Doctors Reveal Which Patients Made Them Think 'How Is That Even Possible?'

By the Skin....

MD student. Saw a guy come in post- motorcycle crash, foot hanging off his leg at the ankle by just a piece of skin. Imagine a mozzarella stick once you pull it apart.

Went up to the O.R. immediately for a replantation. Ended up saving his foot. MuppetMD

Close to the Chest. 

I'm a paramedic. But we had a guy stabbed in the chest so close to the heart (or major vessel) you could watch the knife handle move with each heartbeat. The_Phantom_W

The Rot. 

I was the patient. We thought I had the flu and I mentioned my right side hurt and had a bump. They decided to check for gallstones. Nope, huge freaking tumor on my liver.

When it was removed a week later it was 7 lbs and the size of a dinner plate. I was a tiny 90 lb 16 year old girl, no obvious signs of it. It pushed my lungs up and intestines down. It had outgrown it's blood supply and begun to rot, so when it was removed it burst like a piece of rotten fruit. Apparently it was the only case my surgeon had seen in his career. I'm in a medical journal and everything. greffedufois

The Wood Chipper. 

I'm currently an EMT and this guy had his hand stuck in a wood chipper. Was so far in we had to disassemble the entire to thing to avoid ripping his arm out. He only lost 2 fingers, his pinky and ring finger. Luckiest guy. zzzzz1233

The Birds....

Friend's mom worked at a mental institution. Told us a story about how one woman came in with a bird inside of her lady bits. Dead by then of course. DontDoSoap

Whistle Away....

(Nurse student) Drug user who had a hole (don't know how to say it in english) under his right arm, creating a cavity (around 10x10cm, maybe?) from which you could see and hear whistling the right lung upper lobe. It had been worsening for maybe 10 years, so the initial injury had mostly cicatrised (without infection, as crazy as it may sound), so the cavity instead of flesh was mostly covered by epitelial tissue.

The pneumologist told me that this was a once in a lifetime case.

He spent just a morning in my unit, so I didn't get to know the outcome, diagnosis tests and everything he had, but we were pretty sure he also had a neoplasm going on in that cavity. PeteLangosta

7 Years?

We had a female admitted to the ER with severe stomach pains. At first, we suspect pregnancy. She insists she isn't pregnant, has had zero sexual contact, etc. Hormone levels are normal, so we do an ultrasound to confirm a possible uterine or ovarian tumor.

Rather surprisingly, she had a first-trimester unbirthed miscarriage that was over seven years old. Apparently it did not occur to her that not having a period for seven years wasn't a problem.

We ended up removing over 6 pounds of necrotic tissue including a partially-formed fetus which completely changed her life. She was in her forties.

Edit: Yes, she may have come from an abusive relationship and the baby could have died from trauma induced by an angry partner or any number of various drugs he may or may not have have slipped her. With many years having passed and nobody forthcoming with any evidence, there's really nothing that can be done. She was otherwise in good physical condition. Rust_Dawg

Are those your entrails?

My mother is a nurse in the ER and she talked to me about crazy stuff that's happened. Apparently one guy walked into the emergency room entrance holding his intestines in his hands, calm as can be and shouted "Can I get a little help please? I think I'm gonna die."

Now this dude wasn't gutted wide open holding all of his entrails, but he had a pretty major cut to the midsection causing SOME of his intestines to be protruding externally. This dude is alive, and my mom told me she has no idea how someone could walk into an emergency room like that and be so calm. uhhhFlexx

Damn Poncho. 

Co-worker of mine was part time farmer in Utah, out plowing a field during a spring rain. Was wearing a plastic poncho. He didn't realize that his PTO (power take off- a device on the back of the tractor that spins around to give power to towed farm implements) was turning. His poncho got tangled in the PTO, pulled him off the tractor, dragged him for a while, ripped all of his clothes off, broke his windpipe and left him dying in the field.

His only luck was all this was seen by a passing car who was able to call 911 in time to save his life.

I imagine the doctor who saw him lying naked, unconscious, all beat to heck, thought WTH? Oh, and the tractor kept going until it got tangled in the barb wire. enkiloki

How in the World?

I'm a younger person with severe rheumatoid arthritis. I've had multiple doctors/surgeons who couldn't believe I walked into their office. "I can't believe you're not in a wheelchair" comes up a lot.

The surgeon who did both my hip replacements was about 65 years old and had 20+ years just doing that. Said I was one of the worst cases he'd seen and was amazed I could walk.

I think my favorite was the time I got an x-ray of my lower back. My exchange with the technician reading it was something like:

Tech: "...Do you have scoliosis?"

Me: "No?"

Tech: "...Oh."

It's difficult when medical staff examine you and their only response is "...Oh." It happens kind of a lot for me. CruzaSenpai

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