounds that are too large. Basically if you can't get the skin around it to touch again, then glue won't help unless you can glue a punctured artery shut to avoid dying from blood loss. It's fine to do in an emergency situation (and obviously if you think you punctured an artery you need medical attention even if you get the bleeding to stop), but you really should still get any deep wounds looked at after if it gives you any trouble at all and also make sure to keep it clean so it doesn't get infected or... infested in that case. My grandpa used to use superglue whenever he cut his fingers with a worksaw or whatever and it always worked out fine lol. Glue is just as good as, or even better than stitches in some cases. It's pretty similar to those second skin liquid bandage things. However infection is serious and antibiotics are usually very affordable, even without insurance. Unfortunately the doctor visit might put a dent in your wallet, but it's cheaper than a hospital stay or funeral because you didn't get treatment when the infection was still easily treatable.

[@steffycas]

There’s more to it than that, it also depends on the location of the wound, how much time has passed, depth of the wound, etc. Usually not a good idea to superglue your wounds

[@sascharadke8450]

I've been in denial about some symptoms that could have been a stroke, a brain tumor or ms and it took me almost two weeks until I finally went to the doctors office. One week in the hospital, high dose of meds, thinking I had something serious but turned out it was side effects from a shot. Started with some dizziness and my vision being off whenever I looked to the side. Turned out my nerves on one side were probably inflamed and everything became paralyzed from the eye down to the neck on one side. I recovered without lasting issues but that could have ended bad if it had been something different and I was dumb to wait.

[@deanna_8764]

Me myself, I had mastitis...but I was only 15. I had a child very young, I was still extremely embarrassed about bodies and refused to tell anyone (for anyone who doesn't know, this is extremely painful) it would eventually eat through my breast, I have a massive scar, luckily it's the same color as my skin tissue....but awful, I still do not go to the doctor out of fear, when I have I've been called a liar basically so...fuckem

[@KatelynStapleton1989]

When you go for medical attention repeatedly over the course of your life and are told you are fine and that youre just faking or anxious and you get tens of thousands of dollars in medical bills for no benefit, you stop wanting to go in. I moved to another country and went in today for something that doctors in my home country weren't able to figure out (not that they really tried) so i thought maybe the providers in my new country might be able to figure it out....nope. just put me on benzos and sent me home. i am a mental health professional myself...i'm pretty sure I know whether or not I'm anxious. this is another reason why people don't go in.

[@ilikebread757]

a large part of the reason why we rural people tend to wait to seek medical attention is because it’s to damn far. the nearest doctor’s office is 45 minutes away, and the nearest hospital is almost 3 times farther. and that’s on the closer side of things. also, i feel a lot of urban people tend to go in for minor issues that could just be solved at home.

[@kyototomokui6676]

That farmer was using electroshock therapy to treat his pain Lmao

[@Fusako8]

On the rural thing. . . if you're used to dealing with things yourself, it gets hard to move out of that mentality. Example: I had a chisel slip and impaled my left hand. Knew the doc would just put butterfly sutures on it and give me antibiotics. I knew that it bled so freaking much (And the chisel was brandspanking new and uncontaminated) that infection was unlikely. So I superglued it closed and laughed about it. Now I have a little 3cm scar on the palm of my left hand. No lack of dexterity or sensation. So why again should I take time out to wait in the waiting room, then in the exam room, then have someone do the same thing I'd already done?

[@starlingINSPAAAAACEEEEEE]

1:05 completely correct! I used to live out in deep Texas, my grandfather cut his thumb in half when I was a baby and put it back together using bumble gum. Did not go to a doctor for about a week.

[@shadowfox306]

I got sick during the pandemic with respiratory complications. I waited to go in until talking made me short of breath. When I went in, my o2 SAT was about 89-90. They had to put me on high flow oxygen and kept me for observation for 3 days.

[@joseroman8990]

Ugh. Been there. American here. Almost died of sepsis. Went to hospital very late after days. I did not go because I feared the bill and paying my kids tuition. Also pay $600 per month for health insurance. Feel like your passing but weigh out life insurance vs medical bills on behalf of loved ones.

[@chibigoji5080]

I feel like a lot of these stories are from Americans. I do kinda get it, though. I have a few American friends, and the stories they've told me about the bills they get from even something minor are enough to keep you away from a doctor unless you're actively dying

[@TheGuindo]

yeah.... i just had to pay $1500 out of pocket for a routine upper endoscopy, and that was _with_ insurance. because most insurance plans have a deductible you need to meet before they'll pay a single cent toward anything. mine's $3000 and that's considered a fairly _low_ deductible for this type of plan (which is also the most common type of plan offered by employers). crylaughs in American :')

[@chibigoji5080]

@TheGuindo fr One of my American buddies went in for a checkup, took about 10 minutes, they said. Gave them a prescription, 800 fucking dollars for that!

[@TheGuindo]

@@chibigoji5080 jeeeeesus christ. if that's for a general practitioner appointment, that's bad even by american standards. if it's a specialist though, then yeah, that's on the high end but not surprising. esp if it's a highly technical specialty like neurology or something.

[@jamiestafford6484]

I knew an alcoholic and he was so oblivious to his surroundings and his own body that he wore a pair of socks for sooooo long, his foot skin had become one with his socks on both feet. I saw him on the gurney getting in to the ambulance (alive) and the smell was so strong, it made me gagg and my dad is a fisherman and I've seen and smelled all kinds of rotten stuff and have a strong constitution because of it, so it was ghastly. Unfortunately, he died a few weeks later but he was a lovely guy.

[@revolverocelot214]

The 'superior' Canadian healthcare comment loses most of its bite given the push for euthanasia to avoid dealing with things like mental conditions, chronic illnesses that are possibly.but not always terminal, and anything that conceivably could burden it. Then there's some of the cities that hand out means to take drugs, which just leads to ODing. Oh and the wait times and lack of trained doctors outside of your cities. Nurses or nothing if you're out west or north. True superior care is in places like Germany or so on, since the NHS style systems were among the first, and thus the most flawed of the universal systems. Speaking of NHS, good ducking luck with snagging help quickly with a chronic condition. They put it all in emergency to hide how busted it is.

[@idkcba]

Man, I've always loved these types of reddit videos but your voice takes the cake for me. These are incredibly interesting and fun to watch so keep up the good work man ❤❤

[@lucindawelenc2191]

How many of the people who have been asked this question are women, who then answer "I've been trying for years to get some doctor to admit that I had a problem."

[@memelord7567]

I can kinda understand the hesitation as, at least where I'm from, rural and small town hospitals suck. My grandma went to the hospital for abdominal pain, they mistook appendicitis for a tumor, scared the shit out of tje family with that diagnosis, then i think they figured it out but waited multiple days to operate to the point the appendix burst. Couple years later grandma broke her arm and they set it wrong, it healed wrong, she went to a doctor who said it needed surgery to get fixed. Similar thing happened to my cousin years ago, also appendicitis, a5 year old waited like a week in the hospital for surgery