People can be so cautious and conscious about their bodies. When some people feel something’s not right with their body or frequently experience so much pain, they tend to seek professional help.
However, there are instances in which professionals are mocking patients and belittling the symptoms they are experiencing. These people from the Reddit community shared their encounters and proved that their doctors were wrong.
1. Hear Me Out
Not a doctor but a nurse, and it just happened recently. I was hospitalized due to a pretty bad car accident. Unfortunately, due to the surgery and general trauma, while I could feel the urge to urinate, I could get the muscles to relax so I could urinate on my own.
For the first day, they were just doing in and out catheters. Whenever I said, "Hey, I got to piss, and I can't, please help," it was uncomfortable, but I managed till I got to the night nurse.
Told her at 8:30 that I needed help with this, and she did a bladder scan that said, "Not enough urine right now." At 10:30, she rolled around, and I told her again, and she was like "I did the bladder scan, you're okay."
12:30 "I did the bladder scan at ten. It's not enough urine," so now she lies to me. I finally got her to do the catheter at 4 in the morning, where she proceeded to take 1.3 liters of urine out of my bladder.
jayjude
2. Absurd Interview
It was unprofessional but funny. I had taken my 92-year-old mother to her PCP's for a recheck appointment. An apparently new medical assistant was dutifully getting Mom's history by reading off a checklist.
When she asked when Mom's last period was, I looked at Mom a little nervously: She was very old school, very dignified, and would typically never acknowledge to her sons that she had female parts.
I saw a rare twinkle in Mom's eyes as she calmly replied, "Well, I can't give you an exact number of months, but I'm pretty sure it was sometime in the late 1960s."
The assistant had the good grace to laugh with us, apologize, and then read the next question, "Do you think you might be pregnant?"
jakobedlam
3. Embarrassing Assumption
I (26F at the time) went to sign up at my local GP and asked if I could fill in the signup sheet on my partner’s behalf (she wasn’t there, but I had her ID and proof of address with me—note the use of pronouns).
The forms are standard and include questions about periods, pregnancy, etc. I fill in the forms for myself and my partner and give them back to the person at the doctor’s front desk.
They look at the forms to check that I have filled in everything correctly, and this person—not in any way offensive but half laughing—says I didn’t need to fill in the fields about pregnancy, periods, etc., on my partner’s form.
I hadn’t said anything about my partner being a woman (I honestly thought it wasn’t relevant because the forms are standard so they would have given me the same form anyway).
I guess the person assumed my partner would be a guy. I told them my partner was a woman, so yes, I needed to fill in that part as well. I could see the poor dude just dying inside.
He became all flustered and started apologizing profusely - even though I swear I hadn’t said it in any resentful tone. It’s ok.
You shouldn’t have assumed my partner was a man and thought I was stupid for filling in sections that would not apply to my imaginary partner’s medical history, but it was funny. I think I ruined their day, though lol.
alexstolk
4. Mean Comment
When I was in junior high, I went out for the basketball team. I had to take a physical, and it had to be done by the school's doctor, not my own.
I went in to do the physical and had to get naked. I did so, and the doctor looked me over. He saw that I had an inverted chest bone and said, "Wow. That is freakish. You can't be on the team with that."
I know that my chest bone makes it look like I have a hole in my chest, but I had never been self-conscious about it until that moment.
Because this examination was taking place in the boys' locker room in front of other kids wanting to go out for the team, everyone started laughing at me and calling me names.
I grabbed my things and left. My mother took me to our regular doctor, who reassured me that there was nothing wrong with me and that there were plenty of people who had chest bones just like mine.
It didn't help, but I appreciated that she explained it to me. I stopped taking off my shirt in front of others. I was berated and bullied by my entire class for years to come because a doctor made a comment that he shouldn't have made.
jimmypfromthe5thgala
5. Got Ditched
I showed up 10 minutes early (per their instructions) for a 7 a.m. doctor's appointment and waited in my car to be called, as they said they would.
Then, ten minutes past my appointment time, and still no call. I call them, and the line rings, but it eventually hangs up. I called back, and the same thing happened.
I wait a good 30-40mins and then leave. When I called back a day later, they said they closed the office because of snow (mind you, all of the snow had melted and was gone by the day of my appointment).
But they didn’t change their answering machine, and they didn’t post any signs on the door. I missed work just to sit around for nothing. So annoying!
sunscreenkween
6. Gossip King
My gran needed to see a podiatrist, and while we were in the waiting room, a man walked out that looked vaguely familiar to me.
When we were called back to see the doctor, he asked who I was and asked my full name. When I told him, he said, "Last name? I just had a John Lastname in here about 10 seconds ago. Are you related?"
Turns out, the vaguely familiar man had been my estranged birth father, whom I hadn't seen since he left when I was about 7 (I was in my early 20s at this time).
I just said, "Yeah, he's my father," and the doctor proceeded to start asking question after question that was none of his business.
"Oh, Mr. Lastname didn't mention having a daughter. (to my gran) Are you his mother, then? No? Oh, okay. Oh, you raised Miss Lastname here? Well, how did that happen?" Luckily, my gran shut him down after that, but talk about unprofessional.
White_Wolf_Dreamer
7. Skipping Process
When I was 13, I was rollerblading and dislocated my knee. I didn’t have a cell phone and was alone in a secluded residential neighborhood.
It was only, like, 1:30 in the afternoon on a weekday (early-out day from school!), so I laid there for a couple of hours until an adult found me and called my grandma.
Because I’d been laying there so long, by the time I got to the hospital, I was still in a lot of pain but had pretty much calmed down. My knee had popped immediately back into place, so it was not visibly dislocated.
They took my blood pressure, and it was normal. So, between my not crying, my normal BP, and that my knee was only swollen, the doctor refused to do any imaging, told me nothing was wrong with me, and then lectured me about wasting the ER’s time.
He told me if I had truly suffered that injury, he would be able to see it, I'd be howling in agony, and my pressure would be elevated. I’m sure it was 3 hours before I got to the ER, but you can only cry for so long, lol.
I kept going to the doctor to have it looked at, though, because it kept hurting. Every six months for two years, I went back because “nothing” had happened, and I was surely in a lot of pain. The doctor refused to ever do any imaging; they just kept telling me there was nothing wrong.
At the year-and-a-half mark, he told me that I was never getting my hands on the pain pills that I was obviously so desperately sinking and that he actually recommended I see a mental health therapist for my drug-seeking, attention-seeking behavior and because my pain was just in my head.
Turns out, I have a connective tissue disorder that both makes injuries like mine more common and also causes me to have low blood pressure - meaning that my “normal” BP in the ER was actually an elevated one for me.
I was 15 when I finally got them to see something was wrong and was referred to PT. My knee never went back to how it was before the injury.
The PT told me I could have regained all my strength if I pursued PT right away (and that’s confirmed by having dislocated the other knee at 22, entering PT immediately, and having far fewer problems with the left knee until I dislocated again at 25).
BurrSugar
8. Near Clock Out
I had something similar happen. In high school, I dislocated my shoulder and went to the ER; they took scans and said I was fine, gave me a sling, and sent me on my way.
After getting home, I was in so much pain that I couldn’t even move. Mom insisted on taking me back, but it turns out the dislocation was so severe the “ball” of my shoulder was facing the wrong direction.
I had totally torn my labrum and required surgery. I could see the dislocation plain as day as a 17-year-old. We were told since it was close to midnight, the attending doctor was ending his shift and didn’t want to ~mess with it~
lucaskii
9. Danger Of Ignorance
I had a Mayo doctor tell me the same thing. Turns out I have an autoimmune disease that was attacking my organs, but I looked "fine," and I'm young, so clearly, it's all in my head.
The worst part is that they have you schlep all your medical records to the appointment, and I had hundreds of pages of abnormal test results in there.
He didn't even bother looking at my records and canceled the scheduled testing because he was "absolutely sure" it would come back negative.
In his opinion, I needed a psych consult instead because I was clearly "disturbed" for coming to Mayo for no good reason and taking away a time slot that could have been used for a patient who really was sick.
I had the same testing done at a large regional teaching hospital a few months later. The doctor took one look at my abnormal test results and said, "Yep, you've got Sjogren's, and it's already causing organ damage. Let's get you on immunosuppressants."
It took nearly a decade to find a doctor who would actually listen, and by the time I got diagnosed, I had permanent damage to my kidneys, skin, eyes, and nervous system.
All of this is because I got the most severe form of the disease. The doctor who diagnosed me didn't understand why it had taken so long to get the right diagnosis.
poodlefanatic
10. Best In Errors
My wife was having gallbladder pain, so we went to the doctor. He told her it was caused by too much cream and to maybe lose some weight and it would go away.
She was under 70kg, definitely not overweight. 2 years and many gall bladder attacks later, got a different (and less crap) doctor and finally got the referral for surgery.
After the op, she wasn't recovering for days, with massive pain and bleeding at the keyhole site. The surgeon said that some people can't handle pain very well. It's a simple operation; you should be walking around now. Take some Panadol.
She was discharged but still getting huge and constant pain and vomiting from nausea. 2 days later, I took her back to the new GP, who admitted her to the hospital again.
It turns out the surgeon blew through a vein during the operation, so she was bleeding internally - he didn't admit it because he had several malpractice accusations against him in progress.
Since her surgery, he has lost his license to practice twice, but they keep giving it back because we live in a rural area, and he is the only surgeon. I'd say it was a comedy of errors, except it wasn't very funny.
wingbird
11. Worst Misdiagnosis
It was the paramedics I first spoke to who told me I was just having a panic attack. Turns out I had Spontaneous Pneumothorax and I spent nearly two days in the most excruciating pain in my entire life as I could barely breathe.
Finally, I thought to myself, “This isn’t a panic attack. They have no clue what I’m feeling,” and I went straight to the doctor’s for an x-ray.
My lung was about the size of my fist, and I’ve got pretty small hands. Just got out of the hospital a couple of days ago. That chest tube is pretty uncomfortable, eh? The weird sort of satisfaction feeling I got as my lungs slowly started to work again is something I’ll never forget.
When they first put the tube into my chest cavity, I started coughing like a madman, but I could feel it working. It was such a strange sensation.
Seeing someone else go through almost the exact same thing oddly makes me feel a little better. Glad you made it out of that crappy experience.
UncleHamSandwich
12. The Meanest Remark
My mum had some symptoms that resulted in a scan of her brain. It sort of looked like she might have a tumor or water on the brain or something.
When giving her the results, the doctor said, "Maybe this is God's way of saying it's time."
My Mum, who was in her 50s at the time, went absolutely off on them - God has nothing to do with this, etc.
Turns out she was fine. Symptoms were related to something else, and the ambiguous scan results could have been machine or human error.
queenirv
13. Watch And Learn
I took my mom to see a neurologist as her PCP suspected she had Parkinson’s. After waiting almost an hour, the neuro came into the room, took a look, and told us she had Parkinson’s.
Then told us to watch some YouTube videos describing what Parkinson’s was and then left the room. The whole encounter was under a minute.
Yes, I’m in the US. Bad clinicians can be anywhere, so I don’t think this apathy is due to location. He was also in private practice.
We found a much better neurologist who has been treating Mom. Yes, they still charged insurance. Mom is on Medicare, so it didn’t become crippling debt. I did not report the doctor because I just didn’t have the bandwidth.
sesamesnapsinhalf
14. Nothing’s Fine
My Grandfather-in-law has severe Dementia. He lived alone, but my MiL and I visited him three times a day to make sure he ate and took his meds and kept him company.
A few weeks ago, he couldn't get up in the morning and said his hip hurt. So, my MiL drives him to the Hospital, but because of COVID-19, she isn't allowed in the ER.
So this demented old man has been in the ER for four hours, and guess what he told the doctor when he asked him what was wrong? "I don't know." Of course, he doesn't. He sat down. His hip doesn't hurt so much right now, and he has no idea why he is there.
So, the Doctor called my MiL and told her he was fine and could go home. My MiL was skeptical, so she asked point blank, "Can he move? Can he go to the toilet alone?"
And what did the Doctor tell her all three times? She asked to make sure. "Yeah, he's fine." He then proceeds to load my GiL up with two Guys to carry him into the house in a special chair because he cannot manage to walk even that little piece alone
All of this transpired on a Friday, and we proceeded to spend the weekend at his place to look after him and help him get to the toilet, for instance. On Monday, we brought him back to the ER. Guess what?
I don't know what was wrong with him. He had broken his Hip. This man walked around for 3 days in a handcart with a broken hip. But, sure. He's fine.
Saiyasha27
15. Eye Scan
During a consultation told me he refused to consider surgery on the basis that he has the same condition and can exercise just fine.
He then proceeded to tell me I didn't need to pursue physical wellness as I looked okay, "especially compared to the average person from your town, you know?" with a wink.
He literally didn't even look at my arm. No feeling for damage, testing the range of motion, none of the stuff I'd have expected. He just explained why it's not a problem.
I like, bruh, you have me leave work to drive an hour to refuse to help me out and then insult my hometown. I disputed the $300 consultation bill on the premise that there was no service given, and they dropped it.
RONINY0JIMBO
16. Punctured Lungs
Was given a condescending lecture on how I shouldn't have come in if I just had a cold by both a doctor at a walk-in center and my GP in a follow-up appt the week following.
I ended up getting rushed into resuscitation a few weeks later with a punctured lung that caused a one-way valve in my lung where air could escape into my chest cavity but not get back out.
Because it was brushed off/not properly investigated, it caused a life-threatening condition called Tension Pneumothorax, where the pressure that had built up over time on one side of my chest.
It caused my lung to collapse completely and started crushing my heart and other lungs and compressing/bending the arteries, veins, and esophagus in my neck. When they put a chest drain into me, my chest cavity literally sounded like it was deflating like a car tire puncture.
[deleted]
17. Hidden Grudge
The doctor told me if I wanted to pursue treatment and get a spot on the ward, I'd need to shave all my hair off. Worth noting that the treatment had nothing to do with my head, lol.
She had no bedside manner at all, was rude to the other medical professionals, etc. I told the nurse I was having doubts about agreeing to stay on the ward, but she convinced me to give it a try.
The first thing the doctor greeted me with that first day was, "Hi, remember me? I'm that doctor you hate." What the hell kind of way is that to talk to someone sick and mentally distressed???
Corvus1992
18. Not Gentle Doc
I messed up my hip a few years ago. Went to urgent care, and they told me it was a strained lap band. I told this to my sister-an athletic trainer- and she told me to lie on my side with a pillow between my legs, and that would help with the pain. It did not.
In fact, it hurt so badly that every muscle I had locked up. My husband has to push me onto my back. Made an appointment Monday morning. When I came in I told the doctor the above, and she rolled her eyes. “It’s a strained lap band,” she told me. “You’re overthinking this. It will be fine if you rest.”
I repeated the bit about what my sister told me, and she basically implied my sister was out of her league in dealing with injury and that she was just making me paranoid.
I fought her on it a bit, and finally, she agreed to examine me. And let me tell you, I have no idea what she did, but whatever it was, it was not gentle, and it hurt so bad I actually yelled and started crying.
Then she had the nerve to look at me and say, “Oh. That’s not your lap band.” No kidding, lady. And then she wanted to immediately get back into examining me. I was so pissed I actually put in a complaint.
Turns out I’d torn several connective tissues and chipped off a few pieces of the bone. I ended up on medical leave for almost four months. (Worked retail) But I was being a hypochondriac, y’all.
StargazerNataku
19. Judgy Stare
I went to the doctor with a very painful UTI. The doctor said if I wear a skirt as short as I did in these temperatures, it's no wonder my “lady area is suffering from a cold.”
I needed to go home, change, and wrap a blanket around myself to warm it up. She reluctantly agreed to do a urine sample, which showed up blood and a lot of protein.
She then gave me some antibiotics after much debate and gave me the skankiest look as I walked out. I swear I’m not making it up.
Keepdreamingkiddo
20. Destroying Relationships
A doctor once examined me for genital area irritation. He sent away samples for tests. While waiting a few days for the results to come back, he told me I had Herpes.
I had been with my wife for ten years at that point. Imagine the next few days where we go off on each other for giving the other one Herpes.
Imagine the strain that puts on marriage with all the implications/accusations of being unfaithful, deceitful, etc... the anger, the hurt, the emotional damage, the betrayal. Well, it turned out I only had a bladder infection.
Blageur
21. Just Asking
Oh my god, I had such a similar experience once. I went to one of those fast clinics because I had a UTI. I knew I had a UTI. I’d gotten them before and had all the same symptoms. The nurse asked me if it was possible I had an STI.
Now, I grew up only hearing them called STDs, so I’m confused and asked what that was. The look the man gave me when I asked for clarification was the most patronizing look I’ve ever experienced.
At that point, he clearly thought it was an STI, and I was a dumb girl, so I had all those tests run as well. I got prescribed antibiotics to treat a UTI but was instructed not to take them until the lab results came back.
Fast forward three days, and I got a call saying all the STI tests were negative. I asked the lady if I could start taking the antibiotics I was given for the UTI, and she was aghast that I’d been instructed to wait. Needless to say, I’ve never returned to that clinic.
erynthebunny
22. Too Disgusted
I had developed DKA (diabetic ketoacidosis) as a result of being bad at having type 1 combined with a severe stomach bug.
I hadn’t eaten in days and was having horrible diarrhea. When I was getting treated in the ICU, I had an accident and pooped on the bed- I wasn’t allowed to get up on my own.
No one was answering the nurse call button (I don’t blame anyone for that- people are actually dying in the ICU, and I just needed frequent monitoring for an insulin drip).
The CNA had a new person shadowing her, and when I got up, the newbie audibly gagged and acted super grossed out, swearing under her breath while changing the sheets.
I get it, poop is gross, but I was already super embarrassed and ashamed. The main CNA told her to leave and apologized to me for her reaction. I just asked that she not come back, which they respected.
Manicmanateee
23. Intrigued Weirdo
Went in because I thought I had a UTI. I had been on birth control for a while, so having to go do the whole “pee in a cup” thing wasn’t new to me, but I did have to give a sample at this appointment. No big deal, I know the drill.
The doctor gets really weird about it. He keeps asking me if I know how to give a sample and if I need to know any details on how to do it.
Mind you, this is after I’ve already completed the sample, which he is aware of, and it’s literally clockwork at this point; it’s so easy.
I know I didn’t do it incorrectly. He keeps pressing me on the whole peeing in a cup thing, and he goes, “Do you ever get any on yourself? Do you get pee on yourself?”
To this day, I swear it had to have been some fetish or something because I was appalled. One, no, I don’t have that issue, and two, why is he so interested in it???
clutterc0re
24. Too Straightforward
I was weirdly sick for days, so I went to a walk-in clinic. After a couple of tests, the doctor walks in and says, “Who manages your diabetes?”
I was so confused and surprised and said, “Wait, I have diabetes?” She rolls her eyes at me and says, “Well, you're in your thirties. This is what happens when you get old. Don't worry. The diabetes will take about 30 years to kill you. That's not bad for a man.”
She thought dying by 60 would be "pretty good for a man.” She looked like Indian doctor Doogie and probably went through med school at 16 or something. She looked like she was around 20-21.
MortLightstone
25. Nervous Fraud
My mom never went full anti-vax, but she was very into holistic type medicine and other nonsense. When I was in 5th grade, I needed a vaccine for school, so she sent me to some holistic place.
The alleged doctor seemed like she was very nervous from the start of the appointment. She stuck the needle in my arm, let out a quiet “uh oh,” then collapsed to one knee on the ground.
The needle was still stuck in my arm, gently bouncing up and down. The “doctor” stood back up and apologized for almost passing out. She said she had never given a vaccination before.
I’m kinda surprised I’m still alive at this point, and I’m curious about what was actually injected into my arm. I googled the doctor later, and she does have an MD listed next to her name on her website, but I’m suspicious that it stands for “mock doctor” or something.
MrBigTimeJim
26. Real Pain
I had a 20+ day period two months after a miscarriage. It wasn’t slowing down. I went to a doctor for nine days. He told me I wasn’t having a miscarriage.
He was also standing in the hallway next to the waiting room and yelled it in my room before walking away. I went to another doctor on day 18. He told me to calm down, and it would stop. I was calm.
Went to another doctor on day 20. He gave me medication to clot my blood. It stopped on day 22. A month later, I had excruciating pain in my left ovary. I had so much pain I’d puke, and painkillers didn’t touch it.
I went to the hospital 12 hours after the pain started. The doctor there didn’t run any tests, touch me, or ask me any questions.
Then he went on a rant about how women are hysterical and run to the emergency room for anything. It is like soaking a pad in an hour or passing huge blood clots. These are things doctors tell us to do. It turns out it was a cyst that they said must’ve ruptured or something.
soredinoo
27. Can’t Be Bothered
I used to be on hormonal BCPs (Yaz especially) and started having severe heart palpitations. I woke up in the middle of the night with my heart palpitating so severely that I was having trouble breathing normally.
I went to the emergency room. It wasn’t busy at all, so I was able to be seen right away. The nurses were lovely, but when the doctor came in, he said, “You know, the emergency room is only for people who are really sick or dying. You’re probably just stressed.”
He walked right out. They mailed my test results later, which confirmed palpitations, and if it got worse, to come in for treatment.
Calliopehoop
28. Unsolicited Lecture
Went in because I had a UTI. I was in my 20s and well aware of what UTIs feel like and when I need treatment. The doctor gave me a long lecture.
It was about pill-seeking and how the overuse of antibiotics creates superbugs. After I left, I got a call from the nurse (not the doctor).
Guess what? She sheepishly told me that my urine test came back positive for a UTI and that they would send antibiotics to my pharmacy.
la_metisse
29. Walking Away
I was 17 and had found a lump in my chest. I was terrified. My mother took me to her gynecologist because she didn't trust mine, who she'd never met.
The doctor examined me and told me I had something called Fibrocystic Disease. He said hormones make it worse. Since I was on oral birth control, I asked him if I should stop taking the pill.
He said I shouldn't be on the pill in the first place and walked out of the room without saying anything else. No explanation of what Fibrocystic Disease was, and no further instructions for care.
I waited about 20 minutes for someone to come back, and then I just got dressed, including putting on my winter coat, and waited. Fifteen minutes later, a nurse came in, looked at me, and said, "You can get dressed now."
I said, "I AM dressed." She looked at me again, turned around, and walked out without a word. I left and never went back. I looked up Fibrocystic Disease in my college library but couldn't tell how bad it was or what I should do.
Ended up going to a different gynecologist. I had fibrous chest tissue. I ended up having that lump removed because it caused so much pain. Haven't had any lumps since or any pain.
That first doctor can go screw himself. Oh yeah, and my mother, who is the one who put me on birth control, said the doctor was right. I shouldn't be on it. Nothing like feeling cared for and supported by your parents and doctor.
awhq
30. Insensitive Comment
“If you don’t lose some weight, no man will want to marry you.” I was 13 during that time. Medical fatphobia is a thing. I know this because I once was obese and am now a lower “normal” weight.
I had WLS and dropped a TON of weight, and it triggered my eating disorder like crazy. I started fasting for longer and longer.
Doctors suddenly believed me more about some issues, and it led to my being diagnosed with lupus. But the symptoms were always there. So many doctors failed me. It saddens me so much.
ceciliameireles
31. Haunting Statement
When I was 17, I needed a certification for a volleyball tournament (more than five years playing, two competing), and the doctor didn't want to give me one.
It was because "I was too overweight, and I could injure my knees." He said I needed to weight around 60kg, and I was 72kg. Sigh.
I have been 1,80m tall since I was 15, and thanks to volleyball training and swimming, I've always had a bigger body. I had to make a new appointment. The new doctor told me the other was nuts, which haunted me for ages.
GanzGenauFrau
32. Unbothered One
She tried to give me essential oils and told me to come back tomorrow while I was having a life-threatening allergic reaction.
My throat was swelling up, and I couldn't breathe. My eyes were swollen shut and covered in puss. My whole body felt like crap.
This was all after the ER had advised her to give me a shot if I came in with the reaction. Her office is closer to the ER, so they told me to go to her next time instead of wasting that precious time driving myself all the way to the ER.
In the end, I had to drive myself the 45 minutes to the ER AND the 10 minutes to her office, plus the time that was spent arguing with her to save my life. Yes, I have an actual doctor now, even though she used to be an actual doctor.
Additional_Cry_1904
33. A Simple Cold
"It's just a cold and should pass in a week." He said this after I told him that I had been getting horrible headaches about once or twice a week for the last five years.
Sometimes, vomiting and a small fever accompany these episodes. Dude probably only heard "headache" and "fever" and brushed everything else under the rug because I was just a 19-year-old woman.
I am diagnosed with migraines now, and no drugs really work on me. Luckily, after four pregnancies and two kids, the episodes have gotten easier and less frequent.
aseeongi
34. Unlucky Patient
I was explaining my migraine symptoms to a former doctor. She got this confused look on her face, turned back toward her laptop, and Googled "migraine symptoms" right in front of me. Then she said, "OOooohh yeahhh. Mhmm. It says that's a symptom."
Another one. I went to my ob-gyn about horrible hormone issues, worse migraines, bloated lower abdomen, and bad cramping... and told her something was wrong with my hormones.
She cut me off and said, "There's nothing wrong with your hormones. You're just sensitive to their fluctuations." The way she said it, her inflection, was like You're just being sensitive. She did no tests. Nothing.
Three months later, I went to the hospital for groin pain, and the medical staff found a 1 lb tumor growing straight through my body.
I want to preface that they didn't find this straight away. A doctor met with me, insisting I had a bladder infection. My urinalysis was negative for infection.
The doctor put me on antibiotics anyway, claiming, "Sometimes tests are negative because people drink too much water." A week later, I went back and demanded a more invasive investigation.
After a couple of weeks, I also had an MRI. I took the antibiotics for nothing. No one wanted to investigate what the hell was wrong with me. No one was listening to me.
Not only is it frustrating to have to keep going back, but it's also expensive (American). Women pay so much god damn money because of being ignored by doctors.
The tumor was so big it had created its own circulatory system, complete with "flow voids" (sounds Lovecraftian) and everything. I had to get a hysterectomy. When they removed everything, the tumor was three times bigger than the uterus. It looked like a cow's stomach or something.
[deleted]
35. Body Cracks
I got into a car accident and didn’t have insurance. My neck and shoulders slowly began to have audible cracking sounds with every movement.
Got a job and insurance a few months later and went in and was told, “Skinny people crack more.” I looked him in the eye and said, “I’ve been skinny my whole life. What are you talking about?“
I went to another doctor to find out I had microfractures on my spine, snapping scapula, and nerve damage. I’m pretty sure that the first orthodoctor was so used to dealing with old people.
So when he saw me (25 M), he thought I could just work out and make it better, unlike the old people he is used to dealing with. Still, that guy didn’t even want to do any scans. Still have cracking two years later.
Ohdee1
36. Serious Condition
Not me, but back in the early 2000s, my Dad was having trouble breathing, and he went to the emergency walk-in surgery, where he was told, "Oh, you just have a small chest infection; go home and rest!"
At 1 am, my Mum had to call an ambulance because my Dad couldn't breathe. It turns out that the "small chest infection" was actually a massive blood clot.
It was so big that it filled one of his lungs completely and was on its way to his heart. He ended up making a recovery but also wound up with permanently scarred lungs.
xbrambles
37. Back Pain
“You shouldn’t be in pain. Just do more sports or something.” I have scoliosis, and the pain I endure is horrible. I've tried to build muscle; I’ve tried everything, but the pain just builds up daily.
My curvature isn’t that much. It is about 42 degrees and has an S shape (so there are 3 curves in my spine). Because I’m not visibility-crooked or curvy, everyone just assumes I am normal and that I shouldn’t be in pain since I don’t necessarily need surgery to correct my spine.
When my doctor said that, I wanted to just break down right there. It would have been better for her to tell me that the pain will never go away rather than invalidate the pain I endure every day.
LopsidedMaybe6781
38. Losing Patience
That was not said to me but to a patient. I’m a 4th year med student, and last year, during my surgery rotation, I had the utter misfortune of working with a pediatric surgeon.
He was notorious for being nasty to students and residents, but honestly, with all the abuse I had been getting since starting 3rd year, I was just ignoring it.
Until we went to see a six-year-old with lymphoma, the six-year-old obviously didn’t want to sit still for an exam because, hello, he’s six and in the hospital!
The surgeon got all huffy and left the room shouting, “It doesn’t matter, he’ll be dead soon anyways!” Yes, the pt and his mother heard. No, nothing was done about it because hospitals protect surgeons.
gal_from_gallifrey
39. Cutting Sweets
The most unprofessional, though, was when I hit puberty and suddenly got stretch marks all over my hips and thighs. My family GP said, "Haha, you're getting to be a bit of a fatty then, aren't you? Ease off the cookies already!"
I was an active, healthy dancer at the time. I found out a couple of years ago that I have a genetic condition called lipedema. I ended up with a severe eating disorder and still struggle with body dysmorphia 30 years later.
Screw Dr Bowstead, and every other bully (and "friend") who laughed at me for something entirely outside of my control for all those years.
After years of therapy, I still can't reconcile that a healthy, active-looking person can have disproportionate thighs like I do, no matter how dangerously skinny I had become in the past.
But it was him, the medical professional, who convinced me for so long that I must just be fat and that it was eating too many cookies that made me a joke.
ras1304
40. Sleeping Troubles
I was shopping around for a new family doctor. Near the end of the appointment, she asks if there are any other health concerns I have.
I tell her about my recurring sleep paralysis and what it feels like, how often it happens, how long I've experienced it, what usually triggers it, etc.
She asks why I think it's sleep paralysis, and I say I looked it up online, and my experiences match other people's descriptions of it.
She then rolls her eyes and says, "Just because you googled something doesn't mean you have it." It took everything in me not to cry on the spot.
imperatif
41. Too Lazy To Do Something
I had a headache for three months straight. Vertigo, nausea, fainting. Took forever for them to find the problem. I told every doctor I have a hole in my eardrum, and I think it’s related.
They all dismissed it. My MRI showed all the bones in the side of my skull were infected, so we did a CT scan of my inner ear and found a cyst in my ear.
Went to the ear, nose, and throat doctor, who told me that after three months of hell and finding nothing else wrong, the cyst would not cause a headache like this, and only the right side of my head would hurt. I found a new ent and had the cyst removed. What do you know, the headache went away.
SomePerson80
42. The Bad Doctor
My wife and I had miscarriages before, and she had just become pregnant again, and we were seeing the doctor for the first time.
The dude comes in after the ultrasound. I didn’t see him at all until now as nurses or someone else did the ultrasound, and he doesn’t even introduce himself or ask our names.
Has a clipboard in his hand, walks into the room, tosses the clipboard onto the counter, leans onto the counter, and crosses his arms. The first thing out of his mouth? “Well, you are probably going to have a miscarriage again.”
It's not something you tell a hopeful mother who has had multiple ones before. He said some other stuff, but I was so pissed off that’s all I actually remember him saying.
My wife was distraught, and we left and went to another doctor the next day. Good ending to the story. Almost four years ago, we welcomed our little boy to the world!
TrulyBobBarker
43. Painful Touch
When I was 15, I had an ovarian cyst rupture. When they were trying to figure out what was going on, I guess the young female physician assistant thought I was faking.
The first time she came into my room, she was like, “Where’s your pain?” “It’s on my right lower abdomen.” “Okay, does this hurt?”
And she puts her entire weight on that spot. Keep in mind, that’s typically where a ruptured appendix is, so this witch was willing to crush a ruptured appendix just to see if I was faking. Thankfully, it was just a ruptured cyst, but I can still vividly remember that pain.
Fluffy-Main-8855
44. No Emotions
My dad had been battling aggressive lung cancer for a few months and was admitted to the hospital after suffering some severe pain.
Nobody had told him the results of the various scans they'd run, yet when a nurse came in and told him off-the-cuff, "Oh yeah, you've got cancer all over your body now."
And then just left as my dad burst into tears, no further details or explanation. I think a doctor came in later to "officially" give him the news. He died a few days later.
SharkGenie
45. Talking Back
My wife had two miscarriages after our first son was born, and she was pregnant again and very, very paranoid. She called the doctor pretty frequently and requested some tests done.
The doctor called her and left her a message telling her that the results were expected, and he hung up the phone, except he didn’t hang up the phone.
The message kept recording, followed by 3 minutes of the doctor and his nurse making fun of my wife’s paranoia, talking about how many phone calls they would have to suffer through, how every little thing they had to talk her off the ledge, blah blah.
Then they realized the phone was still off the hook, and we heard him gasp and hang up the phone. She miscarried a week later.
omgFuckCommon