Category: medical

Posted on

Therapists Describe Fascinating Facts About Human Psychology

Humans have long been obsessed with exploring outward. People have always roamed the earth to see what there was to see.

And in the last 50+ years, we’ve launched into outer space, charting sights and objects further away than we can even comprehend.

But we don’t have to go further than our own skulls to witness things just as mysterious.

Redditor WaterPide is clearly aware of this and wanted some help uncovering a bit more knowledge about it all.

They asked:

“Therapists of reddit, what are some interesting psychological facts about humans?”

One therapist was fascinated by irrationality.

“Something that makes me wonder how we survived as a species and then answers my question at the same time:

“People will adhere to what they believe to be true over what they know to be true.”

“Politics, religion, anxiety, depression, staying with an abuser are all examples. Even when they are able to state what they know, their beliefs interfere and that cognitive dissonance will resolve closer to their belief.”

“As a therapist, it’s my job to help them know what they know and slowly alter their beliefs to be more consistent with what they know. Too quick of a change strengthens the belief system.”

“It amazes me every time a patient has an epiphany and then almost immediately reverts.” — symp4thy

Someone else brought up another example.

“Most maladaptive things that people get stuck in likely saved their life at some point. Most humans don’t do things to hurt themselves intentionally.”

“Examples: self harm may keep someone from attempting suicide to reduce pain or shift emotional pain to physical pain, which may be more ‘manageable;’ someone with an eating disorder likely developed it to cope with intensive trauma or feelings of a loss of control in their life; someone’s anxiety feels like it can them ‘safe” from being hurt.”

“Seeing people through this lens helps me never get frustrated with people because they are doing what they had to do to survive. Either consciously or unconsciously, it makes sense.” — Luci_purr666

That theme continued.

“All behavior has a purpose.”

“An extension of this: there is no such thing as people being lazy. If people aren’t doing something others think they should, it’s for a reason, even if said person doesn’t know that reason either.”

“It might be an avoidance tactic, a learned behavior, or even their body/mind feeling overwhelmed and requiring rest before they take on different tasks.”

“Following that, if people are trying to rest and get nagged nonstop, they never actually get to rest and hence, never get to build up the energy to tackle the things on their to-do lists.” — Pages57

But then there were those who mentioned promising methods. 

“Motivational Interviewing exists for a reason.”

“I constantly run across comments on Reddit that say things like ‘If your therapist isn’t telling you to get out of this relationship NOW, then you need a new therapist!’ But humans have a tendency to dig their heels in when told to do something they feel ambivalent about.”

“There are ways to help people realize what’s going to be best for them that DON’T involve giving straight advice. In fact I’d say giving straight advice can be one of the least effective methods for a lot of people/issues.”

“And these people in our office probably have a dozen friends ALREADY giving them that advice, and they’re still not acting on it.”

“I’m a clinical psychologist.” — revolutionutena

And that wasn’t the only promising approach.

“I am a parent child psychotherapist. I work with children under 6 and their caregivers who have experienced trauma. In a nutshell, the healing comes from the caregiver talking to the child about what happened.”

“We call it ‘speaking the unspeakable.’ Basically young children know something bad is going on; domestic violence, abuse, neglect, loss, and they need a grown up to help them play and talk about it, otherwise they make up their own stories about what is going on and its often totally incorrect and self blaming.”

“Infants, toddlers and preschoolers have the capacity to be talked to about scary things. They can handle it if the adult can find a way to regulate through the re-telling and tolerate the subsequent emotions.”

“I’ve explained addiction, severe neglect, loss, and emotional abuse to 3 and 4 year olds. They are amazing and can handle it.” — Jacsheagood

One method was less transparent.

“psychiatric nurse here. redirection is a hell of a skill. for example, we had a patient screaming at us and peacocking, just ready to fight someone. he had glasses on his head and i mentioned i liked them. he said ‘i need them to read books.’ “

“i asked him about the books he read and we had a whole discussion about that and he completely forgot what he was angry about.”

“learning about it in school i was super skeptical, but seeing it work and using it often is incredible. sometimes a small distraction from our feelings is all we need.” — speedlimits65

One approach verges on the physical body. 

“The more senses you can engage in an anxiety reduction strategy, the better it will work.”

“Like the poster mentioned earlier, your brain does not differentiate why it is ramping the nervous system up. So you have to send it the clear message that this is a safe moment to not be hyperaroused.” — Coffeephreak

And then there were those who shared intriguing factoids. 

“Although there is no way to bring back the memories, playing music to dementia sufferers can bring back the feelings. The study was prompted when a dementia sufferer started crying happy tears to a song.”

“He told the care staff that he had no idea why but he felt really happy. His wife later identified the song as the one she walked down the aisle to on her wedding day.” — RaysAreBaes

Not all were so closely tied to therapy. 

“sitting at an unstable table or chair makes you feel like your conversations (and relationships with the person you are talking to) are rocky, unpredictable, and unstable as well.”

“on the flip side, holding a warm drink makes you feel warmth and friendliness with the people you are talking to.”

“translation: if you need to have a serious talk with someone, give them a warm drink and make sure their chair is level” — hugerefuse

We close with a couple head-scratchers.

“Your eyes can actually see your nose and it would take up more of the corners of your vision had your brain not trained itself to ignore it.”

“Basically, your brain learns to filter out information it finds not useful.”

“Also, our memory is so vulnerable to decay that when you remember something from a while ago, you’re probably just remembering the last time you thought about it instead of the actual event itself.” — IamMayFields

It’s a list that might make you feel a little skeptical about what you yourself are thinking.

Posted on

People Share Their Best Medical Tips That Everyone Should Know

Medical science has come a long way in the last few decades—to say nothing of the last century.

The rapid innovations and near-constant shifts in the field have left some struggling to catch up.

So Redditor  ATOM-Tomzej decided to get some quick tips and facts about medicine in our modern age.

Of course, just as with anything else medical, please refer to your doctor and not an entertaining Reddit list for advice.

He asked:

“What’s a medical fact or tip everyone should know?”

Do not attempt!

“Please, don’t give an unconscious diabetic insulin.”

“You’re probably going to kill them if you do.”~733094

Also,

“When I complained about physical problems my parents often dismissed it.”

“Don’t ignore physical pain of yourself or others and listen if someone complains about pain.”

“I’ve walked around with a broken bone in my foot for multiple weeks as a child before getting medical attention and later had bells palsy and didn’t say a thing.”~Koroit_

Remember to really push.

“ER/ trauma nurse here.”

“When performing CPR, the compressions are substantially more important than the rescue breaths.”

“If you aren’t comfortable and properly trained in CPR, stick to compressions only.”

“And, you should go ~2 inches deep into their chest with each push.”

“You will be TIRED if you do it right.”~theperipateticnurse

Spotify to the rescue!

“The New York Presbyterian Hospital has a playlist on Spotify called ‘Songs to do CPR to’, which all have that kind of rhythm – it’s well worth a look, and a lot are very catchy!”~cortexaire

Some came with a list.

“First aid”

“Someone’s having a seizure – don’t restrain them, or put anything in their mouth, just move any objects away from them, and place some padding under their head.”

“Once the seizure stops if they’re still not fully responsive, then put them on their side into the recovery position.”

“Someone swallowed chemicals/poison – don’t encourage them to be sick.”

“This can make things far worse as you cause additional burns on the way back up, or they start choking on it.”

“Call an ambulance, try to identify the chemical/poison, and follow any instructions they give.”

“Injured people who can’t move themselves should be left where they are unless there’s an immediate threat to their safety.”

“Motorcyclists helmets – if they’ve been in an accident then as long as they can maintain an open airway and breathe leave the helmet on.”

“Only remove it if it’s causing airway or breathing difficulties.”

“Nosebleeds – you tilt the head forward now, not backwards.”

“This advice changed many years ago but the amount of people I still see saying to tilt head back is frustrating.”~GrumpyOldDan

And,

“Top four:”

“Vaccinations”

“Vaccinations again, because it’s that f*cking important”

“Not shitting in your drinking water”

“Washing your hands”~kjata

Learn the signs.

“Signs of a heart attack in women are not your typical ‘tight chest, arm pain’ symptoms as in men.”

“Women typically experience stomach upsets and cramping first.”

“Likewise, many people experiencing heart attack symptoms do not seek emergency treatment because they are in denial.”~Jay1313

Drink Wisely.

“On an alcohol note, alternate your booze and water. A hangover is your brain being dehydrated.”~I_SH*T_A_BRICK

See the answer clearly.

“If you are drinking enough water, and are still getting massive headaches, get your eyes tested.”

“There’s a good chance you can’t see right and it’s strain headaches.”

“This is how I found out I needed glasses.”~Smecomposers

Always communicate.

“Don’t be afraid to speak up.”

“Learned early on in my Husbands treatment that the Dr.s etc. had what I started calling ‘the go to drugs’ (and I’m not speaking of the chemotherapy ones).”

“Long story short…we had the majority of his drugs changed to benefit HIS goals…he was lucid enough to spend quality time with his family before he passed.”

“Priceless.”

“Don’t be afraid to monitor, question etc.“~f*kcancr

Tests that you can’t study for are still important to take

“Pap tests and prostate exams are harmless and very important.”

“They can save your fertility, can save you from a lot of pain, they can even save your life.”

“And they are so simple and easy.”

“Yes, there is some discomfort.”

“But something tells me cancer causes much more discomfort.”~Lactiz

Always follow the prescription!

“If you’re taking antidepressants, or you know someone who is, and you feel better, IT IS NOT A REASON TO STOP TAKING THEM.”

“You are feeling better because of them.”

“They are not bandaids, they are long haul drugs that really rejig your brain’s chemistry.”~Releaseform

Baking soda fixes everything.

“Mix water and baking soda (small amounts of each/till soupy) and put it on any kind of sting.”

“It soothes and removes some of the poison if there is any.”

“Not sure if everyone already knows this but I have not seen any of my friends do it when they got stung.”

“Your welcome people of Reddit.”~ImThe_RealDirtyDan

There are no shortcuts.

“Calling 911 and going by ambulance is not a fast pass to the front of the line!”

“Only call in a real emergency not for a stubbed toe at 3 in the g*d d*mn morning!”

“Hospitals will still send you to triage and you’re left with a wait to get in and a super expensive bill for a ride that could have cost you a thousand times less by taking Uber.”~jesus-christ-of-ems

There are better ways to lose weight.

“Don’t buy popular diet teas that guarantee weight loss.”

“It’s just a laxative and you’ll spend less money if you just get a laxative from the store.”

“Also don’t use laxatives for weight loss.”

“It can cause bad nausea, and massive stomach cramps that leave you curled up on your bathroom floor and wondering what end sh*t is gonna come out.”

“Only use laxatives as directed.”~volcanic-sass

Medical science has come a long way.

While there are plenty of nuggets of truth in this list, always remember to consult your own doctor for your own medical questions.

But without a doubt, laughter is the best medicine.

Maybe.

Posted on

People Who Were In A Coma Describe What It Was Really Like

A coma is a period of prolonged unconsciousness brought on by illness or injury. The person in a coma is unable to respond to external stimuli.

The person is very much still alive but the brain is functioning at its lowest stage of alertness.

Having a family member in a coma can be a devastating experience. Will they ever wake up? And will they ever be the same person again, with the same quality of life?

But what’s it like for the person actually in the coma?

Some people have described it as a dream-like state, though the experience can vary from person to person.

People went into further detail after Redditor portlover91 asked the online community:

“People who have been in coma, what was it like? Do you dream? Does it feel like you’ve been asleep for a long time?”

“I was in a coma for over three days…”

“I was in a coma for over three days but was in the hospital for over two months. The doctors were trying different procedures for my brain to kickstart the short-term memory. I literally couldn’t remember anything.”

“I would routinely reintroduce myself to nurses, not remembering them from a few minutes prior. I would start a conversation, only to forget what I was saying mid-sentence, and just stop talking. It was so frustrating.”

“I don’t remember anything from that time, but I remember how I felt about certain situations when they are brought up by others. As an example, a person who I’m no longer with yelled at me, with nurses present, and was banned from visiting.”

“I don’t remember that exchange, but I remember feeling extremely hurt and sad, but didn’t know why.”

“When I was speaking with a relative, she brought up the ‘yelling situation’ and the feelings came flooding back, but not what was said or who was there.”

“I’m getting better and I’m able to retain new memories, overall… just not during any extremely stressful moments.”

“My brain protects itself and stops “recording” when I find myself in a stressful situation. It’s really not fun and can be truly challenging.” ~ Everythings5

“Was in an induced coma…”

“Was in an induced coma for 6 weeks due to pancreatitis. What I remember was so scary. I guess it was a nightmare or something but I dreamt I was being held in a basement by a demon.”

“It felt so real. When I told the doctors they said it was the Propofol that made me hallucinate.” ~ summerswifey

“I have very few vivid memories…”

“I was in a coma for 6 weeks with double pneumonia, sepsis, and kidney failure.”

“I have very few vivid memories from being under but had some very strange visions once I woke due to the number of drugs I was pumped full of. I had no concept of time and thought I had only been out for a day or so.” ~ Zodiackillerstadia

“He said it was like…”

“My husband was placed in an induced coma following a motorcycle accident. He said it was like time stopped in his mind, and he was stuck in a loop of the accident.”

“He was conscious and remembers when he was loaded onto the flying doctor’s plane at the scene of the accident, but he doesn’t remember arriving at the hospital.” ~ FormalMango

“A good friend of mine…”

“A good friend of mine was in an accident this past summer and ended up in a coma for about two weeks. He said the only thing he really remembers is dreaming he was walking around in the dark.”

“After walking for a few minutes, he saw his eyelids as if he were inside his own head. As he approached them, they opened, and that’s when he woke up.” ~ Platonus44

“He thought we were in a spaceship.”

“My boyfriend was in a coma for three days. We sat with him and talked to him the whole time. He doesn’t remember any of it.”

“When he woke up, he didn’t know who I was, but he recognized his mother. He hallucinated for several days after that. He thought we were in a spaceship.

“I asked if there was a Wookie aboard and he said ‘Yes! You!’” ~ PersonMcNugget

“But I just remember it being dark…”

“It was only a few days in a medically induced coma.”

“But I just remember it being dark, short blips of family being in the room, and when the doctor first tried telling me where I was and asking me if I knew my name, I was tempted to answer it as Brittney Spears.”

“But I didn’t want my parents freaking out.” ~ PM_Worst_Fart_Story

“Five days in total.”

“Five days in total.”

“They pulled me out of it after two or three days and I extubated myself, ripped out my IVs and punched a nurse before they sedated me again and restrained me.”

“Day five I woke up and the first thing I remember is not knowing anything. Had to describe, but my brain was basically at a primal level. The only thing I could process was fear.

“Then I ‘remembered’ I was human. At that point, it was ‘okay, my name is X, I’m alive. I’m in a hospital. Those are nurses. Holy s*** I fell off a cliff!’ and I calmed down.”

“After that things are blurry. I think they pushed something to relax me after my initial panic. I apparently signalled to ask for a pen and paper (I was retubed so I couldn’t speak) and wrote, ‘Can I have a whiskey IV?’ And ‘I feel like a salad.’”

“As far as while I was under, my last memory was being loaded into a helicopter and the medic asking ‘X, you’re in the bird, it’s gonna be okay. Do you understand?’ And me saying ‘Yeah, this s*** hurts, knock me the f**k out.’”

“And something got pushed in my IV and next thing I know I’m experiencing what I said above. No dreams, no locked-in syndrome, nothing.” ~ TacosArePeopleToo

“I just remember…”

“I was in a diabetic coma and don’t remember any of it and most of the bit before. I just remember waking up feeling amazing (morphine) and zero pain, which was lovely.” ~ JustPassingShhhh

“When I (slowly) woke up…”

“I was in a diabetic coma for two days. No dreams, no nothing, just out. When I (slowly) woke up I had some kind of mild/minor amnesia.”

“I didn’t know where I was, or who I was, but I recognized my mom immediately when I saw her. TMI but the doctors were just about to put in a catheter when I woke up, then I peed for like two minutes straight.”

“The nurse was impressed.” ~ MingusMonz

“I had a C-section…”

“I had a C-section and woke up four days later in the ICU. Amniotic fluid leaked into my lungs during the C section. I also lost a lot of blood and needed three blood transfusions.”

“I was only in a coma for four days. It was black, no dreams, no time passing. My memories of before the coma don’t have a timeline nor make any sense.”

“To me, it happened in surgery, I was fully awake and started getting tired and then black. The family says it happened differently, that it was after and had visitors for those days. I don’t remember any of those days at all.”

“I still have issues with short-term memory.” ~ NotBadSinger532

We’ve all seen movies about people who fall into comas after an accident or following a grave illness.

Hopefully, these stories give the rest of you some more insight into the experience.

And hopefully, hopefully you don’t ever have to experience it for yourselves.

Posted on

911 Operators Describe The One Call That Haunts Them To This Day

WARNING: mentions of violence, suicide, death

Though many of us have difficult, exhausting jobs, most of us are fortunate enough to be able to say our work is not especially scarring.

Emergency dispatchers, on the other hand, have terrible stories they could tell.

Redditor Onatic420 asked: 

“911 Operators, what call scares you till this day?”

Some remembered being there for someone’s worst moment.

“My sister called 911 and while she was trying to do CPR, she was begging, ‘Daddy, please wake up!’ and that’s something that’s been branded into my mind ever since then.”

“I still think about that a lot, even though it was 4 1/2 years ago already.” – Enuke2003

“Every call where someone is reporting an unresponsive relative. Some will let you walk them through the CPR process if they don’t know it, some won’t.”

“Every one of them, you hear the caller at some point pleading with the patient to not leave them. Most times they do though.”

“Parents, spouses, children, I’ve had them all call. Never gets easier.” – RaisinBranCrunch

“My husband died of a sudden heart attack. I feel terrible for the 911 operator who took my call.”

“He had passed by the time paramedics got there, so the guy on the phone with me had to listen to me scream and cry and beg. I cannot imagine having to hear that at my job.” – LivingDeadCode

Others had gutwrenching stories about children and families.

“I was a 911 operator.”

“When I asked for the address, I got an angry man yelling, ‘Just get the f**kin’ ambulance here!’”

“When I asked what happened, the caller said, ‘You don’t need to f**kin’ know that!”’

“‘I just need to know what happened so I know who to send and what equipment to bring, sir’.”

“‘Just send a godd**n ambulance, my kid’s having a seizure! Don’t send any f**kin’ police’.”

“‘Don’t send police’ coming from a caller is basically them telling on themselves. Please send police, because the patient or the EMS crew or both could be in danger.”

“So I passed a note to my partner, who was dispatching: ‘Send PD. Extremely uncooperative caller’.”

“I tried my best to get through the rest of the questions (how old is the kid, are they conscious, are they breathing, has the seizing stopped, etc…). I got nothing but verbal abuse.”

“All I knew is that a pediatric patient had a seizure when the call started, there was yelling in the background, and there was some terrible yelling in the foreground.”

“‘PUT YOUR HANDS UP’.”

“‘HEY, WHAT THE F**K, B***H’.”

“And that was it. Police had the caller.”

“The patient ended up being a toddler, who had been beaten to within an inch of their life by that a**hole. That was terrifying and sad and I hugged my own kid a little tighter that night.” – insertcaffeine

“Not scary, but I think about them often.”

“Mother of 4 called in saying the trailer was on fire and her bedroom door was locked from the outside. I could hear her kids screaming and coughing in the background.”

“I asked her if she could open a window, but they were nailed shut for some reason. Then we had her shove blankets under the door to stop the smoke from coming in before the fire department gets out there.”

“After about 5 min the coughing dies down and she stops responding to me. Nothing at all.”

“Then the fire department comes over the line saying the homeowner came out and that no one else was inside so we could slow the ambulance. We kept telling them we’re on the phone with people inside but they assured us there was not.”

“Eventually, they pulled the people out, mother and 2 of the kids died. The man who came out was letting this family stay with him and he torched it and left them in there.”

“The second was a woman calling on her husband while they were fighting, she was screaming, saying he was in the room and had a gun and wasn’t sure if he was going to shoot her or himself.”

“Seconds later I hear a gunshot and blood curdling screaming. I asked who had been shot and she said he shot himself in the head.”

“Impossible to get that 1 minute of chaos out of my head and it was months ago” – raegirlheygirll

“Got a 911 call with just screaming. Nothing intelligible, just the loudest screaming you’ve ever heard. I started officers to the house.”

“Then a kid started yelling that her uncle was trying to kill her, her sister, and her grandmother. She started screaming again, there was a thud, and then no more sound.”

“Officers got there and a man walked out into the driveway and said, ‘I did it. I killed them’.”

“He was mentally ill and lived with his mother. She had been trying to get him committed, with doctors saying he wasn’t a danger to himself or others. His 9-year-old twin nieces were visiting from out of state.”

“He snapped that morning. Bludgeoned them all with blunt objects, including a large vase. His mom and one niece died. One twin survived with extensive injuries. It was a horrifying call.” – IWantALargeFarva

“A guy in my neighborhood killed his whole family, then called 911 and told them what he had done before killing himself.”

“I always wondered what it was like for the person who took that call and the cops who showed up to find the scene.”

“I knew the son pretty well. I was on my way to school that morning when the cops were rolling in and blocking off the street.” – markitf**kinzero

There were awful break-ins.

“A family member worked as a police dispatcher and received a call from an elderly woman.”

“Her husband had just been killed in their garage by an intruder. She heard it happening. She’s wheelchair-bound but the phone was next to her.”

“She frantically begged my family member to help her. While he was on the phone with her, the criminal cut her throat. My family member stayed on the line three more minutes until the cops got there.”

“He could hear the sounds of the attack, her gasping and gurgling noises. He kept telling her help was coming and to hold on.”

“Amazingly, she survived.”

“The criminal was later caught. A 17-year-old who just wanted the thrill of killing someone and picked them at random. He’s on death row now.” – peeweemax

And there were tragedies.

“My neighbors when I was a kid, Mrs. C had dementia, possibly Alzheimer’s, and Mr. C was like a third grandfather to me.”

“We hadn’t seen him in a week so my mom went over to see if they were ok. Mrs. C told us Mr. C was still asleep, so my mom called 911.”

“I’m glad we didn’t go in there because apparently Mr. C had passed in his sleep a few days before and Mrs. C didn’t realize.”

“Very sad for us, but I’m very grateful for the police officers who were so kind and made sure a little kid like me didn’t have to see the details. Great memories of him, though! He taught me a lot about gardening that I still use today.” – ahw34

“Former 911 operator here.”

“Sometimes the calls that stick with you aren’t the most physically traumatic. I once had a call from a 17-year-old kid who came home from a sleepover to find that his mother had moved.”

“Just packed up his sister and everything in the house and left while he was gone with no forwarding address or information. She also turned off his cell phone that morning so literally, the only number he could call was 911.”

“He was trying so hard not to cry and his voice was shaking as he kept apologizing to me for calling 911. He just didn’t know what else to do and had no other family.”

“She also took everything so all he had was a couple of things that he had taken to the friend’s house. He told me his 18th birthday was in a couple of weeks and he literally had nothing.”

“The officers that responded took him to a shelter. I think about him often and I hope he’s ok. Even if he was a kid who got in trouble or had behavioral issues, I can’t imagine coming home to find your mother has abandoned you.” – gabbobbag

These stories will surely stay with us for a while—we can only imagine how the dispatchers felt.

These are the kinds of stories, whether horrible or heartbreaking, that make us want to hold onto our loved ones a little tighter.

If you or someone you know is struggling, you can contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).

To find help outside the United States, the International Association for Suicide Prevention has resources available at https://www.iasp.info/resources/Crisis_Centres/

 

Posted on

Doctors Share The Funniest ‘My Patient Googled Their Symptoms’ Stories

We’ve all heard the advice to “not Web MD” our symptoms, as in, to not do a deep-dive of our own symptoms on the internet before seeing a doctor.

We could easily become misinformed or even scare ourselves with a disease we don’t have.

Fortunately for doctors, some of the situations they find themselves in are pretty funny.

Redditor squishy0930 asked: 

“Doctors of Reddit, what was the dumbest ‘I read on the internet…’ moment you had with a patient?”

Some doctors took issue with homeopathy.

“I once had a lady come in who clearly didn’t believe in modern medicine, but had to see us for an official diagnosis for her disability application.”

“I remember she probably had fibromyalgia, admittedly a very difficult condition to manage. She presented me with a report written by a complete quack (and I use this term very rarely but it applies here).”

“This ‘practitioner’ had taken a strand of hair and run a ‘DNA’ test on it for some significant amount of money. The whole report went through all her symptoms and decided that because the patient had lived in a moldy house 10 years ago, all her symptoms were caused by residual mold in her body.”

“Specifically named her kidneys, heart, nervous system, and brain as having mold in. Then recommended a homeopathic remedy to fix it. The patient had swallowed this story hook, line, and sinker, and nothing I could say would dissuade her.”

“It’s the only time I have tried to track down a therapist of any kind to try to report them. Funnily enough, they chose not to respond to my e-mails or telephone messages.” – clickygirl

“Not a doctor. As a transplant recipient, I have to take immunosuppressant medication for the rest of my life. There are studies that some people do come off them completely, but it’s such a huge risk to take that it may trigger organ rejection.”

“A family member of mine still can’t grasp how a life-saving surgery provided by western medicine which initially saved my life, is still keeping me back from living my life. He suggested that I get off my immune suppressants because I am a cash cow for big pharma.” – mango_invasion

“You’d be amazed at how many people tell me (type 1 diabetic) that I could get out from big pharma and my dependency on insulin if I just eat right…”

“I’m skinny and otherwise healthy. Type 1 is autoimmune disorder that must always take insulin due to the pancreas no longer creating any on its own…”

“These conversations are often met with a blank stare by me.” – BearXW

A few had experiences with Gout symptoms.

“Conversation I had with a doctor a few days ago:”

“Me: ‘So I was told that if I can identify what food I am eating that is giving me gout I can avoid it and won’t have as many flare-ups, is that right?’”

“Doctor: Literally laughs out loud ‘Aaaaaaaaaaa no. Evidence for dietary-based management of gout is very sketchy at best. Take the pills. Where did you even hear that?’”

“Me: ‘Your nurse said it to me…?’” – reverendmalerick

“I suffer from gout. I was diagnosed with it last summer and had to go through various combinations of pills to work out strength and dose I needed to manage it.”

“Anyway, my Mum tried telling me it was because I drank too much beer. I ate too much red meat. All stuff she’d googled.”

“Doctor told me that they don’t fully know the cause and that he knows professional athletes that have struggled with it. I’m not saying I’m a professional athlete. But it made me better knowing it can be literally anybody.”

“On the downside. The bouts I have had have been some of the worst most consistent pain I have ever endured. I literally wanted to chop my foot off to stop it. I wouldn’t wish it on anyone. Gout is horrific.” – highlander2189

There were stories about using medical products… wrong.

“Had a pt prescribed NuvaRing for birth control to be inserted vaginally. Ring lays around the cervix. She came in complaining it was too tight and needed a bigger one. Shows wrist, pulling on a tight ring to show how was cutting off blood supply to hand. “ – wereallmadh3r3

“Not a doc (nurse) but my doctor friend who works in the ER had a patient with a few garlic cloves stuck deep in her vagina because she had read on the internet it helps with certain infections and yeast.”

“(I realize garlic does have antibacterial properties but needs to be used appropriately and with caution.)” – Professional-Quote59

“As a general surgery resident on the colorectal surgery service, we do a lot of hemorrhoids, anal fissures, etc.”

“One of my colleagues prescribed a cream for a middle-aged woman and she later called back and asked if the cream would still work while she was on vacation in Hawaii.”

“Uh, yes it will, why? She replied, ‘Because I was told to apply it locally.’” – TypeADissection

Some instances were actually horrific. 

“I’m an RN. A patient with diabetic foot ulcers read on the internet that salt would dry them up.”

“He put his foot in two plastic shopping bags w/rock salt & turned his foot into prosciutto basically.”

“Had to ‘carve/amputate’ most of his foot. He has forever been nicknamed ‘hammy’ by me.” – scottylynn77

“Had a patient come in with horrid cellulitis because they thought they read that putting dirt in a cut would help stimulate their immune system. It did for all the wrong reasons.” – captainspalding232

There were also some interesting stories about alcohol.

“I’m not a doctor, but I did take my very elderly Nana to the hospital after I showed up to her house and found her slurring her words and behaving very strange overall.”

“Now, my Nana is a major hypochondriac, and when she was admitted the first thing she told the doctor is that she believed she was experiencing the beginning signs of Parkinson’s.”

“It turned out that she had mixed up a bottle of non-alcoholic wine with a bottle of regular wine, had drunk the entire bottle, and was completely hammered.” – Pygmalion335

“My grandmother was not an alcoholic, per se, but she was accustomed to having a glass of wine in the evening. As the years passed on, one glass turned to two, two glasses turned to three, probably to help her sleep.”

“Given that she was living alone, we didn’t actually know how many glasses she usually drank, except that it had been increasing over time.”

“She ended up at a nursing facility at one point, and it was pretty clear she was deteriorating and would pass away in the coming months. The nursing facility wouldn’t allow alcohol.”

“With the anger and stubbornness that sometimes shows itself with advanced age, my grandmother was livid and just refused to accept this.”

“My mom talked to the nursing home staff. My mom basically said that she’s really sorry but grandma is adamant, she’s at the end of her life so a 12-step program isn’t really in the plan, and given that no one really knows what her previous alcohol intake was, they also weren’t sure what would happen in terms of detoxing.”

“The nurses said it was against their policy and they didn’t really have a choice, unless it was prescribed from a doctor.”

“So, my mom talked to her doctor, and the doctor ended up writing a prescription for 1-2 glasses of sherry every evening, which she had for the rest of her days.” – longjumpcamel

Though it’s important for us to be informed about how we can better take care of ourselves and stay healthy, there are certain instances when it’s better to talk to a doctor instead of the internet.

Clearly from these stories, there are instances where research will cause more harm than good.

Posted on

13 Ridiculous Reasons People Lost Their Jobs

Losing your job sucks. It can mess with your head and your self confidence.

Getting fired brings so any new worries, at a time when you don’t have the headspace to deal with them.

But it’s even worse, when you’ve already got a lot going on.

1. How long is too long though?

Are we talking days? Hours?

A good boss might have suggested a nice fiber supplement.

Image credit: Whisper

2. I’m sensing a theme

Why are employers so obsessed with potty breaks?

What do they think you’re doing in there?

Image caption: Whisper

3. They were afraid she’d spend all day crying in the bathroom?

This one is so heartless I don’t even know what to say.

Image caption: Whisper

4. Don’t they know there’s a movie about this?

They were afraid she’d stay after hours to make amazing new flavors of pie.

Image credit: Whisper

5. What a headache

Whether or not it’s wrongful termination, you gotta hope karma gets them in the end.

Image credit: Whisper

6. I guess that’s one way to avoid a lawsuit?

Or to get out of paying short term disability?

Image credit: Whisper

7. It’s called the Emergency Room for a reason, guys

It’s nice to actually see one where the good guy wins.

Image credit: Whisper

8. I guess their boss wasn’t a family man

Anti-family, even. Just wow.

Image credit: Whisper

9. There’s a special place in hell for this employer

I mean, what exactly is a “good excuse” if not this?

Image credit: Whisper

10. Pretty sure working there would give me a panic attack

That guy can join the other one in The Bad Place.

Image credit: Whisper

11. Do they think it’s a gourmet celery restaurant?

No, really, do they?

Image credit: Whisper

12. If they didn’t immediately get their job back then this one wins them all

I mean, you can get a doctor’s note for that right?

Image credit: Whisper

13. I feel like there’s got to be a better way to say it

Somehow I’m in awe of both the worker and the boss.

Image credit: Whisper

I don’t think I’ve ever heard such awful reasons–beyond the workers’ control–for being let go from a job.

What about you? Share your story in the comments.

The post 13 Ridiculous Reasons People Lost Their Jobs appeared first on UberFacts.

Posted on

13 Ridiculous Reasons People Lost Their Jobs

Losing your job sucks. It can mess with your head and your self confidence.

Getting fired brings so any new worries, at a time when you don’t have the headspace to deal with them.

But it’s even worse, when you’ve already got a lot going on.

1. How long is too long though?

Are we talking days? Hours?

A good boss might have suggested a nice fiber supplement.

Image credit: Whisper

2. I’m sensing a theme

Why are employers so obsessed with potty breaks?

What do they think you’re doing in there?

Image caption: Whisper

3. They were afraid she’d spend all day crying in the bathroom?

This one is so heartless I don’t even know what to say.

Image caption: Whisper

4. Don’t they know there’s a movie about this?

They were afraid she’d stay after hours to make amazing new flavors of pie.

Image credit: Whisper

5. What a headache

Whether or not it’s wrongful termination, you gotta hope karma gets them in the end.

Image credit: Whisper

6. I guess that’s one way to avoid a lawsuit?

Or to get out of paying short term disability?

Image credit: Whisper

7. It’s called the Emergency Room for a reason, guys

It’s nice to actually see one where the good guy wins.

Image credit: Whisper

8. I guess their boss wasn’t a family man

Anti-family, even. Just wow.

Image credit: Whisper

9. There’s a special place in hell for this employer

I mean, what exactly is a “good excuse” if not this?

Image credit: Whisper

10. Pretty sure working there would give me a panic attack

That guy can join the other one in The Bad Place.

Image credit: Whisper

11. Do they think it’s a gourmet celery restaurant?

No, really, do they?

Image credit: Whisper

12. If they didn’t immediately get their job back then this one wins them all

I mean, you can get a doctor’s note for that right?

Image credit: Whisper

13. I feel like there’s got to be a better way to say it

Somehow I’m in awe of both the worker and the boss.

Image credit: Whisper

I don’t think I’ve ever heard such awful reasons–beyond the workers’ control–for being let go from a job.

What about you? Share your story in the comments.

The post 13 Ridiculous Reasons People Lost Their Jobs appeared first on UberFacts.

Posted on

A Botched Surgery Causes Pubic Hair to Grow on a Woman’s Face

It’s hard to deal with traumatic events – things like a dog biting a hole in your face, for instance. That’s exactly what happened to Crystal Coombs when she was 9 years old, according to People.

It bit an actual hole, in her face.

“It was open for a while. Like how the outside of Freddie Kruger’s face looks, with the burn? That’s what the inside looked like.”

That was clearly a horrible experience for a 9-year-old child, but her saga doesn’t end there.

The video below explains a bit more about why Coombs is seeking help from Botched, a reality TV series that connects people to doctors who help them after a past botched surgery.

Coombs reveals that she had a hole in her face for a good while before she eventually sought help. Though her doctor fixed her wound, unfortunately, there were some complications to the surgery that her doctor didn’t warn her about. She says,

“He suggested the skin graft, [and to] take it from the groin. They did the surgery, and then the hair started growing.”

Coombs has been growing pubic hair on her face since that surgery. And, in fact, the show’s Dr. Terry Dubrow told her that it’s rare for a doctor to grab a patch of skin from the groin in order to do this type of surgery, for this exact reason.

“They could’ve done the back, the abdomen. You obviously wouldn’t do the armpits.”

Typically, doctors do try and match skin as well as possible before a graft, but that appears not to have been a concern this time,

The show’s doctors did say that – hair aside – Coombs’ original surgeon did a good job with the surgery, and that they’d have to be careful with her next corrective surgery. It looks like Coombs will be fine soon enough.

What do you think of Crystal Coombs’ predicament? We’re all ears for your opinion in the comments!

The post A Botched Surgery Causes Pubic Hair to Grow on a Woman’s Face appeared first on UberFacts.

Posted on

10 Doctors Share Their Most Shocking Anti-Vax Horror Stories

At the risk of potentially getting some angry comments from a few folks, I’m gonna go ahead and say it: vaccines are a marvel of modern medicine that have saved countless lives, and any potential negative side effects (such as they are – the most commonly-feared ones have been widely disproved) are vastly outweighed by the benefits.

Many doctors have experienced real-life horror stories in their dealings with anti-vaxxers. Recently, we found out a few of these stories when a Reddit user posted the question, “Doctors of Reddit, what are some of your anti-vax parent stories?”

Brace yourselves. Some of these will shock you.

1. An odd rationalization

“Had a kid come in for generic upper respiratory virus. Asked mom if he was vaccinated, as is routine. She said no. When I asked why not, her response was “Well my boyfriend was vaccinated and he still got meningitis, so they don’t even work”

I told her that’s the same as saying your friend got bruised by a seat belt in a car accident, so you don’t wear them when you drive.”

2.This is shockingly heart-breaking

“I’ve told this story before, but the worst was when I was in medical school. The woman actually brought her daughter in to get catchup vaccines. Why? Because her other daughter was in the ICU with fulminant meningitis from a vaccine-preventable illness, hanging on for dear life. The nurse there sat her down and told her point-blank that she rarely sees this disease because people are vaccinated for it. The mom couldn’t understand how her girl had contracted it. We asked if she knew anyone who wasn’t vaccinated. Apparently no one in her church vaccinated, and several had been sick recently. She couldn’t believe the source could be them. The kicker? She also brought her son to clinic, but refused to vaccinate him, saying “he’s my only son”. No matter how we explained it to her, she believed giving her son the vaccine would result in brain damage.”

3. Doctors understand the dangers if only we’d listen

“Doctor here. Guy decided to not get a flu shot this year. Ended up in the ICU with flu infection in his brain He has currently been in the hospital for a month most of which in the ICU. Has likely permanent speech difficulty and left sided weakness.”

4. Unbelievable!

“Child A had an absolutely horrible time with chicken pox; to the point that I thought he might not make it. So what does she do? Intentionally expose Child B to it.”

5. Real talk from Dad

“Friend of mine is a military OBGYN. Was at a OB appointment with the pregnant dependent and servicemember. He had just returned from AFG a few months prior.

OB mentions about follow-ups after delivery in 1st year of life, including vaccines.

Wife says: ‘I read on the internet that vaccines cause autism, I don’t think we’re going to do that.’

Husband says: ‘I saw a lot of little graves in Afghanistan, sure as sh!t we are getting our kid vaccinated.’”

6. And vaccines have bad side-effects?

“I had a kid come in that was super sick. 3 years old and in septic shock. He had the flu and another compounded viral infection (I want to say pertussis). Heart rate was close to 200, respiratory rate in the 50s, blood pressure in the 70s. Kid was so fucking dry that we could barely get IVs into him and I almost had to drill an IO. We dumped a ton of fluids into him, started him on vasopressors and transferred him to the local children’s hospital.

I had asked the mom if he was vaccinated and she said “No, vaccines have really bad side effects! They’ll make you sick.” I explained to her that NOT getting the vaccines had made her kid 10 times sicker than he ever would have been from any mild vaccine reaction. She told me I was a moron and that I obviously have no clue what I’m talking and that’s the reason her kid was getting transferred…. She also told me that recommending she vaccinate her kids was racist.”

Photo Credit: Quick Meme

7. Anti-vax beliefs pushed to the extreme

“We had a 14 year old female come in for abdominal pain one time. She weighed 80 pounds. Looked sickly. Her mother refused to let her eat anything but a handful of things, nothing with very much protein at all. She literally had a binder full of articles about how horrible vaccines are, all the bad things they put in food these days, etc. She had completely brain washed this kid so the kid believed it too. Her labs showed malnutrition, her teeth were horrible. Just a sad case all around.”

8. This doctor knows what’s up

“When I was a med student, I had a parent who wanted to do a ‘delayed vaccination schedule’. Basically it means that you get all the same vaccinations but you pointlessly and foolishly do it over a longer time period. The mom had read a book promoting this practice that was unfortunately written by an MD. My pediatric attending had zero chill: ‘Is that the book written by Dr __? Yes? Well, then you should know that I was in the same medical school class as Dr __ but I got much better scores than he did.’”

Photo Credit: Make a Meme

9. A secret vaccination?

“I’m not a medical doctor but a mental health therapist, went to do a new client intake and while asking the mother about the kid’s medical history, vaccination records etc she said he was not vaccinated because vaccines cause autism and she didn’t want to risk her son getting it, then when I went to meet the kid within 5 seconds of laying eyes on him I could tell… he was autistic. Worst part was that when I told her she became very upset and started yelling at her husband saying he must have gotten the kid secretly vaccinated and then immediately ran out the house and took the kid to the emergency room for “testing” and just left me and the dad in the living room just kind of staring at eachother. Never answered my calls or texts again after that and I had to get DCF involved.”

10. Excuse me?

“This one time this lady came in for a check up. The child had not been vaccinated yet and I told her she needed to vaccinate him. She said that she didn’t want any needles touching him because she didn’t want him to get autism from the needles. She wanted him to get an ass spray of the vaccine. To this day it left me very confused and I told her we didn’t do that so she left. Maybe an anti-vax but idk anymore.”

Photo Credit: Make a Meme

Please do your research to understand the down-sides of not vaccinating your children. A preventable death is the ultimate tragedy.

The post 10 Doctors Share Their Most Shocking Anti-Vax Horror Stories appeared first on UberFacts.

Posted on

Doctors Reveal 12+ of the Dumbest Patients They’ve Ever Experienced

The next time you get yourself in a difficult medical situation…just let a doctor handle it. There’s a reason why they went through years of medical school.

So, listen up to these doctors on Reddit who shared stories of the dumbest patients they ever encountered.

Caution: extreme stupidity ahead.

1. Bite The Sun

“I’m a general practitioner, and the most outrageous thing I’ve heard was from a boy who was something like 20-22 years old. He was from an impoverished, illiterate family. The boy had a bad case of tonsillitis and refused to take any medication because all he needed to do was ‘bite the sun.’ Basically, at noon, he had to look up to the sun, open his mouth as wide as possible and ‘bite’ the sun several times so it would ‘burn’ his tonsils and cure him over the course of a couple of weeks. When that wouldn’t work, plan B was to do the same at night but only under a full moon.”

2. Yikes

“I had a 34-year-old who popped a pimple on his privates with a needle after cleaning it by putting it in his mouth. Yeah, he ended up losing everything.

A 72-year-old recently had a heart stent placement and started having similar chest pain at night around 10 p.m.

He decided to stay in all night and try to sleep through it. He popped ten aspirin overnight and came to an urgent care instead of a hospital. He was not doing so hot when he left our care.

Another guy, a mid-20s male shot his junk off.

Now he lives with a hole in it.

This other time a young female jumped off the balcony just so that she can get some pain meds. I loaded her up and intubated her.

A guy had a room freshener spray stuck in his butt.

They had to take him to the operating room. I don’t know what he was thinking. It’s a vacuum when you shove stuff up there!

Another good one was when this dude pulled out his catheter just because he was angry at medical staff.

Yeah, that didn’t help with the situation. He realized later what mistake he made and how painful it’s going to be for him for a while.”

3. His butt hurt

“In the wee hours of the morning, a doctor friend of mine got called to see a trauma consult. It was a guy who reportedly wandered into the ER stating he’d just come from a bus stop across the street from the hospital.

He had just woken up there and realized that he was missing his wallet… as well as all of his clothing from the waist down.

What, you ask, would prompt an indecently-clothed man to march barefoot across a busy downtown road, in a big city, by the dawn’s early light to seek assistance in the ER?

Shame be condemned… his butt hurt.

My friend did an appropriate workup and discovered a large chunk of broken-off concrete lodged in this gentleman’s rectum. It required an operation to retrieve it. However, before they whisked him off to the OR, the patient confessed the rest of the story:

He’d hooked up with two strange men off of Craigslist, and they’d gone out in one guy’s awesome sports car, used copious amounts of illicit substances, and done… well, at that point, he wasn’t too sure just what they’d done.

All he remembered was waking up at the bus station with no pants and a rock up his butt.

While my friend was still in the ER with the guy getting consent for the operation… the patient’s very worried wife walked in.”

4. Google Master

“I am an ER doctor and recently had a young male patient who came in for about the fifth time complaining of abdominal pain and vomiting. Looking over his records from past visits, I could see that his symptoms had previously been attributed to either acid reflux and gastritis or cyclic vomiting syndrome due to daily heavy substance use. Anyway, he’d been told to take Nexium twice a day and cut back on the drinking, as well as follow up with a GI doctor, but he had done none of those things.

Instead, he tells me, ‘Doc, I Googled my symptoms and I’m sure I have stomach cancer. My mom has cancer too, so she gave me some of her chemo-therapy pills and I started taking those.’

So, yeah, guy ignored the medical diagnoses and recommendations he was given and instead decided he had stomach cancer and treated himself by taking his mother’s chemotherapy pills. He wasn’t sure what kind of cancer his mom had.

I tried to explain that different cancers require different medications, that chemotherapies are the most toxic medications we made and might kill him. He was very unlikely at his age to have stomach cancer and much more likely to have over-production of stomach acid for which he should take the medicines he was prescribed the last several times he came to the ER.”

5. A drinking emergency

“Had an old coot (best possible description of the man) who was sweet but had spent his adult years drinking away whatever brain cells he had when he started. He presented with the chief complaint, ‘I can’t drink anymore. Every time I drink one, I just throw it back up a few minutes later.’

Well, it turns out he hadn’t been able to eat actual food in months, was subsisting on pretty much just liquid, and hadn’t gone number 2 in over two weeks.

That didn’t bother him a bit – until he couldn’t drink. Then it was an emergency!

He had a big ol’ tumor blocking the distal part of his left colon (so near the end of the road, intestinally speaking), and everything gradually got backed up all the way to his stomach. That’s why he couldn’t keep a drink down – there was just no more room at the inn.

I fixed him with a colostomy, and he got better and left. He refused chemo, and I figured he’d just go home and die of cancer. However, almost exactly one year later, he came back to me with just about the same complaint – obstructed to the point of not being able to drink.

Except for this time, it was that his ostomy had essentially retracted into his abdomen and the skin had nearly grown shut over it.

He was pooping out of a teeny-tiny hole in his skin. WHAT?

Even my oldest partners had never seen anything like it, but once again Cooter wasn’t remotely fazed. He just wanted us to fix it so he could go home and keep drinking.

I did. Haven’t seen Cooter since. I kind of hope he’s still out there, treating his cancer with suds and just blissfully ignoring the Grim Reaper.”

6. Might want to double check those instructions…

“There was a patient who was upset to find out that she was pregnant again because she’d used her diaphragm EXACTLY as she’d been told. She carefully inspected it for holes, applied the spermicide, placed it, wore it at night, then took it out, cleaned it and put it away each morning… and then her husband arrived home from his night-shift.”

7. Some explaining to do

“We responded in the ambulance to a place that is… well, it’s different. We go hot for a 13-year-old girl with abdominal pain.

We get there, and she’s lying on the couch, surrounded by family. She’s uncomfortable but able to laugh and joke that her stomach hurts.

It feels ‘crampy’ for the last two days and she has had blood trickling out from her privates.

This happened last month too, then about a month before that. She has had to go home from school each time.

She is surrounded by women. Her mother (late-20s), her grandmother (40s), great-grandmother (early 60s) and great-great-grandmother (mid-70s). Every one of them is flabbergasted as to what this could be.

So, here I am, a 30-year-old dude of a very different ethnic and cultural background, asking all sorts of uncomfortable questions.

‘Have any of you explained to her about periods?’ No. Clearly not. No one here has been NOT pregnant for a long enough time to understand that they come more or less regularly, roughly once a month.

We took her in any way.

Better safe than sorry. At least us and the nurses could explain some things to her. Clearly, no one else could.”

8. Full contact

“I worked in the ER during my internship and met a girl who had increasingly painful and red eyes since a couple of days back. The last 24 hours had been horrible. I asked about all the normal stuff, and she claimed to have no idea why she had an eye problem – she had never had anything wrong with her eyes.

I proceeded to drop some dye in her eyes to check them under a microscope, and when I did, I realized she was wearing contacts.

She didn’t like her natural eye color, so she had bought a set of blue colored lenses eight months earlier.

Never removed them, not even during night time. She didn’t even think to mention this to me, claimed to have no ‘foreign materials’ in her eyes.

I gave her quite the harsh lecture and a referral to an ophthalmologist.”

9. Home Improvement

“I worked in a private WASP hospital in a very affluent community. This meant I missed out on injuries from gang violence but got to see some of the dumbest attempts at home improvements ever. I will list my favorite.

So, two guys are attempting to lay hardwood flooring.

They have no clue what they are doing, but what the heck. They rip up the old flooring, lay down some plywood and start to lay down their nice antique hardwood boards. At this point, they have an issue.

How does one find the studs in the floor when they are covered by the larger plywood panels?

Well, being geniuses, they decide to send one guy to the floor below and have him call out under the beam and have the guy fire his nail compressor over the sound.

There are so many issues at this stage that it is amazing. I have no clue why they thought this plan was a good idea. So tempting to start smacking them around at this point… but had to be professional and just let them keep going.

Sure enough, the guy on the top floor missed a beam, fires the way over-powered tool into plywood, it goes through the weaker first layer of flooring, shoots the guy on the bottom floor in the head.

They know the nail missed the beam (there is a hole to prove it) but can not locate the nail.

Oddly enough, the patient was fine. The nail grazed his skull and entered the skin, then settled behind his ear.

It was a very sore bump. He assumed the nail had hit him on the way by and initially, didn’t want to come in, but the friend insisted on it since they could not find the missing nail.

Great x rays, couldn’t keep them.”

10. Smelly

“I was an intern in the ER. I have seen a lot of stupid people; it was a small town and all. The worst I think was when I walked in, and the floor smelled like… I don’t even know. It was by far the worst thing I had ever smelled.

I asked a passing nurse what the smell was, and he just shrugged his shoulders and told me, someone, probably poop everywhere.

Well, the doctor is preparing to go into this room, but I did not expect what would happen next.

He opened the door, and I almost barfed. It was extremely hard to keep my professional composure.

The guy had his leg wrapped up. The doctor asked him to unwrap it, and it was gangrene. From his foot up to the middle of his thigh.

The smell I had been smelling was rotting flesh. The cause? ‘The four-wheeler I was riding caught fire six months ago.’”

11. Nothing a little Jack can’t fix

“As an Army medic, I have had some dumb patients. One of the first guys I treated got nasty road rash from a motorcycle crash and decided to treat it himself by pouring Jack Daniels on it. By the time he came to the medics, it was pretty bad, and I had to do debridement with a scrub brush: scrubbing the bad parts off with plastic bristles.

He was in a lot of pain, and I was trying not to laugh at him.

We once had a guy who had the tip of his finger amputated. His first question was, ‘will this grow back?’

One guy had a sore back, and while I was doing the physical exam, he said, ‘Doc, my spine is curved (it wasn’t).

That’s why my nose is crooked.’

Medics all have lots of fun stories.”

12. Baby only likes the good stuff

“I grew up in Upstate New York, where my dad had his practice (he’s an OB/GYN). Genesee Brewery was nearby, so it was a fairly popular adult beverage brand with the locals.

A patient came into the office for a prenatal checkup.

As part of his follow up, he asked if they were drinking anything they shouldn’t so that he could tell them to avoid it.

The woman reassured him that her drinking habit was fine. ‘Oh, don’t worry Doctah!

I drink da good stuff. I drink Genny Cream!’

My dad then had to explain that even if she’s drinking the ‘good stuff,’ she still can’t have it when pregnant. She honestly thought that if she had ‘good’ stuff, it’d be fine for the baby.

Yikes. Plus, I think Genesse Cream is pretty awful to begin with, which makes the story funnier.”

13. He drove himself

“I’m a surgical resident, and one that comes to mind while I was on the cardiothoracic service was a gentleman that came in through the trauma bay with a stab wound to the chest. He reported (after we fixed the rather large hole in his right ventricle) that he was just visiting a friend and while on the stoop of the building, a random stranger stabbed him with a sword from a 1st-floor window.

He proceeded to laugh, get back in his car with his buddies and drive home, despite the rather profuse bleeding from his chest. He drove home and then eventually decided he should go to the hospital. He drove BY HIMSELF to the hospital.

The last thing he remembered was being on the way to the hospital. Lucky jerk was found in the parking lot. He had passed out in his car. He eventually made it to the OR and walked away just fine.”

14. Too many to count

“There are several close calls. There was the patient who fixed an appointment for a pedicure the day after open heart surgery. He said that he’d just sneak out of the ICU and that nobody would notice.

Then there was the patient who had an amputation of half of his foot and decided that it would be a good idea to walk to the toilet after returning to his room, covering the floor in bloody footsteps because the suture ripped open again.

Then the patient who said that he didn’t have any previous operations, but was covered in scars. When asked about each of them, he suddenly remembered having about 15 surgeries for various accidents.

The patient who forgot that he had his kidney, spleen, and part of the colon removed (because of a tumor).

There was one patient who decided that he’d never take more than three pills a day (because obviously taking more than three pills a day is going to kill you). He was on four or five different meds at that time, and just chose at random which meds he was going to take which day.”

15. Better safe than sorry

“I still remember a guy coming to the hospital with his girlfriend and asking for the morning after pill. I asked them when did the intercourse happen and he says, ‘Well, I wouldn’t call it exactly intercourse, but my girlfriend would feel much more relaxed if she took the pill.’

I asked, ‘Could you define the nature of your contact?’

He says, ‘Well… uh… my girlfriend is pure, so we don’t ‘do it,’ but last night we were in our underwear, and we were cuddling, and I came a bit in my underwear, and then we kept cuddling, and my wet underwear was touching her thigh.

So maybe something found its way into her?”

16. How else?

“I had a marine once who came to me complaining of a rash to his right forearm for two weeks. This was his first visit for the issue and hadn’t had anything like this before. He was worried since he reported worsening symptoms since initial onset.

When asking about prior skin issues, he told me he had ringworm just before THIS rash.

I look at his arm, it looked like a mild second-degree chemical burn in a rather circular shape, with blisters on the edges. What got me was the exact definition in the burn edge. Asking the young LCPL how he got that he replied, ‘Well that’s the burn I got from the bleach I poured on my arm.’

When I ask him WHY he poured bleach on his arm he says, ‘Well, how else was I going to kill the ringworm?’”

17. Don’t miss it

“I have the grandma, the mom, and the teen in the room. The teen is pregnant, but this apparently is a good thing. There are no fathers/grandfathers/boyfriends/jobs in the picture, but everyone decided it was about time a new generation was added to the family lineage.

Apparently, the teen did not appreciate the fatigue, full bladder, back pain, etc., that go along with being pregnant and is also experiencing some cramping pains. She demands that we do a C-section because she’s tired of being pregnant (even though she’s still not far enough along) because then we can just hook up the premie in an incubator to finish growing and the government can just pay for the (incredibly expensive) ICU stay.

My jaw just dropped.

Then there was the lady wearing short shorts and no underwear who raised her leg and showed me the puss-filled wound on her labia … while in the middle of the waiting room.

I don’t miss rural OB/Gyn experiences.”

18. Cement cast

“Turns out using cement as a DIY cast for your broken (but not reset) leg is a bad idea. Turns out the chemicals in the cement irritate and dissolve your skin. A patient became septic and almost died by the time he presented for medical care.

Emergency Medicine – preventing natural selection one stupid person at a time.”

19. The thirst and the energy

“As a med student, myself and another student took a history from a guy who drank several (10+) cups of tea a day with six sugars in each one ‘for my thirst’ and had six meals a day of four bacon sandwiches, with butter, ‘for the energy.’

That’s all he had every day.

That’s it. He couldn’t understand why his heart disease wasn’t getting better, why he’d put on weight, why he was now showing high blood sugar and was borderline diabetic.”

The post Doctors Reveal 12+ of the Dumbest Patients They’ve Ever Experienced appeared first on UberFacts.