Most school nurses will dismiss a student's claim of illness with a quick thermometer reading of 98.6. Repeats of these are the typical day of a school nurse, but every now and then, things do get interesting. Students can be very creative- even in the nurses' office.
DolphinBoyX asked: School nurses of reddit, what's the strangest incident that caused a student to go to your office?
So this kid brought one to school and used it to battle a kid with a real beyblade and actually broke the real one with his knock off metal one. So obviously he wins and the battle is over so he goes to pick up the still spinning Beyblade so he doesn't have to wait for it to stop and the thing just fucking chops off his pinky finger.
Ok I'm exaggerating a little it didn't completely cut it off but it shredded the flesh around his knuckle so bad that when he went to the hospital there was nothing they could do to re attach it since it was so badly damaged and they had to just take it the rest of the way off and clean it up. From what I heard the wound was similar to what a chainsaw would do, rip and tear flesh rather than cleanly cut it like a knife.
Beyblades were banned the next day. Instant week suspension if you were caught with one from then on."
Seven in a row? Dang.
Giphy"Not a nurse but happened in the class I was an aide in. One girl pulled her tooth out (1st grade, it's normal), then less than 5 minutes later another six girls had pulled their teeth out.
The last girl tried to pull one that wasn't even wobbly and did something nasty to her gum and blood was pouring out everywhere. 2 kids fainted and the teacher couldn't even look she was so green. I had to take her to the office to get some cloths and call mum."
We do not want to know the story behind this.
"We had a kid come in with a butter knife in his butt.
It was causing discomfort and he couldn't sit down in AP history."
A deadly high-five.
"So I was in a high school and the freshman here seem to be the dumbest generation ever because they would get hurt in all sorts of weird ways but one that made me laugh is when a boy was waiting for the bus when it passed him by.
He said he started running after it and got mad and punched the side of the bus before returning to the school. He ended up fracturing his hand."
Pants on fire!
"Not a nurse, but had a fellow student put a stolen test tub full of Hydrochloric acid in his pocket that was full of fertilizer (ammonium nitrate). The test tube broke when he leaned forward resulting in a chemical fire in his jeans.
The fire department carried him out of the school with no pants wrapped in a emergency blanket."
....but was the bunny ok?
"Not a nurse, but accident prone. When I was in 6th grade home economics we were working on sewing projects. I was constructing a jester bunny rabbit. I was attaching the head and body to the jester collar, which was a lot of fluffy toy material. To get the material to go into the sewing machine I had to really push down and try and flatten it before going in. I don't know how but I managed to get both the material and my finger into the machine. The needle went through the center of my nail an tip of my finger bone.
They had to dismantle part of the machine to get me, the rabbit and the needle down to the nurses office. Once the extra string was cut the bunny came off easy. But the nurse had to get a pliers from the wood shop teacher to pull the needle out."
No pain, no gain.
"Not a nurse but I was a summer camp counselor and often brought kids to the nurse.
One day I had two campers both lose a tooth. They separately went to the nurse and got those little treasure chests that kids put their teeth into. It was surprising that we had two kids lose a tooth in one day since it was a small group and the campers were in the older range, but not out of the ordinary.
Another one of my campers must have gotten jealous or something though, because suddenly she calls me over and says, "loo I can lose a tooth too!" And just puts her hand in her mouth and rips one out with reckless abandon. It wasn't even loose.
She just went for it.
There was a lot of blood and I kind of just stared at her for a few moments not processing what the hell had just happened. I think I remained professional but it's hard too when a kid just tears a tooth out of their mouth without even flinching. It wasn't even loose, this felt like some civil war amputation shit.
Before I could react she started jumping around all excited because she, "lost" a tooth and asked to go to the camp nurse
And I was like,"yeah at this point I think we should go to the psychiatric nurse" but I didn't actually say that because that would not be appropriate and instead just walked her to the camp nurse in stunned silence as I was still trying to process what the had just happened.
Her parents tipped me well though, so I guess her impromptu tooth removal didn't have any long term consequences."
The calmest person in this situation.
"Not the nurse, tried to remove stuck pen cap with scissors.
Got scissors stuck through fingers.
On the spectrum, so I politely rose my hand, dripping with blood, waited to be called on, pointed out the wound, walked to the nurse by slowly walking the proper route as if in elementary school single file lines so as to not disrupt hallway rules, lightly spraying the walls as I walked past.
I was not a bright child."
He ran into my fist, I swear!
Giphy"Not a nurse, but I was in gym class, goofing off with my friend. I was pretending like I was slicing him up with a flurry of knife attacks (a bunch of light pokes at the air around him that mostly didn't land) as I was running around him in circles.
Then he put his fist out as I ran up behind him.
We both had to clarify to the gym teacher that, no, it wasn't a fight, yes, I ran into his fist, and yes, that was pretty stupid. In my rush to not bleed all over my gym clothes, I left a trail of blood leading to the nurse's office that scared at least one person before I came back to clean it up."
The show must go on?
"Not a nurse but the student who had to go to the office. I was in the 11th grade and was part of the drama club. We had a rehearsal for a play what we were supposed to play the next day.
After finishing, I was walking down a set of stairs and, being filled with excitement, decided to jump to the bottom of the stairs. I hit my head on a concrete beam and split it open. I was bleeding really bad but I decided to not go to the doctor because I thought he wouldn't allow me to take part in the play the next day so I went to the school nurse.
That poor lady was horrified when she saw me full of blood with a 6 cemeteries split on my head. Eventually she sent me to ER and I got 6 stitches and I was not allowed to go to school for almost a week so I missed the play."
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.
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.