Terminally Ill People Share The Moment They First Realized Something Wasn't Right
Some moments are almost indescribable. Seconds following the first time you meet your newborn baby. Hearing back a 'yes' on a wedding proposal. Finally getting your dream job. Hearing you've been diagnosed with a terminal illness. While not necessarily all ending in heartache, most of the stories in response to Reddit user, r/TheMouseInYourHouse's, question might cause you to take stock and think about the world around you:
People who are/were diagnosed with a terminal ilness, what made you think "something is not right with me"?
50. Beat The Game
Pain in random parts of my back and legs. Intense one day, gone the next. Fainted once, which never happened before. General tiredness. Lack of appetite. Intermittent mild vertigo. Went to the doctor 4 times in 5 weeks for various aches and pains. He thought I was trying to score pills and just sent me home.
One day I got home from work and couldn't stand up and walk from my car to the house. I had to crawl, my back was locked up my legs were rubbery. I called my mom and we went to the ER. Turns out it was Leukemia and if I didn't start treatment I would be dead in about a month.
That was a little over 6 years ago.
49. Jake's Dilemma
My best friend, so not me, but worth sharing. Well call him Jake. Jake was blind. (Progressive degeneration since birth, not related to this.) Jake was having problems with his eyes. A simple muscle twitch. His eyes would dart back and forth uncontrollably. He had been feeling pain from his eyes moving, so he went to get it checked out to see if there was anything to do.
The problem is, sometimes you find things just because. You don't know something is wrong. The eye pain was unrelated to what the doctors found.
Stage 3 eye cancer and stage 4 brain cancer, at once. They cleared the eye cancer pretty quickly, but the brain cancer turned into leukemia and testicular cancer. He had two brain surgeries, and started to lose himself. When your blind friend walks off campus at ten pm in 10 degree weather without a coat because he thinks it's June, you worry. When he meets a girl in his cancer support group who has stage four cancer, you worry. When they fall in love and she dies, you worry.
Losing Jake step by step, one piece at a time was one of the worst things in my life. He called me one day after his appointment and told me to come to his dorm room. The doctor had given him a year to live. By the following December he would be gone. By July, he would be in assisted living, and would not know any of us.
Jake switched doctors. Jake found a doctor willing to try something experimental. (I'm not clear on the details, but they seem to have cut into his head, removed as much tumor as they could, and put something around it to slow or stop it's growth.) I said goodbye to Jake in May, knowing he would be going to have the surgery. He said goodbye to me like he would never see me again. He had started giving things away long before then. I had a collection of his books which he had labeled in braille. I said goodbye to him and his seeing eye dog, and prayed that I would see them again.
Jake has been in remission from every cancer for 2 1/2 years now. Last week he and I went out to lunch. I had actually coincidentally asked him exactly when he knew something was wrong, and he said when the doctor called and said "we need you to come in. We can't talk about it over the phone, so I'll make an appointment for as soon as you're free."
48. The Off-Put
Not me but my Physical Therapist.
I had been going to this clinic for PT for a few months. They had hired this new guy who did my PT for the first time that day. He was kinda slow and having a hard time keeping track of the 2 patients he was helping. A normal PT can handle up to 3-4 patients at once. He was having a seriously hard time remembering things short term.
After the session I tell him to hang in there he'll get the hang of it. I was just trying to encourage the new guy. Turns out he had been a PT for 20 years. He looked at me funny.
Then one of the doctors there, who had been friend with this guy for a long time and had gotten him the job at the clinic, looked at him funny and asked him about the headaches he'd been complaining about. That night he ended up getting a CT Scan. The next day he had a brain tumor removed.
As far as I know he's still alive today. His Doctor friend told me the whole story of all of what happened after my "words of encouragement" at my next session. And that he was doing fine recovering.
47. Such A Quick Turnaround
I am in IT and I had a user who couldn't seem to type in his password. We changed it and he still seemed a little slow at typing and couldn't seem to get it right, even though he thought he knew what it was. It was a frustrating experience for both of us but we tried patiently for awhile. I could get into his computer, but he couldn't seem to type it in. I don't have a help desk level job, but he was a work friend.
I asked his manager to check on him because it seemed so strange. He was a developer and not the sort to be so forgetful. A doctor's visit the next day ascertained that he had glioblastoma. He lived only a few more months after that.
I still get worried when I type my password in incorrectly now and I think of Steve.
46.Carrying The Weight
Not me, but I knew a girl growing up who would get dizzy if she held her head upright. For years she always tilted her head slighty and no one noticed, and she thought it was just normal.
When she was 17 a teacher finally asked her about it and spoke with her parents.
It turned out she had a brain tumor. She had surgery, got it removed, and now can hold her head upright.
45. What To Do, What To Do
I'm a P.A. And I want to point out two symptoms you DO NOT f*ck around with. These should send you immediately to your doctor:
- Night sweats. If you wake up and the sheets are wet from your sweat, something is WRONG. There are several diseases and illnesses that cause this, and none of them are good.
- Unexplained weight loss. If you lose more than 10-15 pounds for no known reason (you aren't changing your diet, eating less, or exercising more) then something is WRONG. The major concern here is cancer, but there may also may be a GI or metabolic issue that needs to be addressed pronto.
44. Rapid Progression
My friend's mom went to the bathroom and peed a bit of blood. She went to the Doctor just to make sure there wasn't anything wrong, my friend was with her when the Doctor told her she had stage 3 cancer (don't remember what kind, just damn cancer). My friend told me her mom declined with chemo and passed away 2-3 months after her first diagnose. It took her years to grieve and get better. Just imagine you're just casually going with your mom for a regular doctor's visit and then they tell her she's got cancer and dies a couple of months after. Just horrible.
A bit of good feeling news about this, my friend somehow knew that her mom was not going to make it so they went shopping for a wedding dress, she wasn't even dating anyone or anything, just wanted her mom to look at her wearing the dress she would wear on her wedding. 4 years after and she did, my friend just got married with an amazing man and she was wearing her dress her mom chose and got to see her in.
I'll be right back. Going to call my mom.
43. ALS Not Well
My dad noticed that his speech was slurred a bit and the left side of his face was numb, so he thought he had had a minor stroke. Drove himself to the hospital where he underwent a litany of tests, nothing showed stroke. This was in June of 2016. Come October after even more blood work, scans, spinal tap, and everything else under the sun they ruled out pretty much everything and decided it was ALS. He passed in March of 2017. So thankful that it happened quickly because it was HORRIBLE. Tuesday will be one year.
42. Saved By The Bro
In 2011 my appendix ruptured. I was vomiting on and off out of nowhere for about a month before it happened, which is apparently not a common symptom. I had really bad hot and cold flashes. And I constantly felt like I needed to go #2 in the bathroom, but nothing would come out. After I was vomiting one time I called my brother to pick me up from my friends house. I just wanted to go home and sleep. But he was like no you gotta go to the hospital. My appendix ruptured an hour later. Lucky my brother was there.
41. Invisible Illness
On the flip side of these stories I have a friend who had all these awful symptoms start to flare up; weakness, diarrhea, loss of appetite, low white blood cell count, swelling in hands and feet so bad she couldn't wear shoes.
Her doctors were stumped. Went to tons of specialists over several months. Had to quit work. Hospitalized several times for dehydration. They finally told her she probably had some rare form of untreatable blood cancer and she was dying. Her husband and kids started the grieving process. Filled out a will. Even planned a bucket list trip or two.
Her gastroenterology specialist looked at her case one last time and called her back for an appointment and discovered she had celiac disease. Doing great now. Fit as a fiddle. Her body was just so gluten intolerant it was literally killing her.
40. The Second You Have Symptoms
I lost my uncle the day before my birthday, last November. He had stage 4 prostate cancer.
He had symptoms for a whole winter/spring. Had trouble peeing. Woke up in the middle of the night unable to urinate. He would have to walk around the farm just to be able to go to the bathroom, (I think walking helped decrease the inflammation on the prostate.) finally in April of 2014 he went to the dr. He had blood tests and eventually a biopsy. Stage 4 prostate cancer. It had already metastasized to his pelvis, shoulder, and spine. He had a catheter put in and had radiation. Two years later he could no longer walk. He had spinal surgery to remove the tumor on his spine that was paralyzing his legs. He never recovered.
He passed away in November after being bedridden for a year. The morning he died, he told me he hated his life. He absolutely SUFFERED. he was in so much pain.
Please, men: if you have trouble urinating, especially when you're in your 50's+ age range, please go to the doctor. If he had gone at the onset of symptoms, he would still be here today.
39. Multiple Symptoms
My Dad realized something was wrong with him when his legs stopped working all the time. He'd already had a stroke, but he recovered and could walk really well. But some days he would think to move his legs and they wouldn't move.
It took a long time for a doctor to realize that it wasn't a part of the stroke, that it was really MS. The only reason the doctor made the connection was because my dad described how my grandmother died (the same thing happened to her, stroke and then being unable to move until she was bed bound and passed away). The doctor knew MS is hereditary and thought those symptoms lined up.
38. Feeling Near Death
Had a very bad case of glandular fever a few years ago.
It started like a super bad flu, then I gradually felt more and more tired and dizzy, all body aching, didn't eat much anymore because of constant neausea, couldn't stand up for very long before losing balance. Went from ~65kg to ~48kg in the first few months.
One morning I wake up, never felt so bad. Painfully get out of bed. Put my hand on the walls / tables / chairs as I walk to manage to stay up. I try to force myself to eat a bowl of cereal, the smell disgusts me too much and I don't eat any. I go to the bathroom, see myself in the mirror and think "That's how people die"
The very bad period lasted about 6 months. The whole thing lasted 2 years. Not lethal but damn, bad memories.
37. More Happy Endings Please
I dropped 15 pounds as an 11 year old in less than 3 weeks, drank about a case of bottled water a day, and started wetting the bed.
My mother saw me walking around in shorts and thought I looked sickly and scheduled an appointment with my primary. She told the nurse on the phone my symptoms and we got in 2 days later. My primary instantly recognized it was severe hyperglycemia (high blood sugar) and I should have gone to the ER. If we had waited another week, I could have gone into organ failure. The nurse that took our appointment call and all other staff were educated to recognize these pre-diabetic symptoms in order to direct people to the ER rather than have them wait for an appointment.
Type 1 Diabetic 11 years now and not a hospital visit since!
36. Go In Yesterday
My dad thought he had the flu. Started with cold-like symptoms which progressively got worse over about two weeks. Ended up finally going to see the GP when Mum literally had to both mentally and physically drag him in.
By this time he was barely able to walk. The doctor took one look at him and immediately called an ambulance to collect him and take him to hospital. (One short block away),
Here he was in ICU for a week where they ran every test under the sun, drugged him with go knows what, had him on machines - scared the sh*t out of me seeing him like that. He was such a hard worker. Always 'down the shed' making something - he's a very intelligent man.
While in our hospital he suffered two strokes from the medication. The doctors discovered glandular fever and Ross river in his blood. They couldn't do any more so flew him from our rural hospital to the city.
Fortunately they had a doctor there who was able to recognize and diagnose Shurg Strauss Vasculitis. A one in a million disease that has attached his leg muscles and nerves and plays havoc with his white blood cells.
This was over 10 years ago now and we are so lucky to still have him. He is on a cocktail of drugs for pain (constant pins and needles in the soles of both feet along with massive shooting pain up his legs from the damaged nerves). The strokes left him with pain in his hands and a little difficulty in using them. He has to always wear special braces on his feet to walk - otherwise they would 'flop' down because of his lack of feeling, muscle and nerve damage.
To go from this amazing man who could literally do/make anything to someone who not only lost his job but lost his ability to do what he loved was devastating.
If he didn't have the stubbornness and determination he would have sat in a chair all day and shrunk into a shell of himself but he is amazing. He still gets out there and works through the pain, through the sluggishness of pain killers and god know what other drugs and slowly does what he loves, mainly for himself and little freelance stuff here and there.
So sorry for the long message. Basically guys even if it's just a 'flu' the you have had for an extended time - get yourself to the doctor. If you think something isn't right or they aren't finding anything and you just know, get a second opinion. You only get one chance at this life.
35. Luck Of The Draw
For about a year I was really sore all of the time. As a barely 30 year old I was struggling to get up stairs. Granted I am large, and I associated it with getting old and being fat. Early that year I peed blood and the doctor said it was likely a kidney stone. Got over it and moved on.
It didn't get better and eventually I felt like I had the flu for a few weeks. I was sleeping a lot and really sore all over. Again I peed blood. I went in again and they were setting up some tests. I called my mom and told her and she said wait a minute (she worked for a kidney doctor). A few minutes later she called back and told me that she talked with the doc and she broke all kinds of HIPPA rules and grabbed my report, I had advanced kidney failure. He booked me a room immediately (and I mean get the fuck to the hospital now immediate).
Long story short, I ended up having a biopsy of my kidneys (not as unpleasant as it sounds) and was diagnosed with ANCA vasculitis. Basically an autoimmune disorder where your body decides to fight itself - I always joke that is why I was never sick, my immune system was in overdrive and got bored fighting other things and attacked me.
Went on chemo for a few months to kill my immune system and waited for the outcome., After two major bouts of pneumonia (caused by the drugs and my weakened immune system) over the next year and chemo I came out. My daughter was born that same year, and I am basically living with something that will eventually kill me. The good news is that the doctor that my mom worked with wrote his thesis on this disease and is one of a few in the country that has a great deal of knowledge about it. For a one in a million disease that is usually fatal I was very, very, lucky.
34. The Thing Meant To Help Hurt Us Instead
Well my mother knew she had Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia for about 4 years, which is not quite a terminal cancer. But when she was in radiation for CLL she also contracted Melanoma. After being in remission for both about 6 months she got shingles. Which itself isn't a too serious illness. But it turned out the shingles managed to hide a lot of symptoms of her 3 brain tumors.
Before we even got the results of the CT scan we got a call confirming her brain surgery in 2 days. Unfortunately even with rigorous radiation the tumors were just too much. She passed away about a month and a half later.
Now I go to yearly melanoma screenings and pay much more attention to weird sh*t my body does.
33. Never Just Cramps
For my mom it was cramps. The first few times she went to the doctor, they were like "well, women get cramps", and put her on a long waitlist for a colonoscopy. But these went deeper then the menstrual kind. In the meantime, she was also losing weight which she thought was weird as she was eating a lot more junk food due to her early morning flyer delivery job (i.e. eating at McDonalds). When she was diagnosed with colon cancer, she only had three months left.
32. 23 Is Old Enough
My dad had prostate cancer, thankfully it was removed urgently otherwise it would have killed him.
He had really bad trouble breathing and going to the toilet. He would get really light headed and his words were: "half of the time I felt drunk." At this point my dad didn't drink either.
He keeps asking me to go get checked, I should really but I'm only 23...
31. Luck Luck Luck Luck Luck
My dad was running on a treadmill and felt the top of his head get warm like someone was pouring warm syrup over his head then his hearing went out all of a sudden. He drove to the hospital and he had a aneurism bleeding in his brain. He miraculously survived with no side effects. A few months later the same spot ruptured again and he had another aneurism. Again, miraculously, no impacts other than weeks in the ICU and one hell of a roller coaster for our family.
Then, a few years later he noticed his average mph on his weekly bike ride dropping without any other life changes. Asked the doc... blood tests... he has bone cancer affecting his red blood cells.
Overall, the only side affects of two aneurisms and bone cancer is slower bike rides and an incredible drive to live life to the fullest.
"Grab all the gusto ya can" -My Dad
30. Schnauzer Savior
Not me but my mum. She was walking on the beach with her two beloved miniature schnauzers. Another miniature schnauzer ran up to her, head butted her leg and knocked her over. The dogs owner ran over and apologised and said the dog was blind but normally very well behaved and had never done that before. A few days later, mum had a big bruise on her lower leg where the dog had hit her, and her leg was swelling up. She also was a bit breathless. Mum was a nurse and was concerned she might have a deep vein thrombosis (blood clot in the leg) from the trauma and subsequent pulmonary embolism (when the clot travels to the lungs). She went to the emergency department. They shared her concerns and she had xrays and full work up. They found a malignant tumour of the thymus which was extending through her mediastinum and into the wall of her heart. If it wasn't for the blind schnauzer, she wouldn't have gone to hospital. There is some evidence dogs can smell cancer. I fully believe that dog did.
29. Too, Too Fast
My brother was working overseas and got really sick with what he thought was tonsillitis. He flew home to get better. My parents took him to the doctor for a check up and the same day the doctor called my mom and told her that her son has cancer. The only other symptom was some red blood dots on his skin on his side. He was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia. He went into hospital on Friday and passed away on the Monday. None of us could have ever expected it would happen that fast.
28. Management Post Diagnosis
I thought I was a hypochondriac until I got diagnosed with Hashimoto's. Not terminal but if you don't get meds soon enough it might be. Started as minor neurological problems, sleepiness, not being able to lose weight, bad digestive problems. I got home early from school at least twice a week due to severe stomach aches. Managing it with meds helped a lot although I don't think I'm as well as I was before.
27. It Hits You Out Of Nowhere
Not me but my step dad spent a year acting kind of listless, also was a little bit clumsy tripping on things. Then before Christmas it was the weight loss, 15 pounds in a month randomly and he eats loads. Couple weeks ago his speech becomes slurred and his right arm just won't work correctly. Just got diagnosed with ALS :( man loves his Xbox it crushes me to see him get frustrated because that right hand just won't do what he wants it too
26. We. Need. Reform. Now.
I woke up with the left side of my face cemented over. Bells Palsy triggered by a 3cm growth they found in my brain. I'm saving up for brain surgery. I had been having really bad headaches. The Bells Palsy is mostly gone (it took 6+ months) I have some permanent damage from it. Health care in the USA is terrible. I'll probably die before I get enough money for my surgery.
25. Yeah Kidneys Are Important
I was 12 had a cough on and off for a couple of years. Itd go away for a couple of weeks and come back. I also had bad bone pain. My mom was desperate, she knew something wasn't right. She took me to the Dr over and over, they diagnosed me with asthma and growing pains. I started getting horrible leg cramps, I'm talking you could feel the huge knot on my calves. I'd wake up screaming from the pain, and wake my parents as well. My poor mom was at her wits end, something was wrong with her daughter but the Drs couldn't figure out what. Finally after the cramps came into play a new pediatrician we went to did some blood test. They called me back a couple days later "she needs to get to the hospital now, I've sent the paperwork for her to be admitted". Turns out I had kidney failure, my kidney was at 12% function. I left the hospital a week later with a catheter, and a whole new life. Dr said if I wasn't diagnosed I would've probably had a seizure or heart attack.
24. Parasites
Not terminal.
I went months and months before diagnosis. It was dropping 20lbs in a month from my 5'9 135lbs *ss that finally kicked the docs in the pants.
The symptoms I ignored previous to that were gastrointestinal upset that came and went & weird arthritic feelings. I thought I had developed a serious lactose intolerance and was just getting old (I'm 40.). Well turns out undiagnosed chronic giardiasis makes you pretty much allergic to milk and causes reactive arthritis. Whoops.
I'm now a f*cking year out from treatment and I'm just beginning to not feel delicate. I'm violently intolerant to all milk proteins and have not regained much weight as I have some absorption issues now. I'm trying to rebuild muscle and I no longer look like I'm dying. I did have sunken eyes/loose skin.
If I'd payed attention and thrown more of a fit this would've been minor but noooo...
Anyhow, not terminal so I'm lucky really. I firsthand understand how giardia does kill people in lands with no Gatorade and saltines now. It is a f*cking miserable way to go.
23. And I'm Still Alive, Ya Jerks
My pee was a rusty color. Took it that I needed to drink more water. So I started drinking more water. Pee stayed a dark rusty color. Went to the doctor and then to an oncologist. They diagnosed me with liver cancer and gave me 3-6 months to live. That was 12 years ago.
22. When It Comes From Out Of Nowhere
My mom lived.
She was gardening (that kind of major cleanup after winter gardening) and experienced post-menopausal bleeding afterwards. Her doctor kept telling her she was fine. She knew something was off. Her doctor gave her a blood test and told her she did not have cancer. My mom got some kind of book on women's health after 50, and it suggested getting an ultra sound for post-menopausal bleeding. My mom went back to the doctor to get this, and they found a large tumor.
She went in for a biopsy, and they found stage 1 ovarian cancer that was localized to 1 ovary. She woke up with a hysterectomy, but she did not need any chemo.
It has been over 10 years, and she's in good health.
21. Finding You Can't Do What You Want
When I couldn't hold my newborn daughter for more than two minutes before I felt like my arm would give out and I would drop her.
Edit: I was diagnosed with ALS a few months later.
In light of this news, your username is much sadder. I was hoping for "extreme sports enthusiast."
It's just my gallows humor at play.
20. Things That Make You Go, "Hmmmm....?"
Never really got my period, I was almost 18 and was like hmmm... turned out I'd had ovarian cancer, 5 years in remission though :)
19. Things Take Longer
For my dad, he noticed it was taking him longer and longer to get simple things done at work that he had been doing fine for years. He finally went to the doctor and they found a brain tumor.
I'm really sorry for this terrible news. Did it happen long ago?
Thanks. It was 15 years ago. He died 18 months later. So as a lesson, don't hesitate to go to the doctor if you feel off!
18. Always Be Aware Of Your Body
Before my (now deceased) wife went to a [Dr.,] she found a hard mass above her breast.
She immediately knew something was not right because it hurt to touch it. Within a couple days it had multiplied in size and made the skin hurt as well.
17. When It Keeps Coming Back
In 3 months back in 2009 I acquired pneumonia 3 times in 4 months.
Gp did tests, Turns out I have multiple myeloma a blood cancer with no cure just chemo to keep it at bay.
16. Keep An Eye For The Trigger
My mom passed from glioblastoma a few years ago.
What triggered her was when she would randomly hold on to things for an extended period of time (seat belt was the big one) to the point where she audibly had to tell herself to "let go." Three weeks later she had brain surgery.....few weeks after that was diagnosis/prognosis.
15. "My Family Is Still In Shock"
I have the same story with my grandma. Extremely bright, welcoming woman. All of a sudden her personality changed where she was quiet most of the time and would only answer questions in short sentences. We all thought it was weird but figured she was just getting older and slowed down.
Then she started having severe bouts of forgetfulness. When we took her to the doc she was misdiagnosed with a UTI which can have similar effects on older people. Finally she went to the hospital where she was diagnosed/brain surgery/non-recovery/hospice. It all went really quickly.
That was 2 years ago and my family is still in shock.
14. Remember: Be Aware Of You Body
Glioblastoma's are just horrible. A girl I used to work with was diagnosed last October. Her main symptom was bad migraines that wouldn't go away. She had always had migraines, but they were occasional, and suddenly they were constant. Got diagnosed within a week, and she passed on Christmas. The place we worked was a very busy bar, she was a manager and so many people loved her. It was just horrible. A couple of my good friends were close with her (we were friendly but never close) and it was so hard on them...
13. A Long, Tiring Affair
My dad had uncontrollable itching out of nowhere. He went to his primary several times, we went to the urgent care and we went to the ER twice because nothing was helping and he was scratching himself raw. At this time, he also told the ER staff and his primary that sometimes when he breathes he has a pain on his upper right back area and complained of excessive fatigue. The doctors dismissed the pain as irrelevant. His primary finally referred us to a dermatologist who sent us to an allergist. The allergist took one look at his blood work and said itching is not the problem, something else is going on and he needs a chest X-ray. Said he would call the primary.
We went back 2 weeks later and still hadn't gotten X-ray because our primary couldn't get it approved (even though my dad was a smoker for more than 50 years, started at 13!). The allergist insisted we get an X-ray and said there was a lab downstairs that could do it if we pay out of pocket. So we went downstairs, paid for the X-ray. The technician immediately told us to go back to the doctor. There was a 3.5 inch tumor in his right lung. Stage 3b lung cancer. Turns out the tumor was releasing a toxin that was causing the itching. As horrible as the itching was for my dad, I thank God it happened otherwise we would not have found the tumor when we did.
12. The Scariest Bruise Ever
I woke up with a tennis-ball sized dark purple bruise on my left upper arm. No pain, no swelling. When I finally went to check, my blood work came out as catastrophic (5k thrombocytes, aka platelets - the healthy range is 150k-400k), and leukemia was suspected.
After a lot of tests, including two lovely spinal taps, it turned out I had aplastic anemia, where the bone marrow is attacked by the immune system and stops producing blood cells.
It was a relief to find I didn't have leukemia, until I was told the mortality rate for what I had was higher.
This was about six months before my 30th birthday, and today I am 52 and fully recovered for 20 years.
11. Don't Be Afraid To Go
Before my dad was diagnosed with stage III lung cancer, he kept telling me that he had a severe shortness of breath. He was originally diagnosed with emphysema, so it was kind of to be expected, but not that bad. He was a self employed mechanic, he had to plow and shovel his own lot, and he started to not physically be able to do his work in the cold. Then the fatigue hit. The strongest man I knew couldn't even be bothered to go outside. He loved food and always ate out, and then his appetite went away. Lastly, his memory started fading fast. He forgot it was my birthday and he was too tired to go out. I think that's my hardest memory of his last few months. All of that happened before his official diagnosis.
I think a mixture of depression and denial caused him to keep pushing back the doctor visit, even though he knew something was terribly wrong. He denied treatment, and he died within 2 months of diagnosis. I think he'd still be alive today if he asked for a second opinion about the emphysema, because I think it was the beginning stages of the cancer and was misdiagnosed.
10. "...Just The One Line Stands Out"
My mom had cancer when I was young, between 4 and 5. She ended up with a mastectomy, but with chemo and radiation she recovered. She was in remission for 7 years before it came back, when I was 12.
I still remember the day she realized she needed to go to the hospital. We were at a church picnic that had a raffle, and we had gotten extremely lucky with winning like 3 or 4 prizes. I was sitting at the table with her and my dad when she just looks at him and says she needs to schedule an appointment. I don't know if there was any conversation leading up to it that they had previously, just the one line stands out.
She was diagnosed on [Good Friday,] with stage 4 cancer and given six months to live. She died six months later to the day.
9. Bart Simpson Yellow
Maybe terminal, maybe not, but certainly radically life-changing (Pancreatic Cancer, stage IA):
I turned yellow. Like...Bart Simpson yellow.
There was no pain though, so while I was freaked out about it, I didn't exactly take it as seriously as I might have if I'd been in pain. It took me about 48 hours before I had talked to enough medical professionals that one of them said "You need to get this CT scan IMMEDIATELY."
8. College Isn't Always The Problem
Not terminal but I felt "off" for a couple months. I thought maybe it was college burning me out. I couldn't lose weight even though I was working out everyday, I would get light-headed just walking around or standing at work. I told my parents and they said when I came home for break I should set up an appointment with a doctor. One week later I was out with friends and my chest started burning. It felt like acid reflux or heart burn but it started to rapidly get worse over 3 hours and I ended up in the emergency room from the pain in my chest.
It turns out there was a basketball sized tumor growing on my liver.
7. Getting Lost Coming Home
My mother had a brain tumor for an estimated 6 years before it was detected because her symptoms were so mild. The biggest thing she noticed was getting lost when going to a place she knew how to get to, like going to work or coming home. A few times she would even walk out of her bedroom and have trouble remembering which way to go to get to the bathroom.
6. Scarily Quick
A family friend started having problems typing on a keyboard as his middle finger would twitch sometimes or not move properly. He went to the doctor when it started to get really annoying, thinking it might be a trapped nerve.
Turned out he had a brain tumour the size of a tennis ball. Passed away two months later. It's was a scarily quick progression from a twitch in the finger to complete paralysis.
5. Good At One Thing, Bad At Another
When my daughter was 5 she couldn't use scissors but could put puzzles together no problem. Also, she wasn't remembering her teachers names by Christmas.
After 2 years we finally got a diagnosis of Niemann-Pick disease. At the time the doctor told us she'll be bedridden in 18 months and gone before she is 12. She turned 13 a couple weeks ago and still talks, eats and breathes on her own. She even has started taking a few steps again unassisted!
4. Speak Up If Something's Wrong
Survivor of a potentially terminal cancer here (rare and very aggressive, poorly understood, low survival rate).
I would wake up in the middle of the night in severe pain. I would take painkillers, I used topical painkilling creams, ice, heat, massage, etc. Nothing had an any effect. I had to wait out the pain and it would eventually go away. It would also happen at random during the day, but nighttime was a guarantee.
Best of all, my doctor refused to do additional testing beyond an X-ray despite my pleading. Another doctor said there was nothing wrong with me (after misreading an MRI) and dismissed my claims as an addiction to painkillers despite me specifically saying I wanted more testing, not more painkillers (because they didn't work!).
Moral of the story: make noise. Lots and lots of noise. When treatment isn't working, and you know something is wrong with your body, make noise. I was eventually diagnosed when an acquaintance connected me with a doctor that investigated thoroughly. He almost gave up on me because my symptoms were not indicative of anything in particular, but he took a risk on another MRI (thanks health care system that encourages doctors to not test!) and it paid off as the tumor had grown to a large size by then and couldn't be missed.
3. "Just Go To The Doctor If You Don't Feel Good"
Not me but my girlfriend at the time had a persistent low grade fever, felt like she had a cold and soaking night sweats for almost a year.
She kept putting off the doctor because she was working hard towards her masters degree.
Anyways, her lymph nodes in her neck suddenly got huge, like golf ball size.
Goes to the doctor the doctor sends her to another doctor and boom, Non Hodgkins Lymphoma. She lived just shy of a year with it before she died.
Just go to the doctor if you don't feel good
Edit: The thing about lymph nodes is, they can swell up randomly because that's what they do when they're fighting off bacteria and viruses. She had so many secondary symptoms that we both ignored because we were 25 and who thinks like that at 25.
Don't freak out if your lymph nodes suddenly swell up, you're gonna be okay. If they stay swollen longer than a week, go get seen by your doctor.
2. "...They Could Be Gone In An Instant"
At the end of this journey this minute with my little sister. She's getting dressed for chemo that is probably not going to happen today. She had a bad turn last week. In the hospital for 6 days (that she doesn't remember). She should be starting palliative care this week and then hospice in a couple more weeks. I sit with her through chemo and her appointments.
Mom took her in because Mom noticed that she had less energy than normal, and wasn't playing with the other kids and seemed to be losing interest in social events. Doctors wrote it off as a tummy ache, and told Mom to keep an eye on her. She fell at school and got a bruise on her knee that seemed to just keep growing over 2 weeks. She complained that her whole leg and hips hurt. Mom took her in again, and a few days later we had the diagnosis.
Hold them tight folks, they could be gone in an instant.
1. Finally, You Know Your Body
not [wanting] to eat popcorn. i love popcorn
and peeing blood, but the popcorn really told me what was up
edit: since people are asking, i have weagners granulomitosis (or similar spelling, I never really learned since they changed the name)
im alright, just waiting on a transplant and all that jazz
H/T: Reddit
There is a world full of mysteries to explore right at our very feet.
Do we engage with it on a level that might make us more uncomfortable? Well, if we really want to learn everything there is to know about our planet earth, we have to engage in the unsettling facts. They appear across every discipline.
The Easier Way Out
<p>During the French Revolution, where the guillotine was introduced, the people to be executed fought to be first, as the blade would dull after multiple uses and wouldn't cut a head clean off at the first attempt.</p><p><a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/Back2Bach/" target="_blank">Back2Bach</a></p><p>And the last execution by guillotine in France was the same year Star Wars came out.</p><p><a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/CaptainPrower/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">CaptainPrower</a></p>At LEAST One?!
<p>You have probably unknowingly encountered, or walked past at least one murderer in your lifetime.</p><p><a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/theprettyunicorn/" target="_blank">theprettyunicorn</a></p><p>For sure encountered. Worked night shift at a convenience store, guy pulled in to put gas came in the store used the atm and left. 3 min later swarm of cops surrounded the store. He had just murdered his family a couple states over and cops got a hit when he used the atm machine.</p><p><a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/Cool1Mach/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Cool1Mach</a></p>WELP
<p>For a long time it was believed that babies were too underdeveloped to be able to feel pain, and as such, did not need anesthetic for any kind of surgeries.</p><p>Up into the 1980's.</p><p><a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/FartKilometre/" target="_blank">FartKilometre</a></p>Internet History
<p>Eventually, most of the content on the internet will have been created by dead people.</p><p><a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/Phaesporic/" target="_blank">Phaesporic</a></p><p>Now I'm imagining a class like English literature but for internet culture and picturing a bored class with some kids sleeping while the teacher is saying some shit like "Okay class this meme is 100 years old and it says Me and the Boys going out to get some B E A N S what do the B E A N S symbolize and how does it reflect what was going on in society ? " lmao.</p><p><a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/Cheshire_Cat8888/" target="_blank">Cheshire_Cat8888</a></p>Awful, Awful
<p>There are estimated to be at least 25 active serial killers in the United States alone at any given time. Very few will be detected, much less apprehended.</p><p><a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/brideofchuckydoll/" target="_blank">brideofchuckydoll</a></p><p>Derrick Todd Lee and Sean Vincent Gillis were both active serial killer in the same city from the late 90s to early 2000s. For most of this time, law enforcement did not realize they were trying to catch multiple individuals, much less that they were acting completely independently of each other. On top of that, there are additional unsolved murders that neither was ever linked to whose evidence raises the possibility of a third active serial killer in the area during the same time period.</p><p><a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/see-bees/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">see-bees</a></p>Viewer, Beware....
<p>National parks are not all swings and roundabouts. Over 1600 people have gone inside Yellowstone National Park and never come out.</p><p><a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/I_Am_A_Master-Baiter/" target="_blank">I_Am_A_Master-Baiter</a></p><p>Yellowstone is known for boiling water and pools of acid. People on this earth put gorrilla glue in their hair. I don't have any questions about what happened.</p><p><a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/MCqStep/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">MCqStep</a></p>Statistically....
<p>If you end up being the victim of a violent crime, you probably know the perpetrators. You probably trust them, most likely, you love them.</p><p><span data-verified="redactor" data-redactor-tag="span"></span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/Double-Kicks/" target="_blank">Double-Kicks</a></p><p>People find it weird when the police declare most family members and close friends of murder victims to be suspects, but this is precisely why. You are FAR more likely to be (deliberately) killed by someone you know than a stranger. Also, in most countries and demographics, the most likely person to deliberately kill you is you.</p><p><span data-verified="redactor" data-redactor-tag="span"></span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/kutuup1989/" target="_blank">kutuup1989</a></p>Our Brains Are Unsettling, Too
<p>There is a rare genetic degenerative brain disorder called Fatal Familial Insomnia. FFI starts as a mild inability to sleep followed by short bouts of intense nightmares/dreams and progressively deteriorates until the sufferer is completely unable to sleep, at all. Eventually impacting the human ability to microsleep as a last ditch effort of self preservation. There is no cure for FFI and eventually sufferers lose their minds and die of sleep deprivation. But it gets so much worse.</p><p>Due to the degenerative nature of the condition as it progresses you begin deteriorating mentally and physically. You lose the ability to regulate body temperature and may swing between freezing and sweating, you develop severe memory problems, confusion, agitation, weight loss, paranoia, hallucinations, speech problems, double vision, loss of motor controls (similar to parkinsons), inability to swallow, increased blood pressure and production of tears as well as many other unpleasant symptoms. The combination of your mind going and your body shutting down eventually kills you.</p>Rise Of The Machines
<p>There so far at least two fatalities as a result of robots, both of industrial type.</p><p>The first was in Flat Rock, Michigan in 1979 when an engineer was killed when he was hit in the back and crushed while retrieving parts at an automobile factory. It was due to a malfunctioning industrial robot he was fixing. The second was in Akashi, Hyōgo, Japan where a maintenance worker was fixing a broken-down robot when it came to life by mistake. Both locations happened in factories that are well-known for manufacturing vehicles.</p><p><a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/MissSara101/" target="_blank">MissSara101</a></p>So Can We Fix The Justice System Now
<p>One to five percent of the US prison population is estimated to be innocent.</p><p>Combine that with the fact that one percent of the US population is incarcerated and your chance of being wrongly imprisoned in the 21st century is around 1 in 1000 in America.</p><p><a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/Crocoshark/" target="_blank">Crocoshark</a></p>People Who Thoroughly Read The Terms And Conditions Share The Strangest Things They've Found
Let's be honest, most of us don't read the Terms and Conditions before we click that little "I Agree" button. Most of you probably aren't even going to read this intro.
A huge chunk of you are going to open this article and immediately scroll to "the meat" because we're all about getting to the good stuff. But that rush can sometimes mean missing out on some seriously important tidbits of info.
The Catch Was...
<img lazy-loadable="true" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTY4OTYxNy9vcmlnaW4uZ2lmIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0Mzg2NjM3N30.Zr6T7LGuuXaTr7NKBFfaCTwEc0Fvu3yJ-KdYO-Xk_No/img.gif?width=980" id="c41a3" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="f677f014d9104effd3b059212c9af24c" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="480" data-height="270" />Giphy<p>I financed some furniture when I was young and getting established in my first professional job. It was interest-free financing for the first 12 months. </p><p>The catch was that if you paid late, they would charge you a fee, back-interest from the beginning of the loan period, and you would lose the interest free status for the rest of the loan. The APR was 29.9%, compounded monthly! </p><p>I couldn't imagine getting to the 11th payment and having something go wrong so a payment is late, then pay basically double what I had financed on the furniture.</p><p>I paid it off in 6 months, and I never did in-store financing again.</p><p>- <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/lmugas/users_who_read_the_terms_and_conditions_what_are/gnx5tr1?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3" target="_blank">EngineeringQueen</a></p><p>This is most interest free gimmicks. Educate your friends. Usually the young ones fall victim to this.</p><p>- <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/lmugas/users_who_read_the_terms_and_conditions_what_are/gny23jj?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3" target="_blank">Chimmiii</a></p><p>I sold furniture and we had financing like this and I made sure to always tells my customers this so they couldn't come at me later on down the road. Others didn't and it just seemed so shady and f*cked up to me.</p><p>- <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/lmugas/users_who_read_the_terms_and_conditions_what_are/gnxldnd?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3" target="_blank">Piccolo_known</a></p>Get It From The Next Owner
<p>I almost signed a contract that granted 50% of profits to the previous owner of the business for 3 years. It was a restaurant that used a conventional microwave instead of an actual oven.</p><p>This was back in the early 2000's and this place had a wonderful 50's vibe. From the bar, to the stools to booths - but it was empty because the food was SO bad and there was fast food up the road.</p><p>We were going to get a pizza oven in there and turn it into a Pizza/Shake place with soup in the winter. </p><p>When the law STUDENT we paid $500 to look over everything (DO THIS!) asked the seller about it for us, they said that they had sunk so much money into the business, the only way to make the money back was to get it from the next owner somehow.</p><p>Good luck with that.</p><p>We could not get them to remove that clause, the owner was hellbent on making the next person be the one to make the business successful and pay them.</p>18 Months
<p>A realtor once gave me a contract that said she would be the only person allowed to represent the property for 18 months.</p><p>That means that they were the only person that could try to sell the house. For <em>a year and a half</em>. We could not work with a different agent if we felt that this one wasn't doing enough, not responding, if we weren't happy, etc. </p><p>If we did, this agent would still get commission from the sale that that other agent actually made.</p><p>Nope. No way was I going to agree to being attached to someone for a year and a half like that. We found a different realtor with a 3 month term (which is much closer to standard), told the first one that her terms were ridiculous, and was under contract within 10 days.</p><p><span></span>- <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/lmugas/users_who_read_the_terms_and_conditions_what_are/gny1hbr?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3" target="_blank">Tricky-Garden</a></p>Idol Entitlement
<p>Canadian Idol auditions when the first show was announced. Read the contract to the very end after signing it.</p><p>"you agree to being filmed 24/7. We can enter your room at any time and record personal phone calls and interactions with anyone." </p><p>That received a hard no for me. Ripped up the contract and never looked back. Thank god I read that before submitting it.</p><p><span></span>- <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/lmugas/users_who_read_the_terms_and_conditions_what_are/gny2yf4?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3" target="_blank">jenskal</a></p><p><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/lmugas/users_who_read_the_terms_and_conditions_what_are/gny2yf4?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3" target="_blank"></a>Tell the camera crew to get out or get weird.</p><p>- <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/lmugas/users_who_read_the_terms_and_conditions_what_are/gnz2mr7?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3" target="_blank">WielderOfDaNWordPass</a></p><p>Fine want to record me 24/7? Congrats, I have IBS.</p><p>- <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/lmugas/users_who_read_the_terms_and_conditions_what_are/gnz0d4s?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3" target="_blank">wanderurlyy</a></p>Phone Privileges
<p>To be able to link my phone's outlook reader to my university account, I would had to give the IT-department permission to wipe my phone clean "if needed."</p><p>No thanks, I'll just use browser instead.</p><p>- <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/lmugas/users_who_read_the_terms_and_conditions_what_are/gnxdc3z?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3" target="_blank">craftaliis</a></p><p><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/lmugas/users_who_read_the_terms_and_conditions_what_are/gnxdc3z?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3" target="_blank"></a>I saw an employment contract where, if you did any company business on your cell phone, they could go through your phone and delete/restrict basically whatever they wanted. </p><p>I advised my friend to make a company-provided phone part of her contract.</p><p>- <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/lmugas/users_who_read_the_terms_and_conditions_what_are/gnxq6pc?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3" target="_blank">EngineeringQueen</a></p><p><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/lmugas/users_who_read_the_terms_and_conditions_what_are/gnxq6pc?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3" target="_blank"></a>Yeah. Someone at my old company had a commonish name, and someone lost their phone... and the company wiped the wrong phone.</p><p>- <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/lmugas/users_who_read_the_terms_and_conditions_what_are/gnye6z8?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3" target="_blank">blargh2947</a></p>The Good Ol' US of A
<img lazy-loadable="true" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTY4OTYxMi9vcmlnaW4uZ2lmIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyOTA1MDM5M30.A1BqwoI_FExTt3jqON2xJbJN1qt62txRrTsJ8V5Ybs8/img.gif?width=980" id="99844" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="9236d4a9b82c22589577961a2a710924" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="480" data-height="270" />Season 3 America GIF by Broad CityGiphy<p>Any health and safety terms and conditions in USA. </p><p>I was working on adapting a US one for a charity event in the UK run by the same people and oh boy you cannot get away with that here. One line said if an employee harmed you in any way (even intentionally), you could not sue... </p><p>What!? </p><p><span></span>- <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/lmugas/users_who_read_the_terms_and_conditions_what_are/gnydf7s?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3" target="_blank">lt52-</a></p>Keep It
<p>Free ceiling insulation. </p><p>The catch? You allowed a company to install temperature sensors around the inside of your house, and they can do that at any time. And you have to allow access for them to check the sensors and get readings, adjust things, and remove the sensors. Everything belongs to the company. </p><p>This means letting randos into your house potentially over and over to get their readings from the electrical crap they put in your house. </p><p>Nah I'm good, keep your insulation.</p><p>- <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/lmugas/users_who_read_the_terms_and_conditions_what_are/gnyrbn7?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3" target="_blank">bumpequalsbump</a></p>Airlines
<p>Was going to post this as a response on another thread, but I want people to actually see it.</p><p>When you book a flight, in the terms and conditions (especially for basic and econo fares) you agree that in the event of your flight getting canceled due to an act outside of the airlines control they don't have to refund you unless they offer you a travel credit.</p><p>That includes a world spanning virus.</p><p>Don't be cheap, get travelers insurance or pay for the higher fare that has a refund clause.</p><p><span></span>- <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/lmugas/users_who_read_the_terms_and_conditions_what_are/gnxyb4e?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3" target="_blank">bpanio</a></p><p><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/lmugas/users_who_read_the_terms_and_conditions_what_are/gnxyb4e?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3" target="_blank"></a></p>Crepes
<p>I worked for a meat pie company that moved over from Australia that made me sign a contract that I would never work for another meat pie company or open an establishment that sells similar food. I didn't read the fine print. </p><p>They also sold a few other things ... like crepes. Sure enough, I wanted to open a food truck and my partner had her sights on crepes as she made them in her previous food truck and it just happened a truck we were buying was set up to make similar things. </p><p>I gave 1 month notice because they were busy and I didn't want to leave them stranded in high season. I told the owner we were working on a food truck we bought, it was a dream coming true, and that it happens we are doing crepes as my partner is French and had done them before.</p>This Sparks Joy
<img lazy-loadable="true" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTY4OTU2NS9vcmlnaW4uZ2lmIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYxOTY0OTgxM30.takzFO7X_vx_UzNvPeNEvpcYSGho5_AZNX-itkNSdOE/img.gif?width=980" id="d78cf" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="09a8efb07fb739ec04f38de1406639f5" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="480" data-height="276" />Giphy<p>I'm pretty sure I gave google the rights to all of my Spotify data when they gave me a free google home. </p><p>On one hand, RIP privacy. </p><p>On the other hand, knowing some poor algorithm has to figure out some possible way to advertise things to me based on listening to Knock On Wood 57 times in a row and the soundtrack to Starship Troopers on repeat gives me great joy.</p><p>- <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/lmugas/users_who_read_the_terms_and_conditions_what_are/gnywvs7?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3" target="_blank">OakNogg</a></p>Claim $100
<p>Back when the internet really started being a thing, some company/website put something in their terms and conditions about the first person who reads it, can contact them to claim a $100 prize. </p><p>Took five years for somebody to claim the prize.</p><p>- <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/lmugas/users_who_read_the_terms_and_conditions_what_are/gny3g6s?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3" target="_blank">RubyShooz </a></p><p><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/lmugas/users_who_read_the_terms_and_conditions_what_are/gny3g6s?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3" target="_blank"></a>I wonder how much of that is people not reading it and how much is people reading it and thinking "surely somebody's already claimed this by now, why bother?"</p><p>- <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/lmugas/users_who_read_the_terms_and_conditions_what_are/gnyj0gy?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3" target="_blank">Novaseerblyat</a></p>Amazon ... Should We Be Worried?
<p>Not really an example of the worst thing, but you're not allowed to use Amazon's game engine (Lumberyard) for military/nuclear applications normally, but that restriction is suspended specifically if there's a zombie apocalypse</p><p><a href="https://aws.amazon.com/service-terms/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://aws.amazon.com/service-terms/</a> Clause 47.10: "<em>this restriction will not apply in the event of the occurrence (certified by the United States Centers for Disease Control or successor body) of a widespread viral infection transmitted via bites or contact with bodily fluids that causes human corpses to reanimate and seek to consume living human flesh, blood, brain or nerve tissue and is likely to result in the fall of organized civilization</em></p><p><em></em>- <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/lmugas/users_who_read_the_terms_and_conditions_what_are/gny3skb?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3" target="_blank">OldGodsAndNew</a></p>Most Ridiculous
<p>I recall a major airline in the pioneer days won an award for most ridiculous TOS to simply look up a flight arrival time on their web site.</p><p>If I recall, it was a 22,000 word document that an analysis said was written at a post graduate reading level. It states that you would, in perpetuity, never use that computer to connect to any other airline's website.</p><p>- <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/lmugas/users_who_read_the_terms_and_conditions_what_are/gnyb3lm?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3" target="_blank">NightMGR</a></p><p>What were they planning on doing about it if you broke the contract? Send a hitman after you or something?</p><p>- <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/lmugas/users_who_read_the_terms_and_conditions_what_are/go1hpi5?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3" target="_blank">ChungusFungus303</a></p>Citibank Is Serious Business
<p>When I started work for Citibank, they asked me to sign two documents;</p><ol><li>promising I would never use encryption for any purpose other than Citibank's for as long as I live.</li><li>promising to obey the laws of all 196 countries on earth that Citibank operates in.</li></ol><p>So obviously I looked at my cubicle mate and stoned her to death for exposing her wrists, and I can no longer use HTTPS.</p><p>- <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/lmugas/users_who_read_the_terms_and_conditions_what_are/gnyy0u3?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3" target="_blank">beachbbqlover</a></p>Funeral Home Employees Divulge The Weirdest Requests They've Ever Gotten
Death is scary. It brings the unknown of the great beyond, whether that's heaven, some other afterlife, or total nothingness, depending on what you believe.
But there is one perk that comes with death: total control of your funeral.
Let the Games Begin
<p>"I got a request for the deceased to be dressed up in a Where's Waldo costume and to have 12 other identical caskets in the room so the guests could try to guess where he was by opening coffins randomly."</p><p>"Each guest was to play this guessing game and then sit down before the next person could enter so everyone could play the game."</p><p>"Problem was not everyone wanted to play the game.....super odd but they paid a lot for it."</p><p>-- <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/lmtl11/funeral_home_workers_and_owners_whats_the/gnylmi3?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3" target="_blank">ramontgomery</a></p>Dead In a Faraway Galaxy
<p>"The deceased was a huge Star Wars fan and left explicit instructions for his funeral."</p><p>"As funeral organist, I was requested to play Star Wars principal themes on the grand pipe organ for prelude music, processional and recessional."</p><p>"As I once described, pall bearers were dressed in main characters costumes and "Obi-Wan Kenobi" gave an inspired eulogy, drawing upon memorable moments from the series."</p><p>"Using 'full organ' (all the stops out) for climatic moments, I played the <em>Imperial March</em> at the conclusion of the funeral before those in attendance departed for the cemetery for the committal."</p><p>-- <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/lmtl11/funeral_home_workers_and_owners_whats_the/gnxielt?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3" target="_blank">Back2Bach</a></p>A True Celebration of the Life He Lived
<p>"I'm a florist, and I've created some unique tributes out of fresh flowers, and more."</p><p>"I made a putting green two feet across, complete with ball, tee and a club for an avid golfer. I constructed a fish out of various blooms and leaves, placed by a lakeside foliage spray. I've made rainbows and black and white themed arrangements. I put a lot of heart into memorial pieces."</p><p>"A few years ago, I was helping a family decide on their tributes for a much-loved man. The wife stressed he was known for his big blue Giant Eagle truck, and most of their friends were from the driver's union."</p><p>"I volunteered myself for a watercolor picture of the truck around which I would design a floral spray. It took four attempts, but I was finally happy, and framed it."</p><p>"Two days later, I received the most wonderful letter from his wife, and said that everyone agreed it was the most appropriate and important statement about his life. It will sit on her mantle for the rest of her life."</p><p>-- <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/lmtl11/funeral_home_workers_and_owners_whats_the/gnyf7h2?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3" target="_blank">cavepainted</a></p>Friends Til the Very End
<p>"My family owns a grave digging business as well as lawn and garden statues, someone purchased an 8ft tall gorilla statue."</p><p>"My dad delivered it and asked what they were going to do with it and where they were putting it, the guys said their friends dying wish was to be stuffed up this concrete gorillas a**, and that's what they did."</p><p>"They drilled a whole in the a** and put their buddies ashes inside"</p><p>-- <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/lmtl11/funeral_home_workers_and_owners_whats_the/gnytm2i?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3" target="_blank">hayhay428</a></p>Always Watching
<p>"My husband found out they can make gems out of cremains, and now he wants to be reduced to 2 jewels seated in his own eye sockets."</p><p>"I don't want a skull! I don't want to own his skull! I don't want him to watch me with his evil gem eyes!"</p><p>-- <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/lmtl11/funeral_home_workers_and_owners_whats_the/gny5vcy?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3" target="_blank">ParadiseSold</a></p>For Science
<p>"My own will requests that my right eye be removed, preserved and delivered to my oncologist in Miami for him to do with whatever he sees fit."</p><p>"Hopefully as a teaching aid to new optometry students, but if he wants to use it for pranks I'm totally fine with that too."</p><p>"I survived a very unusual eye cancer and they had to do all kinds of experimental things to repair it when all was done. I jokingly suggested I donate it to science when I went and he said that was an amazing idea. So, here you go."</p><p>"I hope whoever deals with my corpse has fun with that request."</p><p>-- <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/lmtl11/funeral_home_workers_and_owners_whats_the/gnxp6ri?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3" target="_blank">zerbey</a> </p>One Last Look
<p>"My wife's uncle asked the funeral director when he dies he would like his eyes open in the casket during his viewing."</p><p>"His entire life everyone commented on his big baby blue eyes and he wanted them open for people to see one last time."</p><p>-- <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/lmtl11/funeral_home_workers_and_owners_whats_the/gnycdzg?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3" target="_blank">Agreeable-Scratch424</a></p>One Last F-You
<p>"One rich guy hated his kids and didn't want them to get a cent of his wealth. He therefore wanted all his money to spent on a mausoleum for his coffin with a rose garden around it and the eternal upkeep thereof."</p><p>"He had the city council-approved architectural plans for the mausoleum included in his will and testament."</p><p>"He demanded in his will that the remaining funds, after construction, must go to a gardening service to maintain the rose garden and clean off the bird poop from his mausoleum in perpetuity until the money runs out in a few centuries."</p><p>"The mausoleum is in Cemetery de Saint Rambert outside Lyon, France."</p><p>-- <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/lmtl11/funeral_home_workers_and_owners_whats_the/gnxnk4q?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3" target="_blank">JingoisticJeremiah</a></p>Utter Indifference
<p>"My coworker was meeting a client who was picking up his mother's cremains. My coworker has the client sign a release, then hands him the urn."</p><p>The man immediately turns around and drops the urn into the trash can."</p><p>"My coworker is a 40 year funeral director veteran, and without missing a beat, he says, 'Sir, I can understand your strong feelings about your mother, but I cannot allow you to leave that here. What you do once you get out the door is up to you and God.' " </p><p>"Dude picked up the urn and left without a word."</p><p>-- <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/lmtl11/funeral_home_workers_and_owners_whats_the/gnybff8?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3" target="_blank">keliez</a></p>To Reflect What She Was Like, Or Never Did?
<p>"My mom asked the embalmer to put a few stitches in my grandma's cheeks to give her a faint smile. </p><p>"At the time it seemed like an odd, even slightly morbid request, but 20+ years on, it's one of the only things I remember from her funeral. It was kind of lovely, actually."</p><p>-- <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/lmtl11/funeral_home_workers_and_owners_whats_the/gnx79mi?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3" target="_blank">Fearless_Lab</a></p>After we've watched a movie, it can be difficult to imagine the film as a project that took months or years to finally culminate into the product we see at the theater or on our television.
But it was built and hacked together, piece by piece.