Patients say the darndest things. Often doctors may believe they're hearing is off. But, sometimes it can all seem very run of the mill. Everyday in the ER is not an episode of "Grey's Anatomy" so medical professionals feel like normal is the.... normal, until it's not.
Redditor u/poppyoxymoron wanted to hear from the doctors of the world to discuss a few things by asking.... Doctors of reddit, what was the most shocking case of "oh I thought that was normal" you've seen in a patient?
WTH?!
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Former nursing student here. I grew up watching bugs bunny cartoons, and whenever I saw a closeup of the inside of the mouth there was always a large and dangling uvula (the thing hanging down at the back of one's throat) - just like mine. So naturally I assumed EVERYBODY had one like that. Fast forward to nursing school and I began looking inside people's mouths and seeing nub after pathetic nub of excuses for an uvula. I'm like "what the hell is that?" I suddenly realized I had a stalactite of a uvula in the back of my throat. mishymc
The Stroke.
My best friend is a doctor and he had a patient who couldn't move her arm but didn't even bother to mention it or seem concerned.
He checked blood pressure and various routine tests, then asked her to lift her arms to start doing some kind of neurological test.
"Oh sorry I can't move my left arm at all"
"This is a disability you have had for some time right?"
"Oh no just since this morning"
Turned out she'd had a stroke. Alsoamdsufferer
Brush Away.
Not a doctor and it not completely related but. I was in the dentist's chair and I heard an exchange from the next room over.
Aid: So why'd you come in today?
Patient: hey, yeah my teeth have been hurting and flaking off.
Aid: Well let's take a look.
(A minute of silence)
Aid: yes it looks like you have a very large amount of plaque built up on your teeth.
Patient: Oh is that what keep flaking off when I brush, cause I was worried it was my teeth falling apart.
Brush your teeth daily people. DarkestTimelineEvals
I'm on the opposite end of this. I used to think it was normal when I would go #2 in the bathroom my heart would race and I would break out into a sweat with my face turning bright red. My mom thought I was straining too hard. Saw a doctor and my blood pressure was through the roof, he suggested I had the symptoms of a rare condition. He was right, I had a tumor on one of my adrenal glands called pheochromocytoma. It got removed, I now poop normal. Kings_Daughter
Check Ups.
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During my short time as an acting physician at a hospital a middle-aged man walked in. I took my check-up tests and and he had testosterone levels at least 65% lower than average. When I asked him about it, he said that he thought all men felt like he him (low energy, infertility, sleep apnea, etc.) CardioInquisition
A Little Extra....
(Medical student) While chatting with a few friends who are fully fledged doctors and dentists I heard about this one:
Dude had, not one, not two but FOUR extra teeth in his mouth. Now this isn't exactly super rare or shocking on its own, but when asked about it, he said "Doesn't everyone have those...?"
The guy was also a medical student that we knew. Granted he was studying to be an optometrist (sorry opthalmologist**, english isn't my first language :D) so it's out of his field of study but still. AskingMartini
Be Fitbit.
Well, a doctor listened to my heart and lungs the other day and asked if I was nervous. I said no and showed him my Fitbit data of a daytime resting heartbeat between 90-120 and uh, yeah turns out I'm gonna need to get that checked out. agnathastone
Rescue Me.
I thought my tears stinging like hot acid when crying was normal, and that feeling a pain in your nose when crying was normal. Apparently it's not?
Conversation went something like this: watching sad dog rescue video with sibling Me: "Ah no I'm about to cry, I can feel the pain in my nose." Sibling: "????????????" Me: "y'know the pain in your nose when crying?" Sibling: "eeeeh that's not normal." Me: "pffft. And I guess tears feeling like acid isn't normal either? Silly. That's why you end up crying!" Sibling: "...." ViolentPuppy
Diagnosis.
I diagnose diabetes all the time. Many of my patients come in super sick. All have a history of drinking a lot and peeing a lot, but don't actually think it's a big deal until I ask and explain why people with diabetes pee so much. mvenus929
Unique.
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Not a doctor, but I was a combat medic. A dude came in describing puss leaking from between his legs. So I took a look, and under his penis and balls his taint wasn't fused together. So essentially he had a vagina, and it was infected. I let him know about his uniqueness, and he said "I thought everyone had that." No-collusion-suck-it
The Low.
Not a doctor, but a nurse. I was taking vitals during a routine physical of an older woman, her pulse was fast and very thready, and her blood pressure was shockingly low. Normal bp is about 120/80, hers was a mere 80/40. I asked her how she was feeling, she said fine. It turned out she had always had atrial fibrillation and knew about it but never thought to mention it to us, she was having an attack that day. luna8913
Vomit Machine.
I'm not a doctor, but I thought it was normal to immediately vomit food that you didn't like when you tried to eat it. Somehow, no one around me found it alarming that I immediately vomited every time I would try to eat a vegetable until my best friend pointed out that that's not a normal thing. I got a test as an adult, and yep, it turns out I have a rare and severe allergy to vegetables. SecretlyFBI
The Flesh.
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I've learned that skin pain isn't normal. Like, when someone touches my skin, it feels like they're rubbing sandpaper on me. I thought everyone had that. I'm getting tested to figure out what it is. chickadee35
Poop Storm.
Not a doctor, a patient that thought periods were supposed to immobilize you and that you basically pooped what looked like hair pulled out the shower drain out your vagina. Apparently I have blood clots and endometriosis. Had it since I was 11. Reddit
All the Toes.
Patient here! Didn't know it wasn't normal for toenails to just hurt. You know, all the time? Ingrown toenails are a pain if you ignore them!! My Mother noticed my obviously infected big toes, both of them. Holy crap, doctor, DON'T LET INGROWN TOENAILS GET SO BAD THEY'RE GOING THROUGH YOUR TOE!!!
Also learned that day that the way my toes grow (all 10 of those appendages) are shaped in such a way that I can't have toenails without ingrown toenails. Ever. At all. Someday in the next few years I have to get the rest of my toenails removed! Might dig out the picture of the removed big toenails if there's interest. Foodcity
Get it on Tape.
I heard this from my elementary teacher. There was a kid in her class years ago. He kept moving in class, and even keep dropping books and pencils around his table. Other kids couldn't concentrate, so she called his parents and told about him. The parents didn't believe her, saying she was framing their son. So, she filmed what's happening in the class. However, the parents insisted that the teacher edited files, sending only bad moments.
So, she told them to come, and see what's happening in her class. The mother saw, and cried after class, saying she didn't know her son. Then, the parents brought their son to a children's psychiatrist, and the psychiatrist surprised, asking how the parents could endure him. It was about a decade before the notion of ADHD became popular, and that time, saying others to bring their kid to a psychiatrist was the same as saying f-letters to others in my country. Ampluvia
The Migraine.
Patient, not a doctor. I started getting these headaches in 7th grade. Massive stabbing pain, light sensitivity, sound sensitivity, pain with cold and weather change. I tried taking ibuprofen but it didn't work so I stopped. 7th grade me was worried about getting addicted. The headaches came every single day, and would usually get worse throughout the day. I didn't think it was abnormal because everyone gets headaches, right?
I finally figured out it might not be normal and talked to my GP my sophomore year of college. Saw a neurologist, turns out I have chronic migraine. After some trial, and painful, error, I have some awesome medication that works a majority of the time. walks_into_things
One Drop.
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Apparently it's not normal to have a drop of blood pressures and almost pass out whenever you stand up. I mentioned it to my doctor and he said it was normal but i looked it up and it apparently isn't. Weird. Havox04
The Internists.
Oh, it's my time to shine. I'm not a doctor, just a patient who hangs out with their doctors A Lot.
I got diagnosed with ehlers-danlos a couple years ago. Horrified a couple internists with how easily and casually I could partially dislocate bits of my body, while thinking it was regular flexibility from my dance background as a kid. I have one foot that can curl inward, like a fetus in the womb (courtesy of no ATF ligament, thank you,). Also have a shoulder that will not stay in joint - most of the time it hands out, visibly misplaced. There's a couple fun things I can do with my tendons that shouldn't be technically physically impossible and that my doctors can't figure out without further, very expensive imaging. creampunk
Screwy Genetics.
Not a doctor, but when I was 13 or 14 I went to the doctor for a physical. They were doing the pushing on the stomach routine when it hurt and listened to my stomach. The doctor asked me when my last BM was and I said it was about 2 to 3 weeks ago. They had a horrified expression and asked if they was normal. I said yeah sometimes I don't have a BM but once a month. That's when they prescribed me 3 doses of miralax a day and 50 grams of fiber daily.
Who knew you should poop everyday???
PS . When this happened in my household it became a running joke, until my father said, "well yeah if you poop once a day it means you are eating too much." We then realized it was a genetic issue. butteryourmuffin69
When we're intoxicated, or even the slightest bit tipsy from having a little too much to drink, our immediate perspective on things is hazy.
But there's nothing like a bit of alarming news or a jarring incident to snap us out of the fog and focus on the moment.
Sometimes alcohol isn't always to blame for our impairment.
It can be a state of mind, like a perpetual numbness from being complacent in life, and all it takes is one shocking moment to rattle us back to our senses.
Curious to hear from strangers online about this type of scenario, Redditor Known_Challenge_7150 asked:
"What’s one thing that sobered you up real quick?"
These individuals were witness to shocking events that sobered them up right quick.
Bleeding Out
"Got out of a taxi and found a naked man profusely bleeding from his head crawling up the driveway in my condo. Called him an ambulance completely forgot I was absolutely wasted until 45 minutes later when I'd helped him translate and in to an amublance and stepped in my front door."
"Later a few days later learned he'd slipped in the tub and literally crawled out for help. Poor dude. He was fine but I genuinely thought he was going to die there."
– DongLaiCha
Tragic News
"At a bachelor party and we got a phone call that the groom’s father had suddenly passed."
– accountnameredacted
Bottom Of The Barrel
"I went to visit my parents back in July. I was homeless and deep into fentanyl addiction so I lost a lot of weight. My folks could see it. They knew something was up. Anyway, I spent the night and I was getting ready to leave in the morning and I looked at myself in the mirror for a good long time. I finally had enough and told them everything. They took me to detox, from there I went to rehab. Graduated in August and been living with them ever since then. I have 160 days clean and sober."
– Crotch-Monster
A reality check can be enough for some people to snap out of it.
Like Father, Like Son
"Was driving a drunk friend home, he had been on a bender again and was smart enough to call me for a lift rather than try and drive. As I helped in to his house his mother came down the stairs and said 'your as drunk as your father' and went back upstairs. I haven't seen him drunk since then, he still drinks but the thought of turning into his dad scared him out of hard drinking."
– psycospaz
Busted
"Flashing blue lights."
– FiddleOfGold
"This sobered me up just thinking about it."
– redmaple_syrup
Losing Sight
"Woke up to no sight in one eye. I had cataract surgery so just thought one of the lenses had slipped and it was an easy fix. Eye doc says nope, you had a stroke. I loved soy sauce, teriyaki sauce and salty food, which caused high blood pressure, which caused retina damage. Over six months was able to get most of my eyesight back with medication, and all back within a year. Trying to navigate life with one eye was very sobering. Started taking HBP much more seriously."
– MissHibernia
Quitting The Bottle
"Looked up someone I went to highschool with who was an awesome guy. Found out he had been dead for 3 years from alcoholism, at age 33. I made an overnight change. I hadn't started drinking that night yet, 10 months ago. Haven't touched it again since."
– omgtater
These disturbing moments were enough for Redditors to immediately come to their senses.
Unplanned House Guests
"Me and a buddy Woke up in someone’s living room, realized neither one of us knew the people, they were just nice and let 2 drunk guys sleep on their living room floor. We didn’t even say goodbye."
– Oneinsevenbillion75
Serious Health Warning
"Elevated liver enzymes."
"And the knowledge that this sh** was gonna kill me and I just couldn't orphan my family over it."
"So I opted for recovery, instead."
"Clean and sober since June 5, 2009."
– Far_Meal8674
The Joyride
"Grew up in a rural area. The little town hosted dances at the hockey arena, everyone (adults and kids) went and they overserved everyone, regardless of age. I was maybe 16 or 17 and was absolutely sh*tfaced, and jumped in the back of someone's truck with about 8 other people to go back to someone's cottage for after dance drinking. The driver (still don't know who it was) started racing one of his buddies and we whipped around small dirt roads, flying around blind corners on the wrong side of the road, going god knows how fast. It was basically a disaster waiting to happen. It was crazy scary and I was sober and thankful to be alive when we finally arrived."
– foxfood9116
The human psyche is a fascinating thing, isn't it?
How we can automatically focus on something urgent at a crucial time, even after getting buzzed from drinking too much alcohol.
But as we're in the thick of the holidays, it's a good reminder to drink responsibly and stay off the roads if you drive to your celebratory destination.
Cheers. Stay safe. And happy holidays.
We've all complained or vented about something in our lives which, in the grand scheme of things, wasn't exactly a problem, or is very easily solved.
Then there are those who complain about things that others almost hope will happen to them at some point in their lives.
These are known as "first world problems", as they are problems that pretty much only the world's one percent faces.
From having to fly business class instead of first class, or being served Roederer instead of Dom Pérignon, these complaints are often met with amusement, bewilderment, or even anger.
Redditor jennimackenzie was curious to hear the most absurd "first world problems" anyone ever complained about, leading them to ask:
"What’s the most ridiculous 'first world problem' you’ve seen people get worked up over?"
"Tale As Old As Time..."
"I once knew a mom who was legitimately devastated, to the point of tears/grief, because a doctor predicted her 8 year old daughter's final height to be around 5'2","
"Which wasn't tall enough to get cast as Belle at Disney World."
"That was the child's (and her mother's) only dream in life, apparently."
"Didn't appreciate my suggestion that she could be Minnie or Mickey."
"Lol!"
"Only a face character would do!"- TravelLovingMom
"Must Be Funny, In A Rich Man's World..."
"My boss from about a decade ago was this insanely rich dude who always went to the bank to get fresh and crisp currency."
"He'd call the bank in advance to make sure they had some on hand."
"I think he was a germaphobe."
"He had a trash can that he'd throw $1 and $5 bills in that he thought was 'dirty' and regularly just donated it vs spending it."
"I asked him why he did this and he said it was too much trouble and asked if I wanted it."
"I said f*ck yeah dumped it into my bag and when I got home it was close to $400 in singles and fives.
"Another time, he wanted to upgrade all the computers in his studio, so we went to a store and bought 10 PCs."
"They all had $150 mail in rebates and he wasn't bothered to go through the trouble of mailing them in."
"3 weeks later I received $1500 after spending a whole afternoon filling out all those goddamn forms."- azninvasion2000
Money Burn GIF by nog
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Who Wore It Better?
"When I was about 19 years old, I was at my boyfriends family BBQ."
"I was wearing this pretty floral sundress."
"His cousins girlfriend showed up in the same dress and she was SO mad that she went and changed."
"I will never understand being upset when someone is wearing the same thing as you.'
"Did you really think that your shirt you bought off the rack is going to be unique to you?"
"No."- mertsey627
Seeing Red! Or Blue In This Case...
"The blue of the balloons wasn't quite the same as the bridesmaid's sashes."
"Years ago my wife and I attended a wedding."
"It was very low key."
"The dinner was in the dining hall at the university where the couple met, cinder block walls and all."
"It was a Baptist wedding - no booze and very serious."
"The dark blue balloons attempting to liven up the hall were a slightly darker shade of blue than the sashes on the bridesmaid's dresses."
"The bride lost here sh*t and absolutely raved for nearly an hour."
"I can't remember how they finally managed to talk her down."- mechant_papa
south park wedding GIF
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See You In Court!
"Rich neighbors who end up in expensive court battles because they disagree about where a tree can be planted or whether the color of a fence fits in with the street’s 'amenity'."
'These disputes get really heated and rack up huge lawyers’ bills."
"The most pathetic part is after the judgement when they are arguing about who should pay the other party’s costs."
"Lots of affidavits filed citing the 'emotional distress' they had to endure, or painting themselves as brave warriors who were forced to take a stand to fight for 'justice'."
"Also lots of pompous litigants insisting that the judge refer to them by their 'Dr' title."
"An absolutely insane dumpster fire of entitled rich people problems."- ElectrocRaisin
It's Always People With Money Who Don't Want To Pay!
"I work in a public library."
"People will get so so mad if they have to be put on a wait list for a book."
"A popular book that just came out."
"Ok our services are not only free but so are the books."
"You’re welcome, a**holes."- Switchbladekitten
A Warm Butt Is A Happy Butt!
"My own."
"We have a bidet toilet seat (Fabulous! Everyone should have one!) and not only does it wash your bum and blow dry it, but the seat's heated!"
"It's shocking how much a heated toilet seat makes the whole process more agreeable."
"Except: We had a power outage and I went to use the toilet and the seat was cold!"
"Unacceptable!"
"This shall not stand!"
"I was really upset because it didn't feel good."
"Then I stopped and thought: This is the most first-world problem anyone's ever had."
"I was really pissed because my heiny was tepid."
"I got over it."- DeathGrover
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Holy Matrimony!
"Weddings are a gold mine for this question."
"People get so hyped up over their 'most important day of their life'."
"They'll destroy friendships, go into debt, and have crazy expectations."
"It's not always the couple who go crazy, either."
"Sometimes, it's the parents or another family member who feels entitled to control the wedding."
"It's just a party."
"Be considerate of guests, have plenty of food and drinks, and enjoy it."- magicrowantree
When Fast Food Isn't Fast Enough...
"Having to pull off to the side to wait for a drive-thru order to be brought out to you because your food isn't ready and there's a line building up behind you."- demanbmore
In Case You Don't Think Customer Service Employees Are Undervalued...
"I was working the return desk at a Target next to a military base so I have so many stories."
"One of my favorites was a lady who had her baby shower before revealing the gender and was livid that she had received floral newborn diapers when she’s having a boy."
"It was a huge box of super expensive, all organic diapers, that we didn’t carry and therefore could not return."
"I cannot accurately express her fury and disgust."
"How dare either suggest her boy could wear feminine diapers."
"I suggested she donate them if she didn’t want to use them and she instead threw away the entire box."
"When she left we pulled it out and threw it in our donate bin."
"There have also been multiple times where mom’s order massive toys and when we bring them out to the car they get furious that they aren’t wrapped."
"We don’t offer wrapping services."
"Here’s the thing, if you don’t want your kids to see the toys you got them for Christmas or their bit to day DON'T BRING THE CHILD WHEN YOU PICK IT UP."
'I’ve had multiple women scream and curse me out that I had ruined their kids Christmas by bringing the toys they ordered out to the car like they requested."- clever-mermaid-mae
Customer Service Waiting GIF by Juno Calypso
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Happiest Place On Earth!
"I used to work for Disney."
"That in itself should tell you everything."
"However for fun I'll give you two specific stories one form our tech department and one from my wife who worked bookings."
"I specifically worked for their call center to help with technical issues with magic band and the website."
"Suddenly got worse huh?"
"A right of passage call everyone has at least one story of is the 'Dome call'."
"Basically there is a subset of Disney Guest (TM) that believes if it rains at Walt Disney world there is someone that will push a button to encapsulate the whole of Disney property in a dome to keep out the rain."
"I'm not kidding."
"If this button is not pushed they call our tech department to angrily ask why."
"My wife worked booking."
"Pretty much everything including Bibbidi Bobbidi boutique and Pirate's league."
"These two things did roughly the same thing difference being price and theme."
"BBB was expensive did more and was focused on princesses, pirates league did a bit less and focused on mermaids and pirates."
"Lady called up my wife, and got pissed about BBB being booked up (It goes FAAAAST)."
"Karen: 'Im going to give the phone to my daughter and I want you to tell her how you are ruining her vacation by not letting her do BBB'."
"Wife proceeds to explain how pirate's league is so much cooler and how she can be a mermaid or pirate and basically gets the kid to start demanding to their parents about how they want to be a mermaid instead of a princess."- trollsong
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The horror!
Being booked into a junior suite at Disney World instead of an executive suite!
It's almost as bad as having no money for groceries, or no food to feed you children...
Said absolutely no one.
For many childhood memories are overrun by living nightmares.
Yes, children are resilient, but that doesn't mean that the things we see as babes don't follow us forever.
The horrors of the world are no stranger to the young.
Redditor -2sweetcaramel- wanted to see who was willing to share about the worst things we've seen as kids, so they asked:
"What’s the creepiest thing you saw as a kid?"
Serious Danger
"Me and my best friend would explore the drainage tunnels under the Vegas area where we grew up. These were miles long and it was always really cool down there so it was a good way to escape the heat of our scorching hot summers. We went into this one that goes under the Fiesta casino and found a camp with a bunch of homeless people."
"Mind you we are like 11 years old lol. And we just kept going like it was nothing. It wasn’t scary then but when I look back at it we could have been in some serious danger. Our parents had no idea we did this or where we were and we had no cellphones. We could have been kidnapped and never have been found."
oofboof2020
Waiting for Food
"I was at a portillos once when I was 12 and I was waiting with my little brother at a booth while my parents got our food. This guy was standing with his tray kind of watching me then after a couple of minutes he started to walk over really fast not breaking eye contact with me."
"He was 2 feet from the table and my dad came out of nowhere and scared the s**t out of him. He looked so surprised and just said he wanted to see if I’d get scared or not. He left his tray full of food near the door and left. My folks reported him but we never went to that location again since we found a better one closer to home."
nowhereboy1964
Captain Hobo to the Rescue
"When I was a pretty young teen, my friends and I were horsing around in San Francisco and started hanging out to smoke with some homeless guys. Another homeless dude came up and began aggressively trying to shake us down for anything (money, smokes, a ride, drugs- all of it) and wouldn’t take no for an answer."
"We got in over our heads and could tell this guy was now riling the other 2 guys up and they were acting like they wanted to jump us. Some grandfather-looking old homeless man appeared out of nowhere and yelled at us to get the f**k out of here- nice kids like us don’t belong down here at this hour!!"
"Captain Hobo saved our lives that night. My parents sincerely thought we were at a mall all day lol."
FartAttack911
Survival
tsunami GIF
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"I was 7 and survived the 2004 tsunami in Thailand. Witnessed the wave rise way above the already massive palm trees (approx. 40ft?) and my family and I watched/heard the wave crash into the ground from a rooftop."
faithfulpoo
These Tsunami stories are just tragic.
On the Sand
Scared The Launch GIF by CTV
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"We were a group of kids who went to swim in a local lake. And there was a dead body on the beach with their hands raised and their legs bent unnaturally that local police just took out of the same lake. I've never put my foot in these waters again."
oyloff
Be Clever
"I was walking to school and I was about 5 or 6 years old and some guy pulled up beside me in his car and asked if I would get in. He also offered me sweets to do so. I said no. The creepy bit was when he calmly said ‘clever boy’ to me, then drove off. I’ve never even told my parents or anyone else about this as it would most likely freak them out."
OstneyPiz
Bad Jokes
"Dad's side of the family pranked me by burying a fake body on our back property and had me dig it up to find valuables. Was only allowed to use a lantern for light. They stuffed old clothes with chicken bones. Sheetrock mud where the head was... Random fake jewelry as the treasures... I was like maybe 10 or 11.. I remember digging up the boot first and started gagging because it became real at that point."
Alegan239
YOU
Who Are You Reaction GIF by MOODMAN
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"Woke up to find my little brother staring at me in the dark, asking, Are you really you?"
PrettyLola2004
Siblings can really be a bunch of creepers.
No one should talk to others in the dark though.