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Doctors Describe The Times Their Patient Was Right And They Were Wrong

There are few people we should feel more comfortable putting our faith and trust in than doctors.

After all, we go to them to make sure we are still healthy, or when we are worried that something is wrong, and want their opinion.

However, being human, doctors can make mistakes just like the rest of us.

Sometimes missing details which even the most experienced doctors might miss.

Other times, in sad and disturbing cases, owing completely to willful ignorance, despite the grave concerns of their patients.

Sometimes with life and death consequences.


Redditor BigBadZord was curious to hear from doctors about the times they didn't listen to their patients and made serious misdiagnoses, leading them to ask:
"Doctors of Reddit, when was a patient right about something but you insisted they were wrong until it got serious?"

Always Assume They're Telling The Truth

"It didn't 'get serious' under my father's care, he just thought she was joking at first."

"He was treating a woman for headaches and she dropped that she had been the getaway driver in a robbery where shots had been fired."

" Bullet was lodged in base of her skull."- BigBadZord

Deep Secrets

"Psychiatrist here."

"I was at the brief internment unit, acute psychotic cases, mostly, and there was this woman that had been there for some time."

"She had paranoid delusions about the Russian mob trying to get her, complete with hallucinations and everything."

"Her family had confirmed it was all made up in her head and nobody was following her."

"She had been getting medication for some time and her symptoms had improved a lot, she no longer believed she was in danger or being hunted, and everything seemed to be going well."

"As the procedure usually goes, the staff contacted her family so she could start going out for the weekends with them before being fully discharged."

"First weekend away from the hospital she got kidnapped by the Russian mob and taken somewhere else to repay a debt she apparently had but nobody in her family knew about."

"Happy ending though, she was found and gotten to safety quite quickly because we had already spoken to the police about her 'delusions' just in case and they were quick to act when she disappeared."

"And yes, people got locked up and other women were found."

"It was, all in all, a happy/satisfying ending."- Thalkarsh

More Common Than People Think...

"Patient stated live cockroach in ear."

"I said probably not and ate my words."- ChameleonMami

A Mother Knows

"I had a patient in his mid-30s establishing care with me for 'difficulty reading'."

"He actually came in with his mother and was very shy, which I thought was very strange."

"He said he worked at a library and words would get 'jumbled up' while reading."

"He had zero additional issues."

"I actually did a very thorough neurological exam and found zero problems."

"I asked him to read a magazine out loud at different speeds and he did it perfectly."

"I said everything looked fine and wanted to order some labs."

"I honestly felt he was just a strange character."

"They agreed to labs but mom was very pushy to do head imaging. I said we could, but I ordered the CT as routine and by the time labs came back he was extremely low on vitamin D."

"I called saying we should replace it and hold off on the scan."

"Not only did mom not want the scan cancelled, she wanted an MRI and she wanted it STAT."

"I basically got tired of trying to be reassuring and just ordered what she wanted."

"He had the biggest glioblastoma I have ever seen."

"Go mom."- bombas239

Difficult, Or Just Right?

"Without going into specifics, a patient was brought into our ER for like the sixth time in six months with the same thing."

"Fits, progressive neurological symptoms AND a label of a normal MRI scan done 4 months earlier with a referral to a 'functional neurologist' to basically deal with what was labelled as psychosomatic neurological symptoms on account of the patient having their first neurological event whilst they were on the phone."

"Getting some bad news, having a normal MRI and having seen a neurologist who couldn’t find anything wrong, again four months earlier."

"Thankfully, due to the patient rocking up in a wheelchair this time round as they were unable to stand, one of the senior ER doctors brought them in to do another scan."

"Cue me, walking in to see a 'neuro patient who is going to see the specialist as there is nothing wrong with them'."

"Until the very day I die, I shall never, ever forget my horror when I saw their repeat MRI scan on my computer screen just before entering the room."

"The patient had a golf ball-sized tumor in the very back of their brain and was in huge, huge trouble with rapidly progressive neurological signs."

"I felt so terrible for both the patient and their family."

"The first thing I did was to tell them that we were very wrong, there was something physically wrong and apologized for the 10 or so times they had been sent home from ER and told that they had been making up the symptoms and signs."

"The family were just grateful that they now knew what was going on."

"The patient died a month or so later."

"I tell this to all of my junior colleagues and I am extremely wary of how people are labelled as having a fictitious illness when they present to hospital."- feetofire

Can You Sal "Malpractice"?

"Not a Dr but the patient."

"3 years ago I started to have pain in my feet/toes that worked it’s what up progressively up my body."

"My uric acid shot up so my Drs assumed it was gout, even though it really didn’t make much sense."

"Till one morning I wake up and am paralyzed from the waste down, legit could not bare weight without falling to the ground."

"Of course I’m in and out of the ER but they really aren't doing jack."

"Keep sending me home while paralyzed with no help."

"Over a few days the paralysis moves up to my neck and below."


"Trouble eating, extremely painful, paralyzed and having respiratory issues."

"I get sent to a bigger hospital where I lose bladder and bowel function."

"They run blood work and just watch and wait."

"Finally a few days in get an MRI which shows signs of poly neuropathy, radiology recommends LP to rule out rare neurological autoimmune disease."

"Instead the team believes I’m faking it."

'Stop all meds besides psychiatric ones and wait me out for 10ish days."

"I was literally tortured and abused by all kinds of medical professionals, physical mental emotional etc."

"Finally I fail an EMG and LP are finally done as I begin to go into respiratory failure."

"Finally am diagnosed with an extremely rare variant of Guillain Barre Syndrome."

"They have no clue what to do as they hadn’t encountered it in adolescence med and give me the wrong fucking treatment."

"Fast forward 3yrs and I’m still a quadriplegic with nerve damage in every organ system and have never recovered."

"Nor will I ever."

"They failed me at every step of the way and now I have to live with no quality of life and as a quadriplegic."

"As well as the trauma of all that happened to me which has caused severe ptsd."

"Believe your f*cking patients!"

"Worst thing that can happen is you run the expensive test and it comes back normal."- Ok-Lab-1212

When You Can't Trust The Doctor OR The Vet...

"Not a doctor but a patient."

"I was suffering from severe skin issues for quite sometime."

"Bad rashes that would render my hands unusable."

"Fingers would get so dry and burn."

"Both hands."

"Happened repeatedly when I would do the same activities."

"I spent many nights up unable to sleep from pain, I researched every which way possible."

"I was also having eye problems, I felt like something was in my eye all the time."

"I was also getting bit by bugs that were so tiny, but it would only happen at bedtime, and I lived alone."

"I never had bites, but the rashes on my hands, and other random parts of my body."

"Eventually my dog started suffering with some o the same issues."

"Constantly itching, was seeing the little bugs in the tub after bathing her, which I was doing 2-3 times a week bc she was suffering!"

"After seeing 1 general practice doctor, 2 urgent care doctors, 2 dermatologists and 1 eye doctor."

"Oh and bringing my dog to the vet, if they even were willing to listen to me, which most weren't, it was a general conclusion that I should see a mental health professional."

"I begged and pleaded for them just to listen and all they could tell me was that I was nuts and imagining things."

"After many nights of researching the internet I established I had an infestation of bird/chicken mites!"

"The place I was living had a chicken coupe in the backyard! "

"This was years ago and no doctors had any experience with these pests."

"What a nightmare.'

"I felt so alone because everyone had me thinking maybe I was crazy and it was all in my head. fast forward 4 years later, bird mites are recognized by pest control, doctors, vets, etc."

"Ill never get those nights I spent awake in pain and suffering being forced to figure out what was causing me so much pain, i'll never get them back."

"I'll never go to any of those doctors ever again."- sickerthan_yaaverage

Luckily A Bit Ahead Of The Game

"Patient here."

"And I’m a physical therapist."

"Went to the ER and said 'I think there’s a 97% chance I have a DVT'."

"'I initially thought it was a calf strain as my Wells Criteria was low, but over the last 2 days I’m pretty sure it’s a DVT, here’s why''."

"Then explained my reasoning."

"I screen for DVTs daily at my job, particularly for my post-op patients after a knee or hip replacement, or other surgery."

"Basically as a PT I have a very thorough calf/foot/knee/ankle exam, and nothing I did made the pain better or worse."

"Meds didn’t help."

"Elevating my leg didn’t help."

"I also had gotten a lab done earlier that day & had an elevated d-dimer."

"D-dimer can mean a lot of things, but a blood clot is one of them."

"I was a textbook case."

"Cross country flight a couple days before, fell asleep & didn’t move the whole flight, dehydrated on flight from a wedding the night before, leg swelling & pain that doesn’t improve with typical measures, long term birth control user, and BMI higher than I would like it to be currently."

"All the risk factors were there."

"It got missed."

"I got sent home only to end up in a different ED 2 days later, where they properly diagnosed my DVT."

"The entirety of my lower leg was clotted by that point because the clot had grown over several days."

"Showed up again 2 days after that because my heart rate was out of control & had some chest pain."

"Ended up with a lovely PE."

"I’m lucky I’m still kicking, and that it wasn’t way worse."

"Have seen many patients die of PE."

"My leg still has some issues which makes it hard to walk & do my job."

"My lungs are doing okay though."- ok_MJ

Dangerous Ignorance

"Patient here."

"When I was 16 I noticed a mole on my shoulder blade that I didn’t recognize and it was already sizable and a different color from all my other moles."

"First I had to convince my mom to take me to the dermatologist, which took a bit since she’s an ER nurse and brushes everything off from my sister and I if it isn’t a true/imminent emergency."

"The dermatologist was a complete tool, trying to show off to his medical intern, and not only dismissed but didn’t even make note of the mole I was concerned about."

"He did, however, zero in on the one in my boob, the one I’d had my entire life and had never changed."

"An absolute creep abusing his power towards a teenager and right in front of her mother."


"He insisted on a biopsy of that one which meant his male intern had to have his face right up in my 16 year old cleavage to punch it out."

"He unfortunately did such a good job on the biopsy punch that it never grew back, and I quite liked that particular mole."

"As expected, that came back negative."

"10 months later, I insisted on going back because it appeared to me that the already sizable mole was probably doubled in size, now bigger than a pencil eraser which is one of the parameters of concern."

"Back to the same shitty derm, but this time he didn’t have anyone to show off to and I was in for the second time in less than a year, so he listened that time and biopsied it."

"No idea how much it actually grew though since he didn’t bother to write it down the first time."

"That one comes back dysplastic precancerous."

“'Dysplastic nevus is a mole that exists in the spectrum between a benign mole and melanoma'."

"He excised that in office, but the excision was bigger than it should have been had he listen the first time and I have a sizable scar still."

"Had I listened to his advice the first time and brushed it off as nothing, I very likely would have had skin cancer before I graduated high school."

"Never went back to that sh*tty dermatologist again."- deCantilupe

Doctors literally have people's lives in their hands.

While we should always err on the side of trusting them, it's also important that we let our voices be heard, and if they refuse to listen, get a second opinion.

After all, as evidenced by these stories, no one is immune from making a mistake.

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.