
Image by Sasin Tipchai from Pixabay |
A few years ago, I had a minor accident––I didn't feel any pain at the time. Fast forward later that evening when I couldn't even lie down without feeling like I was going to cry. I ended up waking up in the middle of the night in searing pain. Something was terribly wrong. Guess what? I had herniated a couple of discs in my back. It was about as fun as you can expect. I ended up getting treated and physical therapy was thankfully a success. I consider myself lucky. Could have been worse, right?
After Redditor Eevee_19020 asked the online community, "What made you realize you were medically not okay?" people shared their stories.
"And I'm not lazy..."
Broke the cartilage in my ribs coughing.
All through elementary, middle, and high school, I was incredibly bad at any physical activity. I'd be super slow and would start coughing uncontrollably, and every gym teacher I had always told me to stop being dramatic and that I was just fat and lazy.
Senior year of high school, I had a coughing fit that lasted about 3 months. Couldn't sleep very well, and Mom was angry at me and told me I was just making myself cough and if I just ignored it, it would go away. Eventually, it did.
Age 26, I get another coughing attack, and this one lasts about 4 months. One day, in month 4, I cough and something in my ribs goes "pop!" and I'm suddenly in horrible pain. My friends drive me to Urgent Care, the doctor comes in and asks me when I last used my rescue inhaler.
My what?
Yeah, it turns out I've got super-bad cough variant asthma. And I'm not lazy, I just haven't been getting enough air to do physical activities for the first few decades of my life. I now have a personal vendetta against every gym teacher on earth.
Can't blame this person.
What is wrong with people? Get a kid some help!
"Being unable..."
Being in a doctor's office and not knowing how I got there.
Then realizing I didn't know what season it was, nor month or even what year.
Not knowing who the crying people in the room were gave me a sense that something was wrong with me.
Being unable to form intelligible words sealed the deal that I had something medically wrong with me.
"On Sunday of that week..."
On Sunday of that week, I started noticing a little shortness of breath with mild activity like walking up a single flight of stairs at home... then Monday realized that it was getting worse when I got short of breath walking down a flight of stairs.
Decided that I'd go to an urgent care center that Tuesday if sleeping with my humidifier blasting overnight didn't help anything. Then Tuesday morning, I started wheezing and getting dizzy just taking the trash to the curb and decided to go to the ER.
I was pretty convinced that I had COVID, as were the doctors, but it turned out to be a bad pulmonary embolism. Spent a week in the ICU and I'm still on medication for it now, 3 months later.
"I thought we were all just willing..."
For years I thought it was normal to get severe stomach cramps and headaches after chewing gum. I thought we were all just willing to suffer for our pleasures. Turns out I'm quite allergic to sucralose.
Oh, dear.
I've never heard of this allergy myself, but if any of you are reading this, it's not normal to feel that way after eating any kind of food. Get yourselves checked out!
"When I was sobbing uncontrollably..."
When I was sobbing uncontrollably on the floor over a homework assignment at age 27. I ended up getting an A on the stupid thing and I realized that maybe there was something wonky about my ability to regulate my emotions.
"The plant emergency medical team..."
I worked a lot when I was around 20 at a manufacturing plant. 12 hours a day, 7 days a week. Go to bed at midnight, wake up at 4. Every single day.
While running my machines, I started getting unusually sweaty and lightheaded, and then woke up on the floor. The first thing I heard was from an operations manager... "Can we drag him out of the way so that they can get the line running?" So I laid there an extra minute.
The plant emergency medical team (normal employees with basic aid training) were checking me out and said that they wanted to take me up to the nurse's office. I said that I could walk, so a smaller lady held my arm, and we started up towards the office. About 50 steps later, I woke up on the floor again. This was no longer a "kid passes out because he's tired or drunk or high" situation, this immediately became a "kid is possibly dying" situation, and I had a million people surrounding me.
They wheeled me up to the nurse and called 911. While waiting for the ambulance, they were doing some basic tests and took my blood sugar. My blood sugar was reading around 12-15. At least, I believe that's what he said, as I passed out again sitting on his table. I woke up again being lifted by EMTs into the ambulance, while they were hooking up an IV, oxygen, and a million other things. Turns out, 20 year old normally healthy men shouldn't pass out 3 times in 15-20 minutes.
At the hospital, they hooked me up to 100 different machines, ran a million different tests, and ultimately the legion of doctors came to the decision that I was just stupid (my words, not theirs). My heart was fine, my body was fine now that I was on an IV drip, and my brain was fine.
They confirmed that my sugar was just super low, caused by working all of that overtime, getting no sleep, and just not eating enough. In hindsight, the only meal I ever ate was supper, I just sustained my life on a 24 pack of Mountain Dew a day, and we had a 4-month-old baby, so it makes complete sense. I was 6'0 and around 110 pounds (easily 20+ pounds underweight) which also meant that I had lost 40 pounds since high school. So I definitely wasn't eating enough.
Unfortunately, I took the whole "eat more" thing to heart, as now I'm fat AF, but at least I'm not dying at work anymore.
"Turns out it wasn't normal at all..."
I could hear my heartbeat in my ears, couldn't breathe at all laying down, so I would sit upright on the couch and try to fall asleep, I had petechiae all over my body (spotted blood vessels poking through my skin), my gums were bleeding nearly every day, I had brain fog, I literally could not walk a block without wanting to squat to take a breath and to ease the tightness in my stomach.
I asked my doctor, specifically my obstetrician about all my symptoms (a total of three times at three different appointments) and she said that was normal because I was pregnant with twins.
Turns out it wasn't normal at all, I had twin to twin transfusion syndrome with mirror syndrome, and because it wasn't caught early, my twin boys were born prematurely (23 weeks) and then died after birth and then I almost died. But I obviously didn't (much to my lifelong regret) as I'm here sharing this.
But yeah. I knew something bad was up, but my doctor kept telling me I was exaggerating and that it was all fine, when it wasn't.
The lesson here is: Always get a second opinion if you feel like you aren't being taken seriously.
"My heart..."
Waking up gasping for breath. Went to the doctor who sent me to a cardiologist. My heart was double its normal size and I was diagnosed with heart failure. Four prescriptions and ten years later, I'm relatively normal. Thankful for today's medical technology.
"I spent two years..."
I spent two years skipping school at lunchtime on my own. I was 12 years old and I would play truant by myself, go home, lay in bed, and just that. Lay there and do nothing.
Took until I was about 14 years old when someone described what depression was and how it felt and realised that's how I felt nearly all the time.
If any of you are feeling a certain way...
...know that you should go with your intuition. Trust your gut. Does something not feel right? Get an expert opinion. No one knows your body better than you do. Maybe your example can motivate others who are experiencing similar problems, too.
Have some of your own stories to share? Feel free to share them in the comments below!
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It's highly believed that it is important to learn history as a means to improve our future.
What is often overlooked is that what is taught in history class is going to be very different depending on where you went to school.
And this isn't just internationally, even different regions of the United states will likely have very different lessons on American history.
This frequently results in our learning fascinating, heartbreaking and horrifying historical facts which our middle or high school history teachers neglected to teach us.
Redditor Acherontia_atropos91 was curious to learn things people either wished they had learned, or believe they should have learned, in their school history class, leading them to ask:
What isn’t taught in history class but should be?
The Irish Troubles
"The troubles."
"Too many people in America do not understand why a wall straight through Ireland would be a BAD idea."
"I’m referring to the Brexit referendum and possible outcomes."
"If people were wondering why we were talking about walls through Ireland in the first place."- CLCVS.
Forgotten elements of World War II
"What the Japanese did to the Chinese during WW2."
"Unit 731."- CaptainMcBoogerJew.
"Japan gets off easy for their war crimes in WW2."
"They killed an estimated 16mil Chinese civilians and another 8mil soldiers"
"Also, Pol Pot."
"Didn't know who he was until I was like 25."
"Worst dictator all time (in terms of percentage of population he decimated)".
The truth about the American Revolution
"That the American Revolution was part of a wider cold war type of conflict with France."
"The American Revolution was basically the UK's equivalent of the US version of Vietnam."- vinsant7.
The Dark side of Swedish history.
"As a Swede, I'd like to know more of all the horrible sh*t my country has done throughout history."
"It's a damn shame we're trying to hide our history."
"For example, Swedes killed a metric sh*t ton of all Polish people when we were at our strongest."
"That's the kinda sh*t we don't get to learn."- mogwandayy.
Colonization
"Basically what Belgium did to the Congo."
"A lot of people are telling me that they are taught about this actually."
"I'm glad to hear it because I wasn't taught about this in the USA during my public school days (1995-2008)."- EconArch.
The truth about "heroes".
"While teaching about historical Heroes they should also tell students about the unspeakable things some of them did."
"Many famous figures throughout history who are pillars of morality actually did many terrible things." - User Deleted
Intolerance for Mental Illness
"The dark history of mental illness treatments."
"I think it's worth learning about."- 7dayexcerpt.
Slavic Mythology
"Slavic mythology in Slavic countries."
"Don't get me wrong, I love both Greek & Roman mythology and as a person from the Balkans both of those cultures are part of my country's history and had great influence over not only my region but the entirety of the continent & the western world but I wouldn't mind knowing more about Slavic mythology as well."- ShorsShezzarine.
The truth about the CIA
"How the CIA was made and all the shady things they did over the years."- ALargeChip.
There is a lot about the history of our world, not to mention our own country which shouldn't be ignored.
And it's from learning from our mistakes that we really improve our future.
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So apparently we are in the endemic phase of this nonsense.
We have light at the end of the tunnel.
So what now?
Where do we go from here?
Normal seems like an outdated word.
How do we get back to normal though?
Is it even possible?
What are reaching back to?
Life pre-Covid.
Those were the days.
If only we could bring them back.
Redditor hetravelingsong wanted to discuss our new normal in this hopeful "endemic" phase. So they asked:
"What’s something random you miss about pre-COVID times?"
I miss people being sane. Though that maybe election cycle issues not COVID. We'll never know.
I thought I was Alone...
"Being able to grocery shop after 11 pm."
Reading_Rainboner
"Hell yes. I miss the days where the Walmart across the street was open 24 hours."
Small_Tax_9432
let's just go...
"I miss spontaneity... everything now seems to have a barrier of difficulty."
iidosee
"I live very close to Disneyland so I have an annual pass. My friends and I would just go there after work and hang out and grab a bite to eat."
"Now, we have to reserve a day to go. And most of the time, the days are at 'full' capacity so we couldn't even reserve. I don't want to schedule to hang out at Disneyland for a couple hours for July. So yeah, I definitely miss the 'lets go eat at Disneyland tonight?' texts."
mymymissmai
Not til 24-25
"Functioning global supply chains. Ah, the product you want has got microchips in it? 9 month wait."
richard-king
"Minimum, I'd been saying for a while now that I wouldn't expect a true return to normalcy in terms of electronics prices till 2024-2025. Although Crypto crashing through the floor really took some of the pressure off graphics cards which I really appreciate."
statiiic
WTF?!?!
"How affordable everything was!"
Disastrous_Hour_6776
"Yep. Today I was bagging up my things at the grocery store and I heard the cashier say to the lady behind me 'thats $78.12.' She had -- 2 boxes of Kellogg's corn flakes, a carton of 12 eggs, milk, strawberries, raspberries, blue berries, a small cheese cake, English muffins, coffee, and a small whole frozen chicken that could maybe feed 3 people if the meat portioning was small."
SnowyInuk
Sushi
"My favorite sushi place. It was good quality, close by, kid-friendly, and not too expensive."
InannasPocket
All of this... it was a simpler time.
NASTY
"As a retail worker, just how f**king NASTY some people have gotten."
DmitriPetrov*itch
"They applauded you for being an essential worker but won’t vote for policies that’ll raise minimum wage while insisting a wage cap for heavily paid employees."
sketchysketchist
CHANGES your DNA...
"Some of the people closest to me became very bitter and petty over the last 2 years. So many people have the 'crazy eyes' now."
__--__7
"So true and holidays with the family is like who has the biggest tinfoil hat building contest. How many jumps does your brain have to go through to think that the Covid vaccine CHANGES your DNA into the patented DNA so that the government now controls your body."
"So like vaccinated people now have a singular DNA set. I feel like I still have a chunk of my brain just broken off due to that comment alone. I was also told by same family member that I could never donate blood again due to the vaccine. I guess it is so my patented DNA doesn't affect people?? FYI my vaccinated butt just donated today fine and multiple other times after the vaccine."
tyreka13
Homeward Bound
"House prices."
adrianinked
"I'm resigned to never thinking I have a chance on owning property where I live. I'm 30 and just can't imagine it anymore. And I don't want to live anywhere else so, whatever."
Osdab2daf
"That didn’t happen because of the pandemic. That was already happening regardless."
CH11DW
Oh Mickey
"All Day Breakfast at McDonalds."
hutch2522
"It was honestly hell to do, and not very popular. ITs margins aren't anywhere dinner and lunch specials. ON top of that, the temperatures are such that They require its own grill, meaning that if you have 2 grills in shop, you are down 50% of lunch capacity."
Freyas_Follower
Way back when...
"Hanging out with friends. And I mean waaaaaay before Covid. Like 2006 back when I had some friends."
LoocsinatasYT
I miss the old days. Maybe we'll get back there.
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What do you believe?
Is there a GOD in the sky?
Is he guiding us and helping us?
Life is really hard. Why is that is a big entity is up there loving us?
Atheists have taken a lot of heat for what feels like shunning GOD.
What if they've been right all along?
Maybe let's take a listen and see what they really think.
Redditor __Jacob______ wanted to hear from the people who don't really believe all that "God" stuff. They asked:
"Atheists, what do you believe in?"
I'm waffling between G-O-D and nothing. So please give me some education.
911
"We need to look out for each other because help isn't coming."
cknipe
Peace Out
"More than 2 decades ago, a priest was giving a sermon in my church and he said 'our faith requires you to believe without question. Why call it faith if you have to ask questions?' I haven't returned to church. Not until my wedding day but you know what I mean."
asiangontear
Delusion
"When I was young I used to think that after death you would have access to a PC that you could see absolutely anything about your life. Stats, any question you had no matter how obscure, replays of moments, perspectives of others in relation to you. No matter what you wanted to know, if it was relatable to you, you could see it. I know it's silly, but as time goes on I just want it to be real, and I don't think I'd have any issue allowing myself to fall into that delusion."
eggwardpenisglands
I think nothing happens...
"Realistically, I think nothing happens. We literally experience nothing after death. Same thing that we experience before birth. We don't exist, so it's nothing. I think the tenant that we should follow while living is to try to be happy and healthy while minimizing the damage we do to each other."
"What I would LIKE to happen after death is whatever you believe in, exists. I think Christians should get to go to heaven if they truly believe in it, Hindus and Buddhists get reincarnated, and everyone else also gets to experience what they believe they will experience."
"'I would still experience Nothing. Maybe it's one of those things where at the moment of death their brain makes them experience what feels like an infinitely long moment in time where they experience their afterlife. I just think it would be neat for everybody."
Better_Meat_
Shrug
"Best advice I received from a dear senior on their way out. 'You win some, you lose some' shrug. Nothing divine, life is that simple and wonderful, accept it and move on."
Tune_Kindly
It all sounds pretty simple. Why are people so up in arms about Atheists?
Whatever
"I believe in a universe that doesn't care, and people that do."
imCIK
Cool with Empty
"Nothing. [Serious]."
rumblingtummy29
"I feel this way about death. When I was 5, my grandfather died and my cousin simple said, he is dead, that means you are gone forever. Everything ends up dying, even plants and animals. I'm now in my 40's and still have this simplistic view of life and death. People think I'm ambivalent to life and death but it's just what it is."
thepigfish82
puppet-masters...
"I think a lot of religious people struggle with the fact that we are all just swirling units of chaos. There is no grand plan or great orchestrator. I think that’s why people who are prone to religion are also susceptible to things like Q anon and the Cabal and all that. They REALLY want to believe that there is some almighty puppet-master who determines all of humanity’s fate."
Lngtmelrker
“we’re living in a society!”
"Just be a kind and empathetic person not because you’re worried about some cosmic justice, but because it’s the right thing to do. If there is some being that created us there’s no way they actually care about believing in it or adhering to some rules from over 2000 years ago."
"Also a big thing for me is that I find the idea that you need religion or the Bible in order to have morals and ethics pretty dumb. It’s pretty f**king clear that most evangelicals have neither. But my main thing is being a good person simply because, as George Costanza once said we’re living in a society!' If you’re only a good person in order to make it to heaven you probably aren’t actually a good and moral person."
conservative_genius
That's All
"You're born. You live. You die. That's it. After you die you cease to exist, the same as before you were born."
serefina
Believe what you want. We're all here together. So let's focus there.
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The list of what irritates me is endless.
I mean... breathing too loud or dust can set me off.
I'm a bit unstable, yes.
But I'm not alone.
So let's discuss.
Redditor Aburntbagel6 wanted to hear about all the times many of us just couldn't control our disdain. They asked:
"What never fails to piss you off?"
I feel like this article can go on forever. Let's get some highlights.
Wasted Time
"Meetings that could and should have been an email."
Sirena609
Lotto People
"Getting stuck behind people playing the lottery at a corner store."
thenuggetlover
"I also used to work in a gas station and you’re SO right. I f**king hated the lottery people. Especially since my store had a small staff and there was usually only one of us working at a time, which meant that I couldn’t get any of my other work done as long as they were there."
"And you’re right, it’s also pretty sad to watch. I had one lady who used to come in every day and spent hundreds and HUNDREDS of dollars on scratch tickets. One day, she won $200 after spending probably around $600 and she was so excited and saying she can 'finally pay her bills.'"
i-am-your-god-now
Aware...
"No situational awareness. Job, home, shopping, driving. Think for one minute and go about. OBSERVE!!"
Dizzy-Foundation8122
"My mom is one of those people who leave the shopping cart in the middle of the damn aisle and proceed to walk twenty feet away. After correcting her a million times to no effect I just walk away now so people don’t know I’m with her."
OutrageousEvent
Shut Up!
"Endless barking in the middle of the night, I love animals but that sh*t I can't stand."
Acceptable-Lemon2924
"Endless barking in general drives me up a wall. One of my friends dogs was barking almost an entire gaming session the other day. I wanted to reach through the computer and smack him for letting it go on."
bangersnmash13
Kindness
"People being mean to service workers, especially if the workers are very young."'
scaryboilednoodles
All of these things. I hate them all.
Admit It
"People who never accept fault when they mess something up. Like, why blame a million people when it was clearly you who did it???"
Quirky-Area-8978
From Above
"My upstairs neighbors."
lutzow89
"I had terrible neighbors at my previous apartment. It was a one person studio for students, but her boyfriend was clearly living with her illegally and he was loud."
"One night we knocked n the door at 3 AM because of the loud music and an unknown girl opened the door. I just thought they were having a little party. But the next door I saw the girl living there come home with a suitcase after having been away for the weekend... Her BF was cheating on her in her own apartment."
Th3_Accountant
Move Away
"People who sit directly next to me at the airport, movie theater, any other place where you can choose a seat when there is PLENTY of other seating."
BacardiPardy33
"I can’t YES this enough and the ones who can’t park for crap so they park so close you can’t open doors on one side of the car or the ones who park directly behind when you pulled through so the door won’t open to load groceries."
BacardiPardy33
It's Over
"People who try to restart old drama. Like I'm done with you, just leave me alone."
Tired_Potatos
"Yep, half the reason I've basically quit playing one of my favorite online video games. People keep bringing old crap up or sh*tting on on someone who used to be our friend. I got tired of it so I just ejected the game out of me."
CaucasianHumus
AHHHHH!!!
"People walking too slow in front of me with no way to get around them. It’s even worse if it’s a couple or group taking up the whole sidewalk. HAVE SOME SPATIAL AWARENESS FOR THE LOVE OF GOD!!"
_-v0x-_
Life in general pisses me off. I'm easy.
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