I’ve told this story before, but …

I was away at grad school at the University of Illinois and developed a cough. I’m an allergic person, so I took antihistamines and sucked cough drops all day.

Finally, after three months, I went to Student Health. I told them I usually needed a steroid shot. They wouldn’t give me one. I left, unhappily. The cough remained, waning and waxing, through winter, spring, and summer.

Just before classes began for my second year at U. of I., went back to Student Health; they gave me cough syrup that helped a little, but left me queasy. By the end of the year (December), I went back and demanded a chest X-ray to rule out pneumonia. They told me nothing was found and that I was “just a California girl who couldn’t handle Illinois winters.” Never mind that I’d had the cough for well over a year.

As time went on, I also started feeling extremely fatigued. With limited energy, I ended up prioritizing my “Intro to Psych” teaching duties over progress toward my MS/PhD.

I was feeling so bad I went home for the summer. I saw my regular doctor who gave me a steroid shot which cleared up the cough. Just before I was about to fly back for my third year, I was told that, since I wasn’t making progress in my degree, I could continue my studies but wouldn’t get the out-of-state tuition waiver, would have to pay out-of-state tuition, and had lost my teaching position.

I flew back with my mother, rented a U-Haul, packed up my apartment, and drove home. The cough recurred, but the oral and injected steroids would knock it down. The steroids were a combination of an immediate release and a long-acting type which, together, should give relief for three months.

Then, I got the cough, got the steroids, and the cough returned in less than a week. My doctor took a chest X-ray (he had one in his office). There was a mass the size of an orange in the middle of my chest. By the time I could get a CT scan (it was 1984 and the machine was moved from hospital to hospital on a semi-trailer) 10 days later, it had grown by 50%.

I had Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. When my oncologist requested my records — especially the X-ray — he was told that there were none. [My cynicism tells me that they reviewed the X-ray and found what they had missed and made the records “disappear.”]

One of the chemotherapy agents was prednisone, one of the steroids my doctor had been using, which is why it would get better temporarily. As fast as it was growing, the tumor responded extremely well to chemo — my whole body was affected — so after the chemo, I had five weeks of radiation. No further problems (until I developed a different, unrelated cancer in 2018).

tldr: Student Health at grad school missed my cancer, thinking it was anxiety.

Debbi Rose , Andrea Piacquadio Report

POST

For a couple of years prior to 2015, I asked my doctor at my annual physical about a lump behind my ear. He didn’t seem concerned and passed it off as most likely a blocked salivary gland. In November 2015, I mentioned to him that it was sore to the touch. He said just BLOCKED salivary glands don’t usually hurt. So, he sent me for an ultrasound and from that a needle biopsy that turned up “suspicious cells”. On December 3rd they took me in for surgery to remove it. The ENT surgeon said the tumor he saw on the ultrasound was benign 80% of the time.

During my surgery, he came out and told my wife it was quite different than he had expected it to be. It was a malignant tumor that had wrapped itself around two branches of my facial nerve. He further told her that he needed her to decide for me (I was still asleep) what he should do. 1. Clean it up the best he could and risk not getting all of the tumor, but spare the nerves or 2. Cut the nerves and risk facial paralysis, but remove the tumor in one piece. She told him to GET IT OUT. It was the right choice. I do have some mild paralysis but after 32 radiation treatments and six weeks of chemo, I am cancer free. I ended up needing a feeding tube for three months and lost 28 lbs. but that April I was able to meet my twin grand babies when they came along.

Hal Bloss Report

POST

When I gave birth to my first child, two months afterwards I had the worst bout of heartburn of my life. I had eaten a single slice of vegetarian pizza, extra sauce. Just one, and couldn’t sleep for the rest of the night. My life continued on it’s course.

Enter sushi night with my favorite 911 roll that had extra spicy tuna and garlic bits. I had exactly three pieces, played a bit of a particular game, and went to bed around three hours later. Again, had the worst heartburn, this time it gave the previous bout a run for it’s money. I shrugged it off, and went about my life.

Some of you already know where this is going, but I’ll continue.

I had a few more bouts of this over the next 17 months. Then, it happened.

My husband, who I was in the first steps of a relationship with and we met through friend online, was set for our Saturday night “date.” I informed him I was picking up my very favorite salsa and guacamole with an oreo cookie shake I fully intended to pass to my son after a few sips. I did just that. A few sips of the shake, I then ate a cup of tortilla chips with salsa and guacamole and sat down to our little date. I started to feel a bit off.

I thought it was my heartburn. Excused myself and got some tums and continued, except, it wasn’t heartburn, this was different. I excused myself, called my ex husband to get our child and laid down on the couch. For the next 24 hours I felt like something was sitting on my chest and stubborn me refused to go to the doctor.

I finally at my now husband’s insistence went into the hospital. Down played it to my cousin who dropped me off on the other side of the ER and went home. I walked very slowly in to the ER who didn’t take me seriously and kept me waiting in the waiting room for five hours on the chairs that I was laying down in the whole time.

I got triaged, and the second they took my vitals the nurse went white and asked me what my pain level was. I said an 11, and promptly burst into tears. Got put back into the room, and the doctor, who I found out was a surgeon, came in and didn’t even ask me more than one question, which was “Where does it hurt?” I pointed to my chest and he winced and said, “I am SO sorry.” and pressed down.

I screamed. Only time I have ever screamed like that before or after. Even during labor I didn’t do that.

Yeah, I was admitted and he told me surgery was being scheduled as soon as there was an opening. He told me that even before the ultra sound was set up. I asked “For what?!”

“Oh, I am quite certain that your gall bladder needs to come out. As of yesterday. “

It was and it did.

Stones were spilling out as well. Laparoscopy performed and sent home a happy camper less than 24 hours later.

I learned that weekend heartburn sometimes wasn’t just “heartburn.”

Jennifer Silva Report

POST

In 2015, while driving a rental truck to transport my son from college to his first job, I developed a pain in my calf. It felt tight, like a muscle that needed to be stretched, maybe having pulled it earlier moving furniture. Nothing seemed to help it, so after spending the night in a hotel, my wife hounded me into finding the nearest urgent care center to have it checked out. Really? For a pulled muscle? Recently, the husband of her best friend had a blood clot in his leg. So naturally, I must have one too. 🙄

Dammit, she was right. I had a clot. But...blood tests showed the reason I had developed the clot was because about 85% of my blood were mutant blast cells. (Blasts are non-functional, immature blood cells, normal is normal is <5%). This proliferation of new blast cells was causing an artery to clog. However, the blood clot was the least of my problems. After further study by an oncologist, it was determined I had leukemia (AML), and unfortunately, a nasty, aggressive version of it (FLT3 mutation). The high blasts also meant that only 15% of my blood was still working. My last blood test before this was four months prior (another very interesting story) but my blood was clean then.
During the months just before my diagnosis, I had been taking a LOT of ibuprofen because of achy joints. Because of the AML, I wasn't allowed to take it anymore and subsequently came to realize that the ibuprofen had been masking severe bone pain caused by the leukemia — which was now unmasked. Over the next weeks I was on fentanyl, dilaudid, morphine, etc and none of those came close to touching the bone pain like ordinary ibuprofen had. I was on a time-limited self-dosing drips of hard-core narcotics and I would stare at the light all day long waiting until the next instant I could press the button. The point is, had I not been gorging on ibuprofen, the pain would have let me know much earlier something was wrong.
We ended up in a hospital in Fort Wayne, Indiana, about 1,000 miles from home, and still around 200 miles from my son's destination. The next few days were about getting me okay to travel. They got my blast count down a bit, and put an IVC filter down my jugular to catch any clots that might dislodge from my leg. We finally drove to my son's destination, and the next day flew back home to Texas. We then re-packed in about 15 minutes, and drove five hours to the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. We went there instead of locally as it was among the very best centers in the world for leukemia. My wife and I more or less lived there for the next year, and even today we still have to visit there monthly — sometimes weekly.
A lot of stuff has happened in the six years since, secondary illnesses, laboreous treatments, invasive procedures, drainage tubes, fists full of medications, even a couple of instances of rubbing shoulders with death. I won't bore you with that tumultuous history, but today I sit here a frail man with a compromised immune system, still battling complications from my stem cell transplant over 6 years ago. My life is now nothing like what it was in my past. But I'm thankful for my donor, the time I've been given with my family, and the days yet to come. I miss a few of the pleasures in life I've lost, but am now acceptant of my 'new normal' and will enjoy everything I can to the fullest.
And I have to add, I'm thankful that I have a loving, caring wife that nagged me into checking out my leg. 😏
EDIT: I just passed eight years and while I'm still here, I've lost more weight and it's all I can do to stay on my feet. In 2022 I was in the hospital four times, with one very serious long stay. Yet, I still find joy with my family, playing with our boxer, being active when I can. Life is a great thing. Cherish it.

Steve Wendler Report

POST

AtMostAFabulist

AtMostAFabulist

Community Member • points

posts

comments

upvotes

FollowUnfollow

Premium

Premium user. Get details.

2 months ago

• Report

Definitely cherish your time. My Dad has chronic sepsis, has been in the hospital 3 times in the last 6 weeks, with the last visit being two weeks. I was afraid he wasn't coming out at all.

2

2points

reply

View More Replies...

View more comments

Can't really say small but my husband pulled a muscle at work got put on pain and anti-inflammatory meds(he's taken them before) and one morning(April 11, 2016) he couldn't sleep and was restless and it's now 630am im trying to get 2 kids on the school bus and one off to work, I had asked him to go lay down till I got the kids out and I'd check his blood pressure. When I did it was 200/108(he was already on BP meds) and also complained about some chest pain. Off to the ER we went. BP came down to 180/100 and Dr ordered a chest x-ray came back all clear except for a mass just to the left of his heart and several lymph nodes inflamed in the right lung. They kept him overnight for obversation with a scheduled biopsy in 2 weeks of tge mass in his left lung. Results came back as stage 3 lung cancer. By early May after a PET scan it went to terminal stage 4 inoperable lung cancer. He underwent chemo and immunotherapy and radiation; things looked much better but sadly after about 6 months and another PET scan it spread the worst of it was in his bones. We wound up trying different chemo and things got progressively worse. He worked right up till 2 months before he passed, he never gave up until the last 2 months as the cancer went to his brain. I think he realized that this was it.🥺 It was then I had to take the car keys away from him and hide them including mine. He drove one night as we went out to dinner a month before he passed and all I can say in the almost 30yrs of being with him I was never so scared in my life with him behind the wheel. Life forever changed for me and our 3 kids when he passed a little over 3 years ago. But we are still here and trying to continue our lives. RIP Tim

Alice Kraft Report

POST

Not me but my Mom. I was about 8 years old, only child, Dad was over the road truck driver so it was just mom and me in our mobile home in nowhere Iowa. I was in bed and heard thumping and banging noises coming from the hallway. Opened my bedroom door to find mom on the floor in front of my room. She gasped “I’m sick” and didn’t speak anymore. I remember she had an infected hangnail she had been soaking in epsom salt the day before. The finger was red, swollen, and there was a red line running from the finger to her upper arm. She was feverish, vomiting, unable to stand. I called the nearest hospital and they blew me off telling me it was the flu. I’m pretty sure they could tell I was a child so did not take me seriously. This was before cell phones so no way to get ahold of dad. I’m not sure why but I had it in my head that if the red line got to her heart, she would die. I was pretty close to panicking at this point so I went next door and woke up the neighbors for help. They took her straight to the ER where they started her on antibiotics and kept her for a week. They wouldn’t tell me much because I was a kid but Mom told me later I saved her life. She almost died from an infected hangnail.

Tish Sneed Report

POST

Debby Keir

Debby Keir

Community Member • points

posts

comments

upvotes

FollowUnfollow

2 months ago

• Report

Sepsis.

3

3points

reply

View more comments

When I was 25 weeks pregnant, I was sent home from work (as a Nurse) with shortness of breathe and chestpain. My doctor was concerned it would be lung clots, although I did not have any signs of the usual DVT (Deep Vein Thrombosis). My ECG (heart monitoring) came back normal and my D dimer test came back positive (high clotting factors but this is usual in pregnancy). My doctor was very worried so sent me to the ER with a reference. My midwife happened to be there and had a look at the reference but dismissed it saying it was ridiculous. I was also in an abusive relationship, so when I returned home, my then partner told me I was lying and being a drama queen, so I ignored it.

Life got in the way. I ended up leaving my abusive partner just three days after this. Fast forward to 29 weeks pregnant, for three days I had been getting severe shortness of breathe and chest pains again. I recalled my doctors concern and went into the ER again. Once again, despite my being a Nurse or my Doctors prior concerns, they put it down to the fact I was heavily pregnant.

The ECG once again came back clear and they did another D dimer test which is hard to tell with accuracy whether the levels are raised by pregnancy or an underlying medical issue.

They did not want to do further testing due to my being pregnant but I insisted. I was in the ER “overnight stay" ward for 3 nights as they conducting ultrasounds on my heart, where I was basically told by the technician (naughty) that he didn't think I have blood clots. I was treated like a liar and a drama queen. But I persisted to have a CT scan done. Surely enough on the 4th day (obviously wanting me to leave), the allowed a CT scan to be done, whereupon, they found several lung clots in both lungs.

They called hemotologists to attend me from around Australia. The doctors and nurses all looked very freaked out with this medical phenomenon. They decided to induce labour and start me on 80mg of clexane BID (twice daily). I was also stuck in hospital for 2 weeks after giving birth with fears that the clots could rupture.

Sometimes, you just have to persist with your gut and head knowledge. Even when other's doubt you.

Bethany Stratton Report

POST

Bored Birgit

Bored Birgit

Community Member • points

posts

comments

upvotes

FollowUnfollow

2 months ago (edited)

• Report

Doctors. Should. Not. Doubt. Their. Patients!

4

4points

reply

My husband had a dark spot growing on his forehead. It looked like a birthmark. He'd had it for years, and for as long as we've been together (three years). He also has an autoimmune condition that causes his skin some difficulty when he's stressed.

So I finally made him a dermatology appointment to see what could be done to manage this ongoing skin condition. While at the appointment, he got the usual full-body scan by the doctor. The doctor paused over the dark mark on my husband's head. He just casually mentioned that he would take a small sample of the tissue from that spot. The doc shrugged and said it was likely nothing.

It came back malignant melanoma, the most aggressive and dangerous form of skin cancer. We didn't know if it had metastasized, spread to lymph nodes…We scheduled him to have a Slow Mohs procedure. The doc gouged his head down to the bone. Big, deep hole. It was packed with gauze and we were sent home.

I had to tend to and dress the wound. I am not a medical personnel of any kind. The sight of his gaping wound nearly made me faint. I was so nervous about this responsibility before me. I had prepared by having all the necessary bandages and accouterments I would need. I called my sister in panic, I just didn't think I could do it. She, being a mom, was used to bandaging up deep wounds, so she walked me through what to expect and she steadied me.

I did it all, every day. I would not let him see the wound. Even though he's a medical professional and a tough guy, he did not argue with me on this point.

We waited on pins and needles to find out if the MOHS surgeon had gotten all the cancer. Had it metastasized? Would another bigger, deeper procedure be required? The call came at 7:00 a.m. a week later. All clear. Procedure a success. No mets. OMG. 🙏🏽

Under my careful, diligent ministrations (I got inured to the horror of it), the wound gradually filled itself in. He hardly has a trace of a scar there now. Amazing. His flesh just grew and filled itself in. No surgical stitches necessary.

We feel very grateful to be together this Christmas Eve. He had the surgery in September 2019. He had barely fully healed at Christmas a year ago. Then, in January we both contracted COVID-19, and were fighting for our lives. Is 2020 over yet?

Barbara Anderson , Ann Bugaichuk Report

POST

When I was around 15 years old I started working at a community pool where my sister worked the front desk. One day while I was wiping the counters and high touch areas down, she asked why I was “standing crooked”. Me, being a moody 15 year old grunted “I’m not” and continued to work. A little while after I went to my family dr who referred me for a spinal xray. Turned out I had scoliosis. This explained my constant soreness, pain, and mental health issues the pain was causing. I ended up having surgery at the VCH (1.5 hours from my

home) at age 17. The surgery took around 9–10 hours, but was very successful.

I spent the next couple weeks in the hospital. I made friends, relearned how to sit up, walk, goto the washroom, shower etc again; and finally made a successful trip down the flight of stairs - the “test” in order to be sent home.

The day I was supposed to leave the hospital, I received news that my incision was infected + I was to be wheeled back into surgery - this time a 4 hour one - to clean it all out and get it bandaged it up again. I spent another couple days in the hospital after this but eventually made it home.

Shortly after returning home, I fainted while attempting to take my pain medicine. I was back in the hospital (local one this time, thankfully) where they monitored me + checked my back and hardware out. Everything was eventually cleared and I was sent home once again. The recovery wasn’t quick, nor was it fun, but I had an amazing support system in my family and friends. This was easily one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do in my life, and it’s something that is ongoing - even after surgery.

Dayna , cottonbro studio Report

POST

I went into 2 separate doctors twice for a lump in my breast almost exactly a year apart. The first time I felt it and went in it was pretty small but noticeable to myself. Maybe dime size. This doctor felt my breast and told me he clearly felt the lump but that it was clearly nothing to worry about. That I was too young to worry about stuff like that. I was 26. So then a year later I went to a new doctor after with my current fiancé he had felt the lump and told me to get it checked out. I went into a brand new doctor, got another breast exam done, was told almost the exact same thing, “I feel the lump but it’s nothing for you to worry about, you are too young to worry about it.” This time it was about this size of a quarter now. A few days later, I was speaking to a friend of a friend that was an ER nurse and explained my lump and she took a look, noticed immediately my nipple was inverted and I had dimpling, and URGED ME TO IMMEDIATELY GET A MAMMOGRAM. This was only a few days after that last appointment. So I called that last doctors nurses the next morning and very aggressively told them I didn’t care what he said that I requested a mammogram immediately. The hoops I had to jump through during that entire process was crazy. I was assured the entire process that there was absolutely no possible way it was of any concern and they fought with me the entire process of mammogram, ultrasound, biopsy, the whole 9 yards. 2 days after my testing, they called me and informed me I had a very rare form of breast cancer that is extremely rare to be seen in anyone under 50–60+ years old. I was stage 3B and it was spreading slowly to my chest wall and we basically caught it just before it spread any further. We had to work extremely fast and aggressively. I just turned 30 this year and so far I’m NED (no evidence detected) but if I had listened to them I certainly don’t think I would be around today.

Update: In April 2021 they found a reoccurrence during my pregnancy. I’m now stage 4 and it’s going to end my life eventually. I’m 30. I have 2 little boys now that will lose their parent very early in their lives because of negligent Dr’s. I actually had seen a new Dr in February who disregard bone pain also. They had let it spread much to far to come back from. Thank you for the upvotes. It needs more attention that Dr’s need to listen to their patients better when they know something is wrong. Also, please advocate for yourself if something feels wrong.

Alexis Kannenberg Report

POST

It wasn’t me but my one year old. He had redness and swelling around his privates, specifically his scrotum. My ex husband and I thought he had a diaper rash so we put our cream on it and disregarded it as just that; diaper rash. It wasn’t uncommon as our son hadn’t done well with many brands of diapers and wipes. About two weeks later, still seeing the ‘rash’ and small amount of swelling in his groin made an appointment with his pediatrician. When I got there, his doctor told me to wait a moment. He left the room and apparently was making a phone call to the Children’s Hospital of Atlanta, Scottish Rite and when he came back into the exam room, he told me I was to bring my son there immediately and that they already knew I was coming with him.

Turned out he had a hydrocele that was turning into a hernia and needed to be operated on. The procedure went well and I am grateful to my son’s pediatrician and all the doctors and surgeons who work at such a wonderful facility.

Johnna Bollinger Report

POST

Debby Keir

Debby Keir

Community Member • points

posts

comments

upvotes

FollowUnfollow

2 months ago

• Report

A hydrocoele , even one that is turning into a hernia, is uncomfortable but not 'an emergency'. It is possible that this was torsion of the testes, which is very much an usgent matter.

2

2points

reply

View More Replies...

View more comments

In May of 2016, on a Friday, I woke up feeling kind of icky, but I put my kids on the bus and went about my day. I had noticed something weird leaking from my lower abdomen but didn’t think anything of it because I’m A big girl and tend to get boils a lot. Not from being dirty, but just from sweat and friction. So I took a shower. I went to lay down because by this time I had a headache and was super fatigued. Woke up and felt worse. Saturday was date night and I could barely hold my head up and had no appetite at all. But went about the night. Got home, pants and panties were soaked from the spot on my abdomen. Took another shower (2nd that day). My kids dad had to work the next day (Sunday) and by this time, I couldn’t get out of bed. Parents begged me to go to the ER. So I did. Turns out that I was in septic shock and about 8 hours from my body shutting down completely. My kidneys and bladder were already in the process, as I had stopped producing urine. Further tests revealed that the spot that was leaking on my abdomen was the site where a rare flesh eating virus had been eating away at. They had to cut out 5 lbs of fat/tissue from my lower abdomen and 3 days in the icu and 5 on a regular floor with LOTS of antibiotics and fluids. I don’t know how many doctors have told me that I shouldn’t have survived, but here I am. 4.5 years later. In case y’all are wondering what it was, it was necrotizing fasciitis. Scary stuff.

Tina Cooper Report

POST

Jennifer Smith

Jennifer Smith

Community Member • points

posts

comments

upvotes

FollowUnfollow

2 months ago

• Report

I had sepsis from a kidney infection. I had been feeling bad for days and one night my husband said I should go to the ER. I said I’ll go in the morning but he made me go that night. Doctor said if I had waited till morning I would have died.

2

2points

reply

When I was 18 I was at university. One of my friends asked if I could see alright as he had noticed me squinting. I had had an eye check as a routine test at the GPs only a few months earlier and could read the bottom line of the chart; my eyesight was fine.

Over the next few weeks I noticed I was squinting so went closer and closer to the front so I could read it. My friends started offering me appointments to the optometrist that they could not make. I said I wanted to go when I went home for Easter.

I got my mum to make me an appointment and she dropped me off. The optometrist was a friend of my parents. He was quite chatty and told me I was probably just a bit short-sighted.

He then said, “No, we won’t make any assumptions till after we do the check.”

He remained fine.

I could not read the second line on the chart - with either eye. This was only about three months after reading all the lines at the doctor's. He went through the tests to see what glasses I needed and checked my eyes.The slit lamp, all normal stuff, until he finished my eye exam.

He looked at me and said that I would need corrective lenses but he wanted to call my mother and wait till she got there to discuss what was wrong with my eyes. I knew then it was serious. Wearing glasses is not that big a deal -- more must be going on.

Mum arrived 10 minutes or so later and he explained I have keratoconus and may go blind. Glasses would not correct my vision; I would need hard contact lenses and to see a special lens fitter in the city and an opthalmologist. In the meantime I got glasses. I was 18.

I was contact lens intolerant. My parents spent thousands on lenses I could not wear. A few years later my sister also got the same diagnosis. She was also lens intolerant.

At 26 I literally walked in front of a car I could not see; my eyesight was that bad. Even wearing glasses I could not read the top line on the chart.

That year I had my first corneal graft (transplant); the next year my other eye was done. I still cannot wear contacts but am currently legal to drive with glasses.

It has been a rocky road but I saw my kids reach adulthood.

Prudence Beltz Report

POST

I was working a double at a restaurant one night. It had been exactly one month since my 21st birthday. Towards the end of my shift, I just felt off. Lightheaded and extremely thirsty but no matter how much water i drank i couldnt quench my thirst. I thought maybe i was dehydrated or something else that wasnt a big deal. I decided to go to the ER to get checked out to be safe.

My coworker drove me to the hospital after my shift was over. I went to the check in desk and briefly explained what was going on. Despite the ER being full i was immediately taken back to triage.

A nurse mentioned to another nurse that my breath smelled sweet. I covered my mouth wishing i had stopped home to brush my teeth as i thought she meant i had bad breath. They checked my blood sugar. It was 338. I asked if that was bad but didn't recieve an answer.

I was taken back and they ran bloodwork. Several hours later I still didn't know what was going on. I demanded to see a doctor.

A doctor came in shortly after and informed me i had juvenile diabetes, known as type 1 diabetes now. I was admitted and taken to a room where i would learn how significantly my life was gonna change.

Its been 9 years now and its still a battle everyday. But im winning. I will not let this disease tear me down.

Sami Smith Report

POST

This is a slightly different take on the “something small” concept.

Just over 20 years ago I developed a nasty chest infection which was going around the hospital where I worked. Like most people who got it, I was coughing up phlegm for about six weeks.

Unlike the others, though, I didn’t stop coughing, although the cough became dry. For six months I coughed violently at the slightest provocation - often until I either vomited or wet myself or both. The NHS tried me on a battery of tests and medications, including an inhaler in case I’d developed asthma, and blowing into a measuring gadget several times a day for weeks, but nothing helped.

Finally, they had me doing a battery of lung-volume tests which required me to cough as violently as I could. So I did. I coughed so hard I coughed up a little pea-sized glob of solidified phlegm which must have been sitting somewhere in my larynx, irritating it, for six months. Once that was out - no more cough.

Claire Jordan Report

POST

boredkoala

boredkoala

Community Member • points

posts

comments

upvotes

FollowUnfollow

2 months ago (edited)

• Report

Similar happened to me! So thankful I could google it and know it was a bronchial cast....because man, that was a weird thing to cough up 😲

1

1point

reply

It started with some constipation, which had lasted about a week. I tried several of the over-the-counter mild laxatives, but did not seem to get any relief. So I got a stronger laxative, you know, the kind that makes you cramp when it is working. Well, nothing happened.

So after about 10 days days, I finally went to see my doctor. Well the doctor was busy, so I got to see the nurse practitioner.

The nurse practitioner told me I had severe constipation and sent me home with a prescription for a medical-grade laxative. Three days later, nothing.

Now I am getting a little worried. I am thinking to myself, going that long without eliminating waste cannot be good. Could there be a toxic build-up?

I call the doctor’s office and insist on seeing the actual doctor. The next day at the doctor’s office we go through the whole timeline and all the different products I have tried and been given. He tells me that I may be impacted or have a bowel obstruction. He tells me to try another stronger laxative. He also instructed me to have a colonoscopy due to my age, and has the nurse set an appointment for me with the gastroenterologist.

Of course the GI doctor orders me the prep for the procedure. Man, that was some nasty stuff, but I did finally get some relief due to the prep solution basically liquifying everything in my intestines. It should basically make you run clear, or at least mostly, but for me it did not. I know, TMI.

On the day of the procedure I am brought in dressed in the appropriate open-back gown. They run an IV and wheel me into the exam room. They administer the sedative and out I go.

When I woke up from my short slumber, they told me to get dressed. They told my wife and me that the doctor was waiting in his office to see me. I knew it could not be good news, as most doctors will visit you at the hospital bed and relay their findings.

When I arrived at the GI doctor’s office, we were ushered right in. He proceeds to tell me that he did not complete the examination. He said they were about 6–7 inches into the colon with the camera when they found the obstruction. There was a protrusion on the interior wall of the colon large enough to create the blockage. He was showing us the images from the camera, and just stated it was cancer.

I was in shock, to say the least. My wife was in shock. Everything the doctor said after that point was like a Peanuts cartoon: “Wha wha, wha wha wha.” I honestly do not remember much of that conversation.

Three days later I was in the hospital for a procedure to remove the cancer. The surgeon cut out an eight-inch section of my colon and resectioned the colon. It turns out I had Stage 2 cancer. It had grown to 6 centimeters, but had not spread to any surrounding lymph nodes. I had, by the grace of God, found it early enough.

I had the surgery and a few treatments of chemo. I am happy and grateful to say I have been cancer free for about 10 years now.

GOING TO BE PREACHY NOW

People, get your yearly physicals including a colonoscopy if you are over 40. Those little polyps that form in most people’s colons can become cancerous.

Men, get that prostate checked. I know, no one want a finger up the ____, but it is better than having something cut out or irradiated.

Robert Duncan Report

POST

In April of 2020 I noticed a little bump growing on my upper lip. It felt like maybe an ingrown hair from shaving at somewhat irregular times with the shutdown from the COVID situation. I picked at it with a needle as I’d done before when an ingrown happens, but couldn’t find the hair.

It kept growing and turned out to be a particularly fast growing type of wart with a nasty solid “horn” on it.

I finally got an appointment at the dermatologist and she took one look and told me she’d spray it with the liquid nitrogen and that would take care of it. After she sprayed it she asked if I had any others, since they charge the same price to do 1–15 lesions in a session.

I said well ya actually, I’ve got a big crusty old-man looking wart on my left calf. Long story short, that thing I thought was just a crusty looking old-man wart turned out to be squamous cell carcinoma type skin cancer.

Fast forward to today, I had an excision to remove the SCC, plus two other biopsies. One on my face just below my eye and the other on the web valley between two toes for a possible melanoma. 0/10 I do not recommend needles and razor blades between the toes!

Thankfully the toes spot turned out to be benign but the spot on my face is basal cell carcinoma and will require MOHS surgery sometime later this month.

Moral of the story is wear sunscreen better than I did the last 30 years!!

Lloyd Hendricks Report

POST

AtMostAFabulist

AtMostAFabulist

Community Member • points

posts

comments

upvotes

FollowUnfollow

Premium

Premium user. Get details.

2 months ago

• Report

Moral of the story: Get those crusty old man warts checked sooner rather than later.

2

2points

reply

View more comments

Yes. I was feeling a little under the weather for a little over a week. My ear was giving me trouble, stopped up feeling, dizziness, etc. - I thought I had a regular ear infection. So, I went to see a doctor in my local Walgreens or CVS (I can’t remember which one). They looked and told me I had an ear infection and gave me antibiotics. After a few days, I started having some pain in my ear and the stopped-up feeling wasn’t getting better, but I just told myself, “Things will get worse before they get better. The antibiotics haven’t had enough time to work”. I finished the antibiotics and things were worse, but what drove me back to the clinic was the pain. So, I go back and they tell me that they can see there is some pressure on my eardrum and some redness, and they prescribe a new, stronger antibiotic. Ok, I didn’t think any more of it. I finished the medication, but things did not get any better, so I went back a third time. At this visit, I was told that I would need to go see an ENT doctor because they couldn’t do any more for me.

I was able to schedule an appointment with an ENT pretty quickly and went in thinking it would be pretty routine. The doctor asked some questions and looked in my ears. He surprised me by telling me there was no ear infection. “So what’s causing these symptoms?” I asked. He then sent me for an MRI, which would provide more information. I went for the MRI a few days later and returned to see the doctor a few days after that. I should have known something was wrong when the doctor came into the exam room - his face told me that this was something more serious. He put up the MRI images, told me I had a brain tumor, and then showed me the MRI. For some odd reason, I honestly thought he was kidding, I thought it was a sick joke and actually told him so. “This is not funny”. He didn’t seem surprised by my response. I found out that patients in this situation are in disbelief and my response was more of the more common reactions. An acoustic neuroma. He said that it’s rare but benign and can cause all of the symptoms I was having. My mind was spinning, I couldn’t comprehend it. Even though the tumor was small, it was causing so many problems - some hearing loss, tinnitus, nausea, vomiting, severe vertigo, loss of balance, and headaches.

I had brain surgery the following month. It took about 5 hours, but the doctors were able to successfully remove the entire tumor. I will admit, I had a little bit of a setback, but after many weeks of physical therapy, I’m doing pretty ok. The hearing in my right ear has decreased since surgery, requiring the use of a hearing aid, and the tinnitus will never go away, but things are ok.

Jackie Thomas Report

POST

I went to my doctor complaining about a couple symptoms I was having.

sharp and dull pain left side of my chest when I took a deep breath.
Upset stomach.
ache in my armpit left side.

He told me to stop sleeping on my left side and to start taking ibuprophen for my shoulder pain, and an acid reducer for my stomach.

2 weeks later I was walking with my grandfather in a really bright city.. he died in 1997.
Came to with a woman giving me chest compressions in the back of an ambulance.
Stent in my L.A.D.
Widowmaker heart attack.
then a pulmonary embolism 7 days later.
then my kidneys shut down from all the blood thinners they gave me.

I now have a new family doctor.

Fred Germain Report

POST

I'll keep it short..

I never get colds or the flu. Woke up one day having trouble breathing and coughing. Ignored it for hours but it got worse. Finally I went to one of those walk in clinics. They did lots of test said I had the flu and sent me hone.

About a hour later I could hardly breath. Tougher it out for a hour and went to the er. I never go to the er so you know it was bad.

Soon as I got there they started hooking me up with tubes and oxygen.

Not long later they told me I had the flu and double pneumonia. They didn't tell me then but I was having a heart attack too.

They loaded me up and transferred me to another hospital and put me in icu.

Later they did more test and told me I have blockages in my heart and needed open heart surgery.

I had quadruple heart surgery before I left.

Went to doctor for a bad cough and left after open heart surgery.

Having the flu saved my life.

Terri Coleman Report

POST

I’m 61 years old. When I was 50 I decided to go get a check-up for for the first time in about 25 years. I felt fine but thought it might be a good idea to make sure everything was ok. My family had a history of long and healthy lives. Many living into their 90’s and even 100’s. I smoked, ate what I wanted, drank, and didn’t exercise. I was cocky. I even put off my checkup till I was 52. (Hey, I feel fine!). Fast forward, Doc wanted me to get an MRI, I do. He calls me a few days later and says I have an “ascending aortic aneurysm”. He said it’s not big enough to operate but it does need to be monitored. Three months later I wake up and my face is swollen and looks like a red balloon. That has never happened before. My wife insists I go see the doctor. I go (reluctantly). “I feel fine!” The nurse practitioner (Melody❤️!) tells me it’s an allergic reaction to something and have I changed anything in my daily routine. Of course not! I’m 52 years old! She said if it happens again call her.

Now…I’m getting ready to leave and making small talk when Melody’s expression kind of changes. She asks me if she can listen to my heart. I am kind of taken aback but told her, sure. She put the stethoscope to my chest and asked, “How long have you had the murmur?” “What murmur?” She looked at me and said, “You have a very loud murmur”. (She knew about my aneurysm.). Long story short, my aneurysm had ballooned very rapidly and I was in surgery in just a few days. My doctor told me if I would have waited it probably would have dissected in less than a year and I would have died instantly. He did say it might have happened later, but it would have definitely killed me.

Melody told me later that she just had a strong feeling that she had to listen to my heart. She also said I’m the reason she listens to the heart of every one of her patients before they leave. Oh yea, I’ve not had any kind of allergic reaction since then, and I had never had one before.

I’m not particularly religious and I have often struggled with belief. I don’t know what to make of this experience, but I can’t help but think something was looking out for me. In case your wondering, my surgery and recovery have been outstanding. My cardiologist tells me I’m one of his success stories. Melody still works for my G.P. and I consider her my guardian Angel.

James Harper Report

POST

About 13 years ago I went to the doctor for recurring fevers. Every six weeks or so I’d get a high fever and be sick for about five days. Sometimes the fevers were as high as 103°F (39.5°C). Blood work was fine. I was told nothing was wrong. I kept getting the fevers and kept going to the doctor and leaving with no diagnosis.

One Saturday I was sick and I went to the clinic. The doctor on call that day thought something wasn’t right and sent me to an oncologist. Turned out I had lymphoma, a kind called Waldenstrom macroglobulinemia.

The doctor first tried a chemo. drug but it didn’t work. He decided to do a stem cell transplant using my own stem cells. They took my cells out and then blasted me one time with a very intense chemo. drug then the cells were put back in. I had the usual hair loss but, before it fell out in clumps, I decided to just shave my head.

The treatment worked like a charm! I was back to work in four months.

Karen Elkin Report

POST

My mom was a cheerful and healthy 72 year old widow who saw her doctor for blood pressure checks mostly. One week she asked him about a few black spots on the toes of one foot.

“Blood blisters" he pronounced them.

Mom is a retired RN which is good because she is educated and bad because she believes whatever doctors say. No questions.

The spots started to hurt and she went back. Twice. No different opinion from this guy.

I said, “Enough!” and scheduled a second opinion with someone I trusted. He took one look and then scheduled her immediately with the office of our top Vascular Surgeon.

The surgeon said, “I hope we can save your leg. This is gangrene.”

She had to have a vein rebuilt all along her leg. She made a good, if not painful, recovery. Her doctor had the nerve to stop in to see her.

He said “Your daughter gave me a call. She was quite angry.”

My mom smiled. “I don't doubt it.”

What i said to him was “A 3rd year medical student can recognize gangrene!”

Our attorney said we could only sue if she DID lose her leg.

Eleanor Murray Report

POST

I went to the doctor for my Scout Camp physical. I was the Scoutmaster of our Troop, and every Scout and leader must have a physical before going to camp.

I was expecting it to be routine checkup, but instead the doctor looked at an item on my blood test and got a worried look on his face.

“Your PSA is dangerously high,” he said.

PSA stands for Prostate Specific Antigen. It goes high if you have an injury to your prostate or if you have an illness, which could range from an infection to cancer.

“I’ll pass you to go to camp,” he said, “but when you get back, we need to do some more tests.”

Well, I did the additional tests and eventually had a needle biopsy where they took three samples of tissue from my prostate and examined them. I was at school teaching when the doctor called. I went to the office to take the call. (Pre cell phone days.)

He said, “Well it looks like you have cancer.” My legs got weak and I suddenly had to sit down.

In the next month or so I had more tests and investigated various options for treatment. I noticed that radiation and cryogenics both said, “Results comparable to surgery.” So, surgery was the standard, and I elected to have surgery.

That was 29 years ago, and I’m still here. 29 years cancer free. All thanks to my Scout physical.

David Thomas Report

POST

I was having some chest pain for about 2 or three days. It seemed to come at random times. I thought I had pulled a chest muscle, ( which isn’t to unusual because my job required some heavy lifting and I was trying to get into shape again). Well one day when I was with my family visiting an old fort in our area the pain come back but this time I also had pain in both of my arms. My wife tried to convince to go to the ER. I just down played it and said I would go if it happens again. Well the next day at work it happened again. I went to the ER and the doctor ran some blood work and they came back and said I had a heart attack. I was surprised honestly I was just 40 years old and still could run a 16 minute 2 mile. They prepared an ambulance to take me to UT, (they would not let me drive myself).

I checked in that night and the next day or so,(sorry I can’t give an exact time frame, I had a lot going on in my mind). They ran a heart carth on me, which is kinda like watching a fishing line going through your veins. But anyway they said I had to much blockage and require a bypass surgery. Now I was getting a little worried. I have never had surgery before other than getting my wisdom teeth removed.

Long story short I had a triple bybass and they said one of the artery’s that was blocked was called the widow maker because if it gets blocked completely you are more or less done for.

That has been almost 8 months ago and I’m doing good. Other than having to listen to my wife telling me I need to listen to her more. Lol. But seriously I am thankful for her and all of the doctors that gave me a chance to enjoy my life and family for awhile longer.

Daniel Mckheean Report

POST

I found a little hard lump under my left ear. It was pandemic time and there were radio and TV ads telling people that they must see their doctor if they found a lump (otherwise, I wouldn’t have gone).

So, I rang for a phone appointment, expecting to be told it was a cyst or something. Nope. I was called straight down to the surgery (thank goodness I knew that particular GP very well and trusted him).

The next week or so was a bit of a blur: multiple biopsies and ultrasounds and what have you. Then a Covid test and an operation!! It was the unseemly haste that was most terrifying. Darned near cut my ear off!! But I’m ok now - except for some quite impressive scarring. That blue/green stripe under my ear that goes under my chin - that’s bleeding under the skin acting under the force of gravity, not just a grubby neck!

Update from today. Scarring isn’t too bad, really. Clever people, those surgeons. Most of the scar that’s actually on my face is hidden in the creases around my ear. I am so grateful to the NHS!!

Oh, and that tube? That’s one of my hearing aids. Deaf as a bloody post, I am!

Rebecca Aryal Report

POST

Mere Cat

Mere Cat

Community Member • points

posts

comments

upvotes

FollowUnfollow

2 months ago

• Report

Um, so what was the diagnosis of the lump?

3

3points

reply

View more comments

When I moved to Thailand, I got really terrible acne on my chin.

I figured it was from the much hotter climate, different food, pollution, or water. Whatever the cause, I had a pizza face for the first time in years.

That summer, after being in Thailand for about 5 months, I suddenly had to go home for my grandma’s funeral. So, I scheduled an appointment with my dermatologist while I was there. My first dermatologist appointment in around 5 years.

When I got there, she gave me a topical medication to help me with my breakout.

But, she also noticed a very suspicious-looking mole while I was there.

She tested it and found that that mole was changing rapidly. It wasn’t quite cancer, but it was so close to becoming cancer that they treated it like cancer.

She immediately got me in to remove the mole, saying, if I waited any longer, skin cancer could have developed and spread.

It seemed to me like getting terrible acne from moving countries is what saved me from getting skin cancer. Without it, I never would have gone to the dermatologist and they wouldn’t have caught it in time.

It was the first time in my life that I thanked God for giving me acne.

Charissa Enget Report

POST

i had been having annoying neck and shoulder pain for months, probably over a year or more. I went to my doctor, who was an internal medicine doctor. He did a cursory check of things and decided I was most likely depressed. I didn’t believe so, but doctor knows best, right? I left his office with a prescription for Prozac. I took it for a month and didn’t feel any happier, nor was I in less pain. We tried muscle relaxants also. They didn’t help much, but at least made me sleep well. I stopped taking the antidepressant and went back to the doc.

He sent me to a rehabilitation doc who suggested physical therapy, so I started PT a couple times a week. I was fit at the time, and doing 100 mile cycling rides (centuries) and sprint and Olympic level triathlons. I had knots that had formed in my shoulders and neck. The PT put me in traction and started putting intense pressure on the knots. The pain was excruciating!!

As the months passed, there was no real progress, except I started getting shooting shock like pains in the side of my face that would make me twitch. They were intense, yet momentary. The rehab doc decided it was time for MRI’s of my head and neck. He said the scans came back with nothing significant and decided we would start a course of lidocaine injection therapy. He explained this would offer me weeks of relief and stop the muscle knots and spasming. I also continued the PT.

I went and had the injections. One injection went into every significant knot in my shoulders. I think it was about 10 Injections.

What I haven’t mentioned, is during this same time period, my partner had been diagnosed with chronic overactive autoimmune disorder, which was determined to be attacking her liver. Her liver was being destroyed and we were making trips across the state to the transplant hospital and waiting on the donor list. This process is very slow, and quite honestly, a person has to be literally dying to get to the top of the list. In addition, we were raising my 3 year old granddaughter at the time and both of us were working full time. Tough times, indeed.

The injections didn’t seem to work for more than a couple days. I called the doc and he was dumbfounded. He said the injections should have provided relief for weeks and said we would try another round. He referred to a neurologist for nerve testing. The testing showed nothing notable.

During that time, I found a largish lump in my neck. It was close to my lymph gland, and felt like it - but it wasn’t quite in the right place. When I went for my appointment, I asked him what he thought about it. He looked shocked and sent me for more MRI’s.

When I met to review the new scans, he sheepishly admitted the first scans had showed a problem and the doctor reviewing them said I needed further testing that extended further down my spine. The new scans showed a massive schwannoma growing on my spinal cord and enveloping my C-2 nerve. The entire process to get the diagnosis was close to a year.

I was referred back to the neurologist, who quickly said he couldn’t help me. The tumor was too entangled and it was beyond his scope of expertise. He referred me to another neuro. That doctor said the same, and then referred me to the chief of Neurology at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center. He had concerns, but took the case. We scheduled the surgery for a couple months forward - he explained it was a slow growing non-malignant tumor and a slow approach would give me time to get my affairs in order.

Then, my partner suddenly died. An anyeurism in her pancreas suddenly, unexpectedly burst while she was at work. She never came home and had passed before I got to the hospital. The hardest thing I’ve ever done was trying to explain to my granddaughter why her other grandma wasn’t coming home again. Ever.

As I write this, I still don’t know how I survived those days and weeks. What a horrible nightmare.

I had the surgery, which saved my life. The Neurologist was shocked at how bad the

Stacy Cox Report

POST

IDK_Something

IDK_Something

Community Member • points

posts

comments

upvotes

2 months ago (edited)

• Report

Wow, thanks BP! 🙄🤦🏼‍♀️ ETA rest of story: The Neurologist was shocked at how bad the tumor was. They had to completely cut out my C-2 nerve and my vertebral artery on my right side. Permanent bilateral rods were placed in my neck. Much to everyone’s surprise, I was able to walk, talk, and breathe on my own. I survived, and was able to return to full duty as a police officer seven months later. I will be forever grateful and indebted to the staff at chief of neurology at Wake Forest.

4

4points

reply

I was bored in English class one day and happened to notice a bump on one arm that wasn’t on the other arm. I mentioned that in passing to my stepmother who decided I should have it seen. Even though I was a high school senior, my medical records had go to the same pediatrician as my siblings when we moved several years before. Since I hadn’t had any reason to see a doctor in the intervening time, that’s where they were, so off to him I went. Besides, it was just a bump on the arm, so no big deal, right?

The pediatrician looked it over, decided it was probably a hematoma, but that it should be X-rayed and I should see him again in a week. I got the X-ray, but was busy and since it was probably nothing time went by. Fortunately, after about 3 weeks, I needed to get a physical as part of the college admission process. I went back to him and he did the physical, then asked about the bump. I said that it hadn’t he changed. He examined it, said that it was bigger and kind of freaked out repeating “Why didn’t you come in to see me sooner!”

He decided that I should see a pediatric surgeon for a biopsy. My initial plan was to do that in a couple of days since I was missing classes. He had the nurse call the surgeon’s office, explain that they were sending a patient over, and then put me on to make the arrangements. Guess I’m missing the rest of my classes for the day.

The pediatric surgeon said that he wasn’t used to patients who drove themselves to their appointments. He set up a biopsy for a few days away. The lump was a tumor and a very unusual one at that.

Being a good student, I timed everything so that I finished up my classes before heading to MD Anderson for treatment. However, I missed graduation and apparently no one had thought to tell those running graduation that I wouldn’t be there, so my name was called and then there was a pause while they waited for me to appear. It was a weird enough tumor that they treated it there rather than sending me back home with a prescription for treatment. I have the diagnosis from then, but that was for a tumor that usually shows up in the bone (mine was in the muscle) and in 80 year olds. A doctor I saw a few years back said that they often misdiagnosed back then (compared with what’s known now), but had no reason to question that diagnosis if the treatment worked.

That was all about thirty-eight years ago. In a number of ways, I’ve been extremely lucky with it all. But that (small) bump on my arm turned out to be quite significant.

Scott Alexander Report

POST

I went in for a routine ultrasound. It would have been scheduled later, but the assistant to my nurse midwife found out I would consider abortion if the baby had certain disorders and wanted to get me if before it would be too late.

The morning of I felt so ill I almost didn't go, but my babies dad talked me into it. I was 22.5 weeks along and having a horrible time. Abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting everyday. I had been to the ER 8 times at this point and had a hospital stay, but they kept sending me home saying my potassium was too low and maybe constipation but that was all. We thought maybe if I went to that ultrasound they might discover something new. We were right.

I went in to the room for the ultrasound. The tech started by looking at my baby and printed pictures for us, told us it was a girl. Then she moved her device to my right ovary. Everything still fine and going as expected. Then my left. Right when the ultrasound device hit it, I began throwing up. Her face showed immediate concern, but I don't think she was qualified to tell me something was wrong.

She left for a moment to get the doctor, came back and continued looking at my ovaries while we waited for the doctor. Everytime she went over the left one I vomited, sometimes multiple times. The doctor came in and looked, at both my ovaries and the baby, let me know the baby was healthy and asked if I could wait in his office for a little bit.

I waited there with my now ex significant other. He complained about it taking so long. I told him something is probably wrong and that is why. I just kept looking at all the diplomas on the wall of this obstetricians office keeping my mind clear and not too busy with what could be wrong.

Then I was called in. The doctor explained something was wrong with my ovary and I would need to be admitted to the hospital. While waiting for my room I kept throwing up in the waiting room of the obstetrics outpatient office. I eventually got to a room in the mother baby unit and another obstetrician came into see me. She said that I have an ovarian torsion. That means my ovary is twisting around and around. I would be getting an MRI that night.

After the MRI I was finally getting hungry and less nauseous so I ordered mashed potatoes. Once they arrived the nurse came running in saying the doctor just changed my diet orders and I was not allowed to eat. I took one bite and then the nurse removed the food.

The doctor came in moments later saying I would need surgery that night as soon as she could get a hold of the on call gynecological surgeon. It was so bad she was concerned about it bursting soon and all the toxins being released in my body killing my baby and possibly me.

I had surgery that night. Scariest moment of my life was waking up in the OR not knowing if my baby was okay. The surgery staff immediately calmed me down and said the baby was fine. The surgery was a success, my entire left ovary removed. It was completely necrotic (dead) tissue, so if there was a tumor causing it pathology wouldn't even know. So the cause is unknown.

My baby's (now seven-year-olds) life was saved that night, aswell as maybe my own, thanks to an awesome medical team including a surgeon that took on a task most would refuse.

The following week after my hospital stay I had very little nausea, and went from 108 lbs (at 5 months pregnant) to 118 lbs. I had a healthy 7.5 lb baby 4 months later.

Anne Crow Report

POST

Huddo's sister

Huddo's sister

Community Member • points

posts

comments

upvotes

FollowUnfollow

2 months ago

• Report

I've had an ovarian torsion and the pain is excruciating and for it to happen while you are pregnant would be even more terrifying! I was lucky that they caught mine soon enough that it could be untwisted before it became necrotic and didn't have to be removed, unlike the 10cm cyst that had caused the torsion.

1

1point

reply

Somewhere around 1997, I noticed a small white “thingy” on the inside corner of my eye. Because I was living in the desert southwest (US), I thought my eye had grown a pearl of some sort as an adaptation to a desert irritant of dust or sand. A few months later back in Texas, I went to an eye doctor who said he had to refer me to a specialist. That person specialized in “diseases of the orbit.”

He operated to remove the “thingy” and told me it was NOT tangled with tiny blood vessels behind the eyeball, and he would send it to a lab for examination. He called a week later and said he had to refer me to an oncologist, which I knew meant “CANCER!”

So, I went to the oncologist during a long lunch break, expecting a brief talk with him. He told me he diagnosed me with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, and that I needed to have chemotherapy. Somewhat already knowing what he might say in response, I asked “what if I don’t do it?” He replied that it would take over “any organ anywhere that it wants to, and it’s an awful way to die.”

“When would I start?”

“We have openings today in our infusion center, but you might want to eat lunch first if you haven’t already.”

I agreed to start after taking some time to find lunch, and after flooding with tears but somehow eating anyway, I returned for my first infusion of that nasty mix of poisons.

“Big things have small beginnings.”

I survived and am still cancer-free, after about 22 years.

*** Please don’t suggest any edits suggestive of the movie “Prometheus.”

William Kearns Report

POST

A headache that just wouldn’t go away. Tylenol, Ibuprofen, sinus meds, rehydrating, eating something, readjusting my sleep, getting my eyes checked and new glasses didn’t help…. I was at a loss. I just didn’t know what else to do.

I had 2 previous migraines years ago. The first lasted a month and the second lasted 3 months. I thought perhaps that was what it was.

Several Dr. visits later, diagnosis Chronic Migraine. I got a prescription for the med that worked last time with no positive outcome, if anything it was getting worse. They tried adding other medications, no relief. I had to stop working. They periodically took MRI’s. I changed Neurologist. A new round of test. It had been less than a year but it seemed like forever. Light hurt, talking was difficult. I knew what I wanted to say but couldn’t form a sentence. Time was lost on me. I couldn’t tell how fast or how slowly it moved. I lost vision in my left eye. The news came… I had a brain tumor. Operable but may still be deadly due to location. May be cancer…. 50/50 chance of surviving surgery. 100% lethal without surgery. I had surgery, 5 yrs survivor. It started with a headache at the Farmers market on a hot July Saturday morning. I now have a scar that dented-in the left side of my forehead with an incision line hidden in my hairline. I wear bangs to hide my forehead. I am thankful to God, John Hopkins Neuro team, Dr Brem, my husband Jake, and my family for their prayers. Btw, I regained my sight and I still have lots of migraines almost daily. A lot less pain though due to better medication . When I am tired I still have trouble communicating and time is still a problem. Light sensitivity, weather changes, ears ringing, balance issues, memory problems. BUT I’m ALIVE!!!!

UPDATE: Thank you each and every one for your positive comments, your upvotes and shares.
I just would like to stress to listen to your body and your gut instinct. There was more to this story but I condensed it because I had told the other parts in other questions answered. So if you don’t get answers that seem right, get second and third opinions. If nothing else, I hope that’s your take away. God Bless.

Sand Hill Sammy Report

POST

On August 16th, 2020 I went to the hospital for what I thought was either a very severely strained lower back muscle or maybe a kidney stone. It was the first time I had gone to a see a doctor in decades. Nothing against them, just never really had a need. But this was definitely different. I had to go home from work early in pain the first night. The next night I called out, the following night I lasted 2 hours and didn’t come back the rest of the week. Anyone who knows me, knows something has to be wrong for me to miss that many days in a year, much less in a row.

My wife finally convinced me to go so I tried but couldn’t get going. We agreed to go to the ER the next day. Saturday came and went. I couldn’t muster up the strength to go sit in the ER for who knew how long, I thought I would just try to hold out until Monday and go see the doctor then. Sunday morning I knew that wasn’t going to be possible so I took care of those last minute chores, got cleaned up and off I went to the hospital.

When I got there, I told the front desk staff my problems and they took me immediately to the back and started checking everything out. After several tests, blood work, scans, and so on, 5 hours or more had passed by and still no news. I no sooner looked towards my wife and told her if all they were going to do was run tests, I would come back in the morning and finish up (laughing half-heartedly) when the doctor came in and told me that while they were examining the CT Scan results from my kidneys they found a massive tumor in my right lung. They told me they wanted to carry me back for another CT scan, but this time they wanted a picture of my lungs. Not only that, they said I needed to get started on testing the tumor(s) immediately and they wanted to transfer me to the main hospital in their system right then and there. An ambulance was on the way.

Needless to say, I was “STUNNED”, but consented. They weren’t kidding. I got over to the main hospital and settled in about 9 that night. The next morning at 3-o-clock, I was awakened to be carried to the MRI lab to begin a series of scans that lasted for 2 days. On Wednesday, I had a biopsy done. On Friday, I got the news that I had Stage 4 lung cancer that had metastasized and spread to several organs in my body. The pain in my back was caused a tumor that formed on my spine and was sending pain signals through the nerve.

This in and of itself is enough to shake someone up, but it came on top of the news eight months earlier that my wife was diagnosed with stage 4 uterine cancer that had spread throughout her body. She was in her second round of chemotherapy at that time. I can still remember the look on her face when the doctor told us my diagnosis in that ER.

Up until that Sunday night when the doctor told me the initial news, I honestly thought it was just a minor issue that would be fixed with a prescription or two.

What a surprise.

UPDATE: Thank you for all the support everyone. I wanted to let everyone know that I got inspired to create a website (blog) sharing a lot of insights I have gained as both a cancer patient and a caregiver for a cancer patient. I put it in layman’s terms so that if someone finds themselves hearing those horrible words (“You/your loved one has cancer”) maybe they won’t have to start from scratch figuring out what to do next.

John Sides Report

POST

So small I could hardly see it, but a dermatologist friend of mine noticed something along the side of my nose when we were chatting after working out at the gym. I had actually asked him about an itchy patch I had on my back, but he looked at it and said it was nothing. “But I'm a bit concerned about that little thing on the side of your nose,” he said. “Stop by my office after closing today and we'll have a closer look.”

I did, and he did, and he took a biopsy of some cells and send it off for analysis. It came back positive for kind of skin cancer and so I was referred to a Mohs specialist in Washington DC for treatment.

Mohs is the process named after the doctor who invented it. It involves delicately cutting away sections of the infected area and inspecting them under the microscope until no more cancer cells are observed. At that point, the patient is patched up and sent on his way. It worked for me, and owing to the surgeon’s skill, you can hardly see anything at all where the procedure was done.

So there was something so teeny tiny that I never observed it myself. And because it was so small, the procedure to relieve me of the problem was also quickly performed and in a very small area. Had my friend not noticed that teeny tiny little bump, something small could have become quite big and perhaps even lethal.

Human Psychology Facts Report

POST

I was involved in a car accident a year and a half ago. I was stopped in traffic and an uninsured driver with a suspended license hit me between 35–40 mph. I was driving my husband’s truck. Both vehicles were totaled.

I immediately had a bad headache but figured it was from the stress of the accident. I just wanted to go home.

I didn’t go to the hospital for two days, but I was having neck pain in addition to the headache that hadn’t gone away since the accident. They took X-rays. I waited. They came back with a wheelchair and wanted more X-rays. I thought it was weird; the whole wheelchair thing. They took different X-ray views. I waited. Again they came and were taking me for a CT scan. Next an MRI. They came back again. This time with a hard neck brace. The whole time, nobody is telling me anything except they were admitting me to the emergency room and asking me if I had wet myself during the accident.

They wheeled me back with the neck brace on and helped get me into a bed. I said I could do it myself but two nurses literally put me in the bed. Long story, I had four herniated discs in my cervical spine, a traumatic brain injury (TBI) that turned into postconcussive syndrome, in which I still have issues with speech, memory and severe anxiety.

During the CT scan and MRI, they found lesions (2cm tumors, many of them) on each side of my thyroid. They took several biopsies, on several different days, of the lesions. The results were not cancer but because of their sizes, they will need to be monitored every year to watch for changes.

So basically a rear-end accident that I was initially more concerned about my truck, ended up changing my life in some very drastic ways. My medical bills were over $25,000.00. I Spent over 4 months in physical therapy twice a week. And I’ve had to have several epideral spinal injections for pain. Which will likely have to continue indefinitely throughout life.

But it also made me aware of the lesions that I otherwise may not have known about. Until it may have been too late, at some point. So on the flip, it was a blessing in disguise.

all in all I have learned that there is an equal balance of good and bad, for the most part. You often can’t have one without the other.

Emily V Report

POST

I was around eight years old when I noticed that I couldn’t read the whiteboard in class. My mother took me to the doctor’s office, and I got tested and fitted for glasses. This is pretty typical.

Now, when you have glasses, you have to go back to the doctor once or twice a year, especially when you’re still growing, to take a vision test again and adjust the prescription. My eyes grew worse a lot faster than other kids. After only a few months of use my vision would get blurry even while wearing the glasses. Me and my mother thought nothing of this. Until I was in fifth grade.

In fifth grade, I went to the optometrist for another exam. I was chatting with the doctor there, and I mentioned how fast my vision got worse after I received a new prescription. He looked very confused, and asked if he could do additional tests.

He brought me over to this boxy machine, almost like the vision tests they make you take in school. I peered inside it, with my glasses on. There was a small picture with a green field, a yellow path, and a red barn. The doctor looked into another area of the machine, presumably to look at my eye. He turned a nob, and the picture grew blurry. This is pretty typical, so I didn’t think much of it. He did this a couple more times, then handed me my glasses and asked if he could speak to my mother.

When my mother came in, he said something that really shocked me. Apparently, I did not only have bad eyesight. Apparently, my eyes have a muscular problem, where they are actually unable to focus on images. Normal people, if they had gone through that test, would barely have noticed that the barn grew blurry, as their eyes would focus on it and it would barely look blurry. My eyes can’t do that.

Not only this, but it’s more of a problem with my brain than with my eyes. My brain isn’t able to “give the command” to focus on an image. The doctor said that there is no cure for my problem. The worst bit of information was that, if it doesn’t go away on it’s own, I will most likely end up fully blind later in life.

As of right now, I’m still in my twenties, so it isn’t that bad yet. But I really hope that my eyes will fix themselves, and I’m really thankful for that doctor who put in extra effort to diagnose me.

Edit: So a lot of the people in the comments are asking me about treatment. I have seen numerous doctors about my eyesight, and have basically received all of the tests and treatments that could possibly help, with no results. I really appreciate all of your support in the comments, though. Thanks for the help

Grace Mason Report

POST

I once had an infection in my toe from a hang nail. It was my big toe, I was told to use very warm water and salt mix and soak my toe for at least 30 minutes 3 times a day. My toe got more infected, to the point I couldn’t touch it without sending, what felt like, electric shocks through my body all the way to my toe.

I went to emerge with my mom (I was 8), they immediately decided it needed to be dealt with. It was supposed to be a short procedure, where they cut off the infected nail and the infected part of my toe. It ended up being a procedure that they couldn’t freeze, I felt everything.

I was laying in the bed at emergency, and the doctors tried to freeze my toe, they checked if I felt anything, I screamed bloody murder while they put the freezing in and when they tested it, so they tried again, same thing so they tried again, I was so stressed out, I didn’t understand that they were trying to freeze it, I thought they were literally just going for a torture technique. I just wanted it done and over with, so when they tested if I could feel any pain, I sucked every bit of strength I had and said no through my tear smeared face.

They grabbed the big medical scissors and my mom held me down so I couldn’t see what was happening. as soon as they started to cut about half of my nail, I started screaming a sound, not normal to my own ears. My mom started to cry and begged me to calm down or else she was going to have to leave the room. So I did everything not to scream, I just sobbed endless tears until they had cut off half my toe nail and a good chunk of the (infected) skin. My toe was wrapped for several weeks and I was given pain meds to help with the pain.

thankfully I didn’t lose my toe or even half of it, it grew back completely.

to this day, that is most physically painful experience, and I’ve now had 4 kids. They were a breeze compared to my toe infection…

Samantha Majewski Report

POST

I had a persistent minor cough. I have had pneumonia before, so the doctor ordered chest x-rays, expecting to see evidence of some fluid in my lungs or possible other bronchial problems. The doctor didn’t note anything immediately obvious in the lungs, so off I went on my scheduled trip to Disneyland. Another day passed, then my doctor called with the radiology report. I explained that he would have to speak up because it’s noisy in Disneyland. His hesitant response? “Um… How did you do on the flight?”

Radiologists are trained to review the x-ray images before reading the patient's case history. This is so they don’t focus on one thing and overlook something else. It turns out my heart was quite large. The doctor ordered me to go see a doctor near Disneyland before trying to fly home.

Pneumonia? No. Bronchitis? No. Congestive heart failure. At age 45. The doctor was not expecting this, because I was quite young for this, and had continued to be very active, including having just taken up indoor soccer.

A bunch of meds and a pacemaker, and I continue to be active - snowboarding, playing indoor soccer and futsal, and whitewater rafting. The only thing limiting my activity is COVID-19.

David Hawkins Report

POST

I went to Dr because of numbness in my feet, that was later diagnosed as neuropathy, but while there dr said I was due for physical, and they had now changed and instead of chest xray for physical they now do CT scan. So I had a CT scan as routine and it came back with a spot in my chest. A couple more scans and they confirmed I had a tumor right in the middle of my chest the size of a goose egg. More tests referrals and scans ( cat scan inconclusive on if cancer or not, and biopsy not possible as they can't get through my chest plate to sample ) and I ended up in the office of a cardio thoracic surgeon. A few weeks later I went in for surgery, the surgeon cut my chest open ( I'm told they do this with a power saw ) and removed the tumor. Surgeon said it was straight forward tumor not yet attached to my lungs or heart and they got it all. Later It was biopsied and I was told it was non-cancerous ( or benine in medical terms ). At a later follow with my surgeon he said they took my case to the hospital “tumor board" where many doctors help decide on further treatment….and they said I was cured….congratulations…no further treatment needed. This was 1 year ago almost to the day of this post and I'm feeling fine and other then a scar down the middle of my chest I'm fine and back to normal.

Paul Queen Report

POST

3 days after I received my first dose of vaccination, a tiny red dot popped up on the upper left part of my face.

In a short span of about a fortnight, it grew into a cherry like bump and this is how it’s been till now.

The doctor identified this condition as Hemangioma. (In case you're planning to google this term, let me tell you that the pictures may seem triggering to some part of the audience)

In the words of my younger brother, I'm simply growing a baby tomato on my face, but this condition has turned out to be more than just a red bump for me.

Not really very significant, but for sure it seemed rare. Currently, this is all I could gather about Hemangioma-

It's a tumor, but it's not cancerous.
The red mass is formed when the blood vessels near the surface of the skin clump together.
It usually falls off/disappears on its own.
Apparently, it has nothing to do with the vaccination, but the vaccination day serves as a reference mark from where I can count its onset.
I'm taking the required medicines as prescribed by the doctor, but no improvement has been observed. The doctor asserted that if the meds don't work, he might consider removing it surgically, and I don't want that to happen.

Till now this lil fresh-red thing hasn't been much of a nuisance for me, and the only ugly part is that it bleeds at times, mostly when I accidentally scrape it while I’m asleep.

Other than that, I'm okay with it.

Juveria Siddiqui Report

POST

Debby Keir

Debby Keir

Community Member • points

posts

comments

upvotes

FollowUnfollow

2 months ago

• Report

Just for info, haemangiomas are TOTALLY unrelated to vaccination. They are a collection of blood vessels, common in children, which tend to disappear after time.

1

1point

reply