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Doctors Share Their 'This Just Got Really Serious' Patient Experiences

Doctors Share Their 'This Just Got Really Serious' Patient Experiences
Image by fernando zhiminaicela from Pixabay

Doctors are a widely respected group of people. They've attended school for long enough to possess an inspiring amount of knowledge that most of the population does not access at all.


And yet, during a routine checkup, one may wonder exactly why they needed all that school.

While they chat about our social life with a hand on a stethoscope, it's easy enough to be lulled into assuming the professional is actually, dare we say, easy?

But those are the mundane moments. Unfortunately, there are other moments that absolutely demand all of that knowledge.

And those are the truly scary times when doctors become the most important people in the world, bar none.

Redditor YeetMasterChroma asked:

"Doctors and Surgeons of Reddit, what was your 'this just got even worse' moment with your patient/s?"

Many doctors chose to recall experiences that grew serious because patient wasn't ready to acknowledge their medical reality.

These patients brushed off their symptoms. And they paid for it.

Caught in a Lie

"ER Doc here: Patient arrived with complaints of vaginal spotting. History revealed she had been bleeding for 2 days, not very heavy, just a little pain. Stated it started after her female partner had been 'a little rough' during their last sexual experience."

"Physical exam revealed a complete tear through the posterior vaginal wall into the rectum consistent with what we would usually see during a difficult childbirth. The situation was a bit fishy given the amount of trauma and the back story so I ordered the usual tests (blood count, coagulation panel, chemistries)."

"In accordance with OR protocol (she was definitely going to surgery) tacked on a urine pregnancy test (even though she denied the possibility of pregnancy given her sexual preferences). The pregnancy test came back POSITIVE… Needless to say this opened a huge can of worms."

"Turns out, she had delivered a child 2 days ago in secret but didn't tell anyone. Had been hiding the child from her family/girlfriend. Child protective services, the police, EMS, pediatrics, ON/GYN all got involved in the matter of minutes after that revelation. They found the child in her apartment under some towels alone in her home. It was a doozy of a night."

"To those who are wondering: yes, she was a larger woman whose pregnancy was hidden by her size. This happened 5 years ago and I have seen the child since…doing well with her grandparents who have full guardianship."

-- Chocsaltyballz

A Temporary Fix For Way Too Long

"Homeless man is brought into the ED by EMS for a foot wound that is giving him trouble. We eyeball his foot that's poking out from the blanket as he's rolling by and it's a little roughed up, but doesn't seem too bad. We go in to get his story and he says he hurt his foot a few days ago and that it just hurts to walk on."

"We ask if we can take a peek, so he whips off the blanket to show us his other foot, the one that is actual hurt, releasing a horrific stench cloud in the process. We knew we were in for a treat."

"Guy has his foot bandaged in a very dirty ace wrap, toes are completely black and necrotic, and there's a maggot butt wiggling near the edge of the ace wrap. We tried to remove the wrap, but it was stuck together with blood, dirt and who knows what else, so time to cut that sucker off."

"As we cut more maggot began to present themselves, and the smell of dead flesh just kept getting more and more intense."

"We finally make it through and go to pull away the wrap and I swear at least a hundred maggot fell out of that thing. But that wasn't the worst part. The entire bottom of the man's foot was stuck to the wrap and just fell away from the underlying muscle and bone."

"We told the man we were unfortunately not going to be able to save the foot, to which he responded 'Oh man, really? I didn't think it was that bad.' "

-- jennysubwoofer

One Extra Day Was All It Took

"Eye doctor here: you may have heard that diabetics need to have their eyes checked regularly because Diabetes is actually a blinding condition. This happened probably about 15 years ago, but this patient of mine I had noted had severe diabetic vascular changes against the retina and required laser intervention as soon as possible."

"Without getting into the socio-economic arguments here, she scheduled her surgery and on the day of the surgery decided to take a work day instead of her surgery. Her job was cleaning, and on that fateful day, she inhaled some of her cleaner fumes which caused her to sneeze spiking her blood pressure and she blew the fragile blood vessels in both of her eyes wide open and blood started gushing into her eyes."

"As you might imagine, blood is opaque. You can't see through it. She was instantly and completely blinded in both eyes in a matter of seconds. It took 3 years, multiple surgeries, and a complete lifestyle change, but this patient did recover to have actually fair (but not good) vision. I still see her now for her annual visits."

-- OscarDivine

Unwilling to Change

"EMT. We had a man in his late 40s that lived with his invalid mother in a run down trailer out in the middle of the country that first called us to have us check on his hyperglycemia. He was 450 mg/ dl which is the highest my partner or I have even seen and advised him to go to the hospital. He was morbidly obese and wasn't taking care of his type II diabetes in even the slightest."

"He refused any attempt to have EMS transportation to ER. We couldn't force him into the ambulance so we had no choice but to leave him but advised our medical control (Doctor in charge) of the incident as soon as we got back into the ambulance. Two months later we get a call back to his trailer by a third party caller again for his diabetes."

"This time his feet have gangrene and we can see the exposed bones of his toes. I mean all ten of his toes have had the soft tissue eaten away to down to just the bone. This time he wasn't the least bit hesitant but we still can't believe he had gone two weeks like this."

-- gil_beard

Others shared their experiences with gruesome accidents. These doctors had to act fast to save the person who hobbled through the door one day.

Just a Tragedy All Around

"the husband and wife who were brought in at the same time, both with major flame burns. He was about 50% TBSA (total body surface area) and she was ~75%."

"The woman was intubated at the original ER they went to (big burns are literally hot potatos and will get transferred to the nearest burn center ASAP when they arrive in a small town ER). She was waking up a bit when she got to our unit and kept trying to mouth something around her breathing tube."

"In hindsight, I'm pretty sure it was 'my baby', as she miscarried about 36 hours after she was admitted (her nurse found the fetus in her bed)."

"She developed an arrrythmia while we were starting a new central line (big IV in the neck or chest) and we couldn't stop it. And she died."

"We later found out that the husband put their 2 kids in the car, then went back inside and choked her till she passed out, and then poured gasoline all over her and lit her on fire after he found out she was pregnant with someone else's baby."

"He also caught on fire (gasoline will do that). He survived, got multiple skin grafts and went to jail. The kids were uninjured (physically)."

"That was during the first 3 weeks I was a doctor."

-- Nervich

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Beware the Garage Door Spring

"Used to be an EMT. We were too far away to respond when this happened, but we heard it over the radio."

"Dispatch: 'Caller reports two children playing with garage door spring, reporting unknown injuries.' "

"Dispatch: 'Responding LEO (Law enforcement officer) reporting possible juvenile fatality' "

"EMS: 'EMS reporting juvenile fatality. We're gonna need a cleanup crew. It's a mess here. Can we get someone to confirm an Injuries Not Compatible with Life?' "

"EMS: 'Yeah, we're gonna need another crew here. Kid was playing with a garage door, the spring snapped or something, and... his face is gone.' "

"Dispatch: 'EMS please repeat. What did you say?' "

"EMS: 'There's brains on the wall. We need another EMS rig here.' "

"Dispatch: 'Roger......... I'll have another crew en route shortly.' "

"The tone in everyone's voice when talking about that on the radio is something I will never forget. The absolute pain in the voice of everyone after they heard one of the responding EMTs say that the kid was killed like that."

-- adragonthatsgay

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Do. Not. Move.

"Not a doctor, but the cause of some doctors 'oh sh**' moment..."

"So, quick back story, I came out of a tree the hard way when a half-grown cat I was trying to rescue took a swipe at my eyes and I jerked backwards. Landed on the concrete patio about twelve feet below, which had a little curb that was like two inches wide and inch and half high. (oh, and the cat jumped down and landed on my chest)"

"Naturally, I had a big bruise right across my lower back, just below the belt line. It was a Friday. My dad said to wait before going to A&E [english ER], they're swamped at weekends. Figured, he's a doctor, so he knew better."

"Turns out.. no he didn't."

"So there I was sitting on the bed after being x-ray'ed, and a very pale looking doc comes in and the very first thing he says is; 'Don't move. Stay perfectly still.' "

"I'd cracked the three lowest lumbar vertebrae, According to the surgeon, I was probably the luckiest guy that day, they'd split and broken in such a way they jammed against each other and totally missed all the nerves [well, almost, I've a dead patch on my right thigh I can't feel a thing with and a bit of a limp when I'm tired]."

"I ended up in a body cast for a few weeks after they fused the broken bits, never had a problem since aside from the back being stiff enough I can't bend at the waist too well."

"And yeah.. I've never let Dad live it down. He's a darn fine heart guy, top of his field... but he's a lousy EMT. 'Walk it off' is not good advice for someone with a back injury. It's ok.. he say's it keeps him humble."

-- Kflynn1337

Imploding

"Not a doc but I use to work for Radiology in a small hospital and was their kinda Mr Everything we don't want to do, lifting, security, transport, babysitter, etc. A young mid-twenties couple gets brought in on backboards after a car wreck. Middle of February, icy af and the guy rolled the car."

"The girl gets a bed in the ER. She's mostly fine, beat up quite a bit but still coherent and talking. A state trooper is in her room with her. The dude is complaining but overall seems fine. She's asking me to see him and I tell her that they're stabilizing him and he's not going anywhere."

"She says 'What does that mean?' Over and over again and I tell her that he's in a bed on a board, so he can't move. She's freaking out."

"I take the guy back to Radiology, he's talking and joking, things seem fine. We do the CT and he's spine is broke, not just broke, severed. Guy is in for some serious surgery, rehab, might never walk again kinda stuff."

"The girl runs out of the room, cop chases after her, they start fighting. A little 110lb girl is straight up squaring up with this big cop. Cop ends up tasering her in the middle of the ER. Her dude is screaming because they told him about his spine, his girl is now chained to a bed. Turns out they were running drugs, high as balls, flipped the car and the dude probably never walked again. I always wonder though."

-- DrRoborknik

Bigger Than Expected

"Had a patient call our clinic saying he had cut his hand and needed a couple of stitches. Sure, come on in, I'll stitch you up."

"Failed to mention until I got in the exam room that he was working with a table saw. And that he had nearly cut 3 fingers off. Tendons were exposed and severed, bone visible."

"Sent him immediately to the hospital, they had to call in a hand fellow after hours to try to salvage his hand, which they were able to do fortunately."

-- ruralprimarycarepa

Finally, some discussed the medical rarities that, unfortunately, afflict people when they least expect it.

It Only Took a Tooth

"Patient came complaining of swelling in face; we suspected an abscess from a sick tooth. When they came we called 911 immediately because the 'swelling' had almost completely cut off her airway and her o2 level was an 87…. "

"A PSA to all, if you have a cavity or a broken tooth it is a big deal. A rotten tooth can absolutely kill you."

-- shyangeldust

Lockdown

"Obligatory not a doctor, but I was a forensic technician assisting forensic pathologists at autopsy."

"One day, the chief and I were doing 3 routine narcotic OD autopsies. Often times with ODs, our doctors would let us (the techs) do the whole evisceration to save time, so all the doc had to do was to examine the individual organs. So on the third decedent, she gave me the green light to start cutting."

"Once I had the chest plate removed, something didn't look quite right with his lungs. I called over the doc and she takes one look and goes 'I really hope you have your mask on as tight as it can possibly be...' "

"Her next words were terrifying... 'That's tuberculosis.' We immediately had to inform the public health commission, kick everyone else out of the autopsy room, and convert our 'deco room,' where we primarily did the exams of decomposed people, and turn on the extra duty ventilation system and had to complete the exam with the full PAPR kit on."

"That was fun."

-- Zaexyr

When It Rains It Pours

"I work in a cancer center and fairly regularly a patient with multiple cancers will get a biopsy of a lesion trying to figure out which cancer has metastasized and it instead turns out to be a totally different and unexpected cancer"

-- foofarraw

When It Rains, It Pours

"Had a young (mid 30's) patient with metastatic cancer (cancer that spread to other sites in the body), including both proximal femurs (hip bones) and the pelvis. Cancer progressed and spread despite various chemo regimens and a clinical trial."

"We (Orthopedic Surgery) got consulted to assess if it was safe for him to walk, do physical therapy in the hospital with the bone lesions, and possibly put metal rods into his femurs to strengthen them and allow him to walk. 2 days later he had a massive stroke involving 60-70% of the left side of his brain."

"In a matter of hours, this poor guy went from having terminal metastatic cancer, to also being paralyzed on the right side of his body and being unable to speak (aphasia)."

-- Bdawg312

Recall All Teeth

"My teacher works in a health center, she deals with teeth (hygienist) and they found out that the newbie and a senior worker (someone who had been there the longest) didn't turn the autoclave on, meaning they had been using unsterilized equipment on quite a few patients until my teacher noticed..."

"...they then had to call every single patient they had that day or that batch was used on and had to get the office to pay for every. Single. One of them to get tested for STD's and other blood borne diseases, everything was negative but I feel like this can fit here"

-- Give_one_hoot

Bearer of Bad News

"A young newly married couple moves to town, he gets a good job, but gets admitted to my ICU with terrible pneumonia. Didn't take too long to figure that he AIDS associated pneumonia (what we now call HIV). We didn't then know how to treat it, so we had to tell the soon to be widow that she was soon to be a widow."

"Then we told her about how HIV is transmitted, and she needed to be checked."

"Not a good day."

-- DoctorNotAnEngineer

So if you're thinking about becoming a doctor because your last yearly physical seemed chill enough, remember to keep things in perspective: there are the tough days too.

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People Reveal The Weirdest Thing About Themselves

Reddit user Isitjustmedownhere asked: 'Give an example; how weird are you really?'

Let's get one thing straight: no one is normal. We're all weird in our own ways, and that is actually normal.

Of course, that doesn't mean we don't all have that one strange trait or quirk that outweighs all the other weirdness we possess.

For me, it's the fact that I'm almost 30 years old, and I still have an imaginary friend. Her name is Sarah, she has red hair and green eyes, and I strongly believe that, since I lived in India when I created her and there were no actual people with red hair around, she was based on Daphne Blake from Scooby-Doo.

I also didn't know the name Sarah when I created her, so that came later. I know she's not really there, hence the term 'imaginary friend,' but she's kind of always been around. We all have conversations in our heads; mine are with Sarah. She keeps me on task and efficient.

My mom thinks I'm crazy that I still have an imaginary friend, and writing about her like this makes me think I may actually be crazy, but I don't mind. As I said, we're all weird, and we all have that one trait that outweighs all the other weirdness.

Redditors know this all too well and are eager to share their weird traits.

It all started when Redditor Isitjustmedownhere asked:

"Give an example; how weird are you really?"

Monsters Under My Bed

"My bed doesn't touch any wall."

"Edit: I guess i should clarify im not rich."

– Practical_Eye_3600

"Gosh the monsters can get you from any angle then."

– bikergirlr7

"At first I thought this was a flex on how big your bedroom is, but then I realized you're just a psycho 😁"

– zenOFiniquity8

Can You See Why?

"I bought one of those super-powerful fans to dry a basement carpet. Afterwards, I realized that it can point straight up and that it would be amazing to use on myself post-shower. Now I squeegee my body with my hands, step out of the shower and get blasted by a wide jet of room-temp air. I barely use my towel at all. Wife thinks I'm weird."

– KingBooRadley

Remember

"In 1990 when I was 8 years old and bored on a field trip, I saw a black Oldsmobile Cutlass driving down the street on a hot day to where you could see that mirage like distortion from the heat on the road. I took a “snapshot” by blinking my eyes and told myself “I wonder how long I can remember this image” ….well."

– AquamarineCheetah

"Even before smartphones, I always take "snapshots" by blinking my eyes hoping I'll remember every detail so I can draw it when I get home. Unfortunately, I may have taken so much snapshots that I can no longer remember every detail I want to draw."

"Makes me think my "memory is full.""

– Reasonable-Pirate902

Same, Same

"I have eaten the same lunch every day for the past 4 years and I'm not bored yet."

– OhhGoood

"How f**king big was this lunch when you started?"

– notmyrealnam3

Not Sure Who Was Weirder

"Had a line cook that worked for us for 6 months never said much. My sous chef once told him with no context, "Baw wit da baw daw bang daw bang diggy diggy." The guy smiled, left, and never came back."

– Frostygrunt

Imagination

"I pace around my house for hours listening to music imagining that I have done all the things I simply lack the brain capacity to do, or in some really bizarre scenarios, I can really get immersed in these imaginations sometimes I don't know if this is some form of schizophrenia or what."

– RandomSharinganUser

"I do the same exact thing, sometimes for hours. When I was young it would be a ridiculous amount of time and many years later it’s sort of trickled off into almost nothing (almost). It’s weird but I just thought it’s how my brain processes sh*t."

– Kolkeia

If Only

"Even as an adult I still think that if you are in a car that goes over a cliff; and right as you are about to hit the ground if you jump up you can avoid the damage and will land safely. I know I'm wrong. You shut up. I'm not crying."

– ShotCompetition2593

Pet Food

"As a kid I would snack on my dog's Milkbones."

– drummerskillit

"Haha, I have a clear memory of myself doing this as well. I was around 3 y/o. Needless to say no one was supervising me."

– Isitjustmedownhere

"When I was younger, one of my responsibilities was to feed the pet fish every day. Instead, I would hide under the futon in the spare bedroom and eat the fish food."

– -GateKeep-

My Favorite Subject

"I'm autistic and have always had a thing for insects. My neurotypical best friend and I used to hang out at this local bar to talk to girls, back in the late 90s. One time he claimed that my tendency to circle conversations back to insects was hurting my game. The next time we went to that bar (with a few other friends), he turned and said sternly "No talking about bugs. Or space, or statistics or other bullsh*t but mainly no bugs." I felt like he was losing his mind over nothing."

"It was summer, the bar had its windows open. Our group hit it off with a group of young ladies, We were all chatting and having a good time. I was talking to one of these girls, my buddy was behind her facing away from me talking to a few other people."

"A cloudless sulphur flies in and lands on little thing that holds coasters."

"Cue Jordan Peele sweating gif."

"The girl notices my tension, and asks if I am looking at the leaf. "Actually, that's a lepidoptera called..." I looked at the back of my friend's head, he wasn't looking, "I mean a butterfly..." I poked it and it spread its wings the girl says "oh that's a BUG?!" and I still remember my friend turning around slowly to look at me with chastisement. The ONE thing he told me not to do."

"I was 21, and was completely not aware that I already had a rep for being an oddball. It got worse from there."

– Phormicidae

*Teeth Chatter*

"I bite ice cream sometimes."

RedditbOiiiiiiiiii

"That's how I am with popsicles. My wife shudders every single time."

monobarreller

Never Speak Of This

"I put ice in my milk."

– GTFOakaFOD

"You should keep that kind of thing to yourself. Even when asked."

– We-R-Doomed

"There's some disturbing sh*t in this thread, but this one takes the cake."

– RatonaMuffin

More Than Super Hearing

"I can hear the television while it's on mute."

– Tira13e

"What does it say to you, child?"

– Mama_Skip

Yikes!

"I put mustard on my omelettes."

– Deleted User

"Oh."

– NotCrustOr-filling

Evened Up

"Whenever I say a word and feel like I used a half of my mouth more than the other half, I have to even it out by saying the word again using the other half of my mouth more. If I don't do it correctly, that can go on forever until I feel it's ok."

"I do it silently so I don't creep people out."

– LesPaltaX

"That sounds like a symptom of OCD (I have it myself). Some people with OCD feel like certain actions have to be balanced (like counting or making sure physical movements are even). You should find a therapist who specializes in OCD, because they can help you."

– MoonlightKayla

I totally have the same need for things to be balanced! Guess I'm weird and a little OCD!

Close up face of a woman in bed, staring into the camera
Photo by Jen Theodore

Experiencing death is a fascinating and frightening idea.

Who doesn't want to know what is waiting for us on the other side?

But so many of us want to know and then come back and live a little longer.

It would be so great to be sure there is something else.

But the whole dying part is not that great, so we'll have to rely on other people's accounts.

Redditor AlaskaStiletto wanted to hear from everyone who has returned to life, so they asked:

"Redditors who have 'died' and come back to life, what did you see?"

Sensations

Happy Good Vibes GIF by Major League SoccerGiphy

"My dad's heart stopped when he had a heart attack and he had to be brought back to life. He kept the paper copy of the heart monitor which shows he flatlined. He said he felt an overwhelming sensation of peace, like nothing he had felt before."

PeachesnPain

Recovery

"I had surgical complications in 2010 that caused a great deal of blood loss. As a result, I had extremely low blood pressure and could barely stay awake. I remember feeling like I was surrounded by loved ones who had passed. They were in a circle around me and I knew they were there to guide me onwards. I told them I was not ready to go because my kids needed me and I came back."

"My nurse later said she was afraid she’d find me dead every time she came into the room."

"It took months, and blood transfusions, but I recovered."

good_golly99

Take Me Back

"Overwhelming peace and happiness. A bright airy and floating feeling. I live a very stressful life. Imagine finding out the person you have had a crush on reveals they have the same feelings for you and then you win the lotto later that day - that was the feeling I had."

"I never feared death afterward and am relieved when I hear of people dying after suffering from an illness."

rayrayrayray

Free

The Light Minnie GIF by (G)I-DLEGiphy

"I had a heart surgery with near-death experience, for me at least (well the possibility that those effects are caused by morphine is also there) I just saw black and nothing else but it was warm and I had such inner peace, its weird as I sometimes still think about it and wish this feeling of being so light and free again."

TooReDTooHigh

This is why I hate surgery.

You just never know.

Shocked

Giphy

"More of a near-death experience. I was electrocuted. I felt like I was in a deep hole looking straight up in the sky. My life flashed before me. Felt sad for my family, but I had a deep sense of peace."

Admirable_Buyer6528

The SOB

"Nursing in the ICU, we’ve had people try to die on us many times during the years, some successfully. One guy stood out to me. His heart stopped. We called a code, are working on him, and suddenly he comes to. We hadn’t vented him yet, so he was able to talk, and he started screaming, 'Don’t let them take me, don’t let them take me, they are coming,' he was scared and yelling."

"Then he yelled a little more, as we tried to calm him down, he screamed, 'No, No,' and gestured towards the end of the bed, and died again. We didn’t get him back. It was seriously creepy. We called his son to tell him the news, and the son said basically, 'Good, he was an SOB.'”

1-cupcake-at-a-time

Colors

"My sister died and said it was extremely peaceful. She said it was very loud like a train station and lots of talking and she was stuck in this area that was like a curtain with lots of beautiful colors (colors that you don’t see in real life according to her) a man told her 'He was sorry, but she had to go back as it wasn’t her time.'"

Hannah_LL7

"I had a really similar experience except I was in an endless garden with flowers that were colors I had never seen before. It was quiet and peaceful and a woman in a dress looked at me, shook her head, and just said 'Not yet.' As I was coming back, it was extremely loud, like everyone in the world was trying to talk all at once. It was all very disorienting but it changed my perspective on life!"

huntokarrr

The Fog

"I was in a gray fog with a girl who looked a lot like a young version of my grandmother (who was still alive) but dressed like a pioneer in the 1800s she didn't say anything but kept pulling me towards an opening in the wall. I kept refusing to go because I was so tired."

"I finally got tired of her nagging and went and that's when I came to. I had bled out during a c-section and my heart could not beat without blood. They had to deliver the baby and sew up the bleeders. refill me with blood before they could restart my heart so, like, at least 12 minutes gone."

Fluffy-Hotel-5184

Through the Walls

"My spouse was dead for a couple of minutes one miserable night. She maintains that she saw nothing, but only heard people talking about her like through a wall. The only thing she remembers for absolute certain was begging an ER nurse that she didn't want to die."

"She's quite alive and well today."

Hot-Refrigerator6583

Well let's all be happy to be alive.

It seems to be all we have.

Man's waist line
Santhosh Vaithiyanathan/Unsplash

Trying to lose weight is a struggle understood by many people regardless of size.

The goal of reaching a healthy weight may seem unattainable, but with diet and exercise, it can pay off through persistence and discipline.

Seeing the pounds gradually drop off can also be a great motivator and incentivize people to stay the course.

Those who've achieved their respective weight goals shared their experiences when Redditor apprenti8455 asked:

"People who lost a lot of weight, what surprises you the most now?"

Redditors didn't see these coming.

Shiver Me Timbers

"I’m always cold now!"

– Telrom_1

"I had a coworker lose over 130 pounds five or six years ago. I’ve never seen him without a jacket on since."

– r7ndom

"140 lbs lost here starting just before COVID, I feel like that little old lady that's always cold, damn this top comment was on point lmao."

– mr_remy

Drawing Concern

"I lost 100 pounds over a year and a half but since I’m old(70’s) it seems few people comment on it because (I think) they think I’m wasting away from some terminal illness."

– dee-fondy

"Congrats on the weight loss! It’s honestly a real accomplishment 🙂"

"Working in oncology, I can never comment on someone’s weight loss unless I specifically know it was on purpose, regardless of their age. I think it kind of ruffles feathers at times, but like I don’t want to congratulate someone for having cancer or something. It’s a weird place to be in."

– LizardofDeath

Unleashing Insults

"I remember when I lost the first big chunk of weight (around 50 lbs) it was like it gave some people license to talk sh*t about the 'old' me. Old coworkers, friends, made a lot of not just negative, but harsh comments about what I used to look like. One person I met after the big loss saw a picture of me prior and said, 'Wow, we wouldn’t even be friends!'”

"It wasn’t extremely common, but I was a little alarmed by some of the attention. My weight has been up and down since then, but every time I gain a little it gets me a little down thinking about those things people said."

– alanamablamaspama

Not Everything Goes After Losing Weight

"The loose skin is a bit unexpected."

– KeltarCentauri

"I haven’t experienced it myself, but surgery to remove skin takes a long time to recover. Longer than bariatric surgery and usually isn’t covered by insurance unless you have both."

– KatMagic1977

"It definitely does take a long time to recover. My Dad dropped a little over 200 pounds a few years back and decided to go through with skin removal surgery to deal with the excess. His procedure was extensive, as in he had skin taken from just about every part of his body excluding his head, and he went through hell for weeks in recovery, and he was bedridden for a lot of it."

– Jaew96

These Redditors shared their pleasantly surprising experiences.

Shopping

"I can buy clothes in any store I want."

– WaySavvyD

"When I lost weight I was dying to go find cute, smaller clothes and I really struggled. As someone who had always been restricted to one or two stores that catered to plus-sized clothing, a full mall of shops with items in my size was daunting. Too many options and not enough knowledge of brands that were good vs cheap. I usually went home pretty frustrated."

– ganache98012

No More Symptoms

"Lost about 80 pounds in the past year and a half, biggest thing that I’ve noticed that I haven’t seen mentioned on here yet is my acid reflux and heartburn are basically gone. I used to be popping tums every couple hours and now they just sit in the medicine cabinet collecting dust."

– colleennicole93

Expanding Capabilities

"I'm all for not judging people by their appearance and I recognise that there are unhealthy, unachievable beauty standards, but one thing that is undeniable is that I can just do stuff now. Just stamina and flexibility alone are worth it, appearance is tertiary at best."

– Ramblonius

People Change Their Tune

"How much nicer people are to you."

"My feet weren't 'wide' they were 'fat.'"

– LiZZygsu

"Have to agree. Lost 220 lbs, people make eye contact and hold open doors and stuff"

"And on the foot thing, I also lost a full shoe size numerically and also wear regular width now 😅"

– awholedamngarden

It's gonna take some getting used to.

Bones Everywhere

"Having bones. Collarbones, wrist bones, knee bones, hip bones, ribs. I have so many bones sticking out everywhere and it’s weird as hell."

– Princess-Pancake-97

"I noticed the shadow of my ribs the other day and it threw me, there’s a whole skeleton in here."

– bekastrange

Knee Pillow

"Right?! And they’re so … pointy! Now I get why people sleep with pillows between their legs - the knee bones laying on top of each other (side sleeper here) is weird and jarring."

– snic2030

"I lost only 40 pounds within the last year or so. I’m struggling to relate to most of these comments as I feel like I just 'slimmed down' rather than dropped a ton. But wow, the pillow between the knees at night. YES! I can relate to this. I think a lot of my weight was in my thighs. I never needed to do this up until recently."

– Strongbad23

More Mobility

"I’ve lost 100 lbs since 2020. It’s a collection of little things that surprise me. For at least 10 years I couldn’t put on socks, or tie my shoes. I couldn’t bend over and pick something up. I couldn’t climb a ladder to fix something. Simple things like that I can do now that fascinate me."

"Edit: Some additional little things are sitting in a chair with arms, sitting in a booth in a restaurant, being able to shop in a normal store AND not needing to buy the biggest size there, being able to easily wipe my butt, and looking down and being able to see my penis."

– dma1965

People making significant changes, whether for mental or physical health, can surely find a newfound perspective on life.

But they can also discover different issues they never saw coming.

That being said, overcoming any challenge in life is laudable, especially if it leads to gaining confidence and ditching insecurities.