" That was the last bruise I ’ll ever ignore . "
If you’re anything like me, you might Google every single symptom you’ve ever experienced. Well, at the risk of increasing your health anxiety, sometimes little ailments actually mean big problems. And over on Quora, someone asked, “What was something small you went to the doctor for thatturned out to be very significant?” Here’s what people said in response.
1.“When I was 18 and at university, one of my friends asked if I could see OK, as he had noticed me squinting. I had had an eye check as a routine test at my general practitioner’s only a few months earlier and could read the bottom line of the chart. My eyesight was fine. Over the next few weeks, I also noticed I was squinting…”
2.“I went to my regular checkup with my cardiologist in January. I felt pretty good except for some ongoing chest pressure and fatigue. I had a stress test, echocardiogram, and event monitor within the previous ten months. Nothing significant showed up…”
" … The doctor decided that since this pressure had n’t snuff it away , it was time for a bosom catheterization . The next calendar week , I went in for the cath , certain that it would n’t show anything the other tests would n’t catch . Boy was I wrong . I remember my doctor saying , ' This is n’t right , " and he came closer to explicate that my stent in a major artery was almost totally closed off due to an ostial lesion , and to re - stent would be dangerous . I had a cardiothoracic surgical procedure consult and , the next day undergo a coronary artery bypass graft ( CABG ) . I was stun , to say the least . I am feel much better since the shunt ! "
— Karen V.
3.“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. I was lightheaded and extremely thirsty, but I couldn’t quench my thirst no matter how much water I drank. I thought maybe I was dehydrated or something else that wasn’t a big deal. I decided to go to the ER to get checked out and 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…”
4.“In April 2020, I noticed a little bump growing on my upper lip. It felt like an ingrown hair from shaving. I picked at it with a needle as I’d done before when an ingrown happened, but I couldn’t find the hair. It kept growing and turned out to be a speedy 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, which would take care of it…”
" … After she spray it , she asked if I had any others . I said , ' Well , I ’ve got a crusty - looking wart on my left calfskin . ' farseeing account inadequate , that matter I thought was just a verruca turn out to be squamous cell carcinoma - case skin genus Cancer . Fast forrad to the present day , and I have had an excision to remove the SCC , plus two other biopsies . Thankfully , a billet on my toe turned out to be benign , but a spot on my face is basal cell carcinoma and will expect Mohs OR sometime afterwards this calendar month . The story ’s moral is : outwear sunscreen more often than I did ! "
— Lloyd H.
5.“I started feeling a little tired and noticed a rather large bruise on my right forearm. I couldn’t remember doing anything to get it, but there it was…”
6.“While raising my arms to put up my hair, I noticed in the bathroom mirror that my armpits didn’t look the same. One armpit was more indented than the other. It wasn’t an enormous difference between the two armpits, but it was undeniably there. It didn’t seem natural to me. I made a mental note to ask the doctor about it next time I saw her…”
7.“It was April 2006, and I was getting ready to go out with some friends. I lived at home, and my mom yelled at me to put the flea collar on my cat. Roxie, my somewhat feral cat doesn’t love affection. Honestly, she didn’t belong in the house, but at this point, that’s neither here nor there; she had been with us for three or four years. Anyway, I put it on her, she lost her shit and bit the palm of my hand. I bled for a second, washed it, and told my mom the cat’s collar was on…”
8.“My 12-year-old daughter got her period when she was 11. Everything seemed normal, and I didn’t think anything of it. Six months later, she had a common chest cold, so I took her to the doctor for some antibiotics. We were seen by a nurse practitioner who was very thorough and asked us many questions. The one question she asked us probably saved my daughter’s life. She asked about her period. After I told her, she recommended we get some bloodwork done, including hormones…”
" … So we did , and she was give some antibiotics for her cold , and we went home . Two days later , I get a phone call from her doctor , who wanted us to come in ASAP . My daughter ’s hormones were right smart off . She had a testosterone level the same as a 25 - twelvemonth - old humanity and hardly any estrogen . She ordered a bunch of tryout that included an MRI of her brain . An ultrasound of her uterus send us to a specialist for hormones . Tests came back , and she was penetrate with ovarian cysts , a neoplasm in her rectum , and a tumor near her pituitary gland just behind her eyes . Everything turned out to be ok . She is now 28 eld old , and her hormones are back to normal and the ovarian cysts went away as before long as she started her full point again . She had to have psyche operation to remove the neoplasm behind her eyes , and then the tumor in her rectum just disappeared . "
— Stephanie W.
9.“When I was 35 years old, I noticed a red splotch on my right breast after I got out of the shower one morning. I didn’t give it much thought until it didn’t go away after a few days and started swelling. I went to my doctor, and she thought that I had mastitis and prescribed an antibiotic…”
10.“My boyfriend had a stomach ache and felt sick; he vomited a couple of times and went to lie down. He slept for about an hour and woke up feeling worse. He decided to go to the hospital. He figured it was maybe an ulcer or something, and they would give him a prescription and send him home. They did a CT scan and some blood work. Turns out he had acute pancreatitis…”
" … He was in a coma for 43 day . He had a ventilation tube and was on life support . The doctors say that he was run short to die . Then , they put in two abdominal drainage and did a tracheostomy ( put a hole in his throat with a tube so the machine could assist him respire ) . He woke up and had no idea what had happened . He went to the emergency on September 30 and woke up in the ICU on November 12th . He was in the hospital in another unit till November 20th . He did n’t die , but it was very close . He is now recoup at home ; he still has the abdominal drains and is now an insulin - dependant diabetic and has to take enzyme to help him brook food . Everyone enounce he would n’t make it , but I ’m so thankful to have him home . "
— Jennifer S.
11.“I lived in Germany with my mother and father as a child. We used to travel back to the UK occasionally to see my grandparents. I remember being about six years old and examining my grandmother’s leathery-looking hands that were spotted with age. Then, I noticed a tiny bruise under her thumbnail. Like all children, I was worried she’d hurt herself and asked what happened. She couldn’t recall and shrugged it off, saying it was probably nothing…”
12.“My daughter, who had been living with us for four years, had a UTI that wasn’t responding to antibiotics. She was having some back pain and feeling a little sick to her stomach. She decided to get it checked out to see if she had a kidney stone. After they did X-rays and scans, they found a huge cancerous mass on her kidney. The cancer had also spread to her lung, liver, spine, bladder, and uterus. She never left the hospital and died exactly two weeks later. We never had a clue. She was feeling fine until about two weeks before going into the hospital. We were sure it was a kidney stone. I miss her terribly.”
— Billie A.
13.“In mid-March 2012 my husband started waking each morning with pain in his lower right abdomen. It would last about five minutes, then be gone for the rest of the day. This occurred every morning for about ten days when I finally told him he needed to see his doctor. He hesitated until I reminded him that he still had his appendix, which could be the issue and could rupture. He finally agreed and made an appointment for that afternoon…”
14.“When I moved to Thailand, I got terrible acne on my chin. I figured it was from the hotter climate, different food, pollution, or water. Whatever the cause, it was worse than it had been in years. That summer, after being in Thailand for about five months, I suddenly had to go home and I scheduled an appointment with my dermatologist while I was in town…”
15.“I had been having nagging neck and shoulder pain for months. 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 I was, but I figured the doctor knew best. I left his office with a prescription for Prozac. I took it for a month and didn’t feel any happier or any less pain. We tried muscle relaxants also. They didn’t help much, but they made me sleep well. I stopped taking the antidepressant and went back to the doctor for another check…”
" … He station me to a rehabilitation doctor who suggested forcible therapy , so I started PT a yoke of time a week . I was primed then , doing 100 - international nautical mile cycling rides , sprinting , and Olympic - stratum triathlons .
As the month passed , there was no real progress , except I pop out getting shoot , shock - like pains in the side of my font that would make me twitch . They were acute yet fleeting . The rehab physician decide it was time for magnetic resonance imaging of my head and neck . He enunciate the scan came back with nothing significant and decided we would start a course of Xylocaine injection therapy . I went and had the injection .
The injections did n’t work on for more than a duad of days . I called the doctor , and he was dumbfounded . He said the injection should have salvage for weeks , and we would try on another round . He was referred to a brain doctor for nerve examination . The testing showed nothing noted .
During that time , I found a expectant lump in my neck opening . It was close to my lymph gland and palpate like it , but it was n’t in the right place . When I move for my date , I require him what he thought about it . He look shocked and sent me for more MRIs .
When I cope with to refresh the new scan , he sheepishly let in the first scans had shown a problem , and the doctor review them order I demand further examination that extend further down my spine . The new scans break a massive schwannoma ( a rare type of neoplasm ) grow on my spinal cord and enfold my C-2 heart . The integral process to get the diagnosis was tightlipped to a year .
I was referred to a neurologist , who speedily enjoin the tumor was too mire and was beyond his scope of expertness . He concern me to another Doctor of the Church who order the same matter and then referred me to the chief neurologist at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center . He had concerns but take the pillow slip . We scheduled the OR for a yoke of month forward . He explain it was a slowly - spring up , non - malignant tumour and a slow coming would give me time to get my personal business in order .
Then , my mate dead died . As I write this , I still do n’t know how I come through those days and weeks . What a horrible incubus .
I had the surgical process , which saved my life . They had to completely cut out my C-2 nerve and my vertebral arteria on my right side . lasting bilateral rods were position in my cervix . Much to everyone ’s surprisal , I could walk , talk , and take a breather independently .
I survive and could repay to my whole obligation as a law policeman seven months subsequently . I will be forever thankful and indebted to the staff at the chief of neurology at Wake Forest . "
— Stacy C.
16.“In 2013, I was eating a burger when suddenly, after taking a bite, I could no longer open my mouth. I was terrified and had no idea why this just happened. I’ve dealt with TMJ for many years and assumed it had to be just that. I figured maybe a warm compress and massaging my jaw would unlock my mouth, but nothing seemed to work. I could only fit about the size of my pinky in my mouth. I couldn’t even fit a spoon in. So I made an appointment with an oral surgeon to determine what was happening. He did a physical exam and knew right away it must be an issue with the disc in my jaw joint. He scheduled an urgent surgery to get it put back in but ordered an MRI to go over just to be certain…”
17.“I was out of town and had stopped to go to the bathroom. As I relieved myself, a blood clot the size of a cigarette butt came out in my stream. I had been taking some diet pills and assumed that I was dehydrated and just needed to drink more fluids. The next evening, it happened again. I went to the ER, where they performed a CT scan…”
18.“My Dad was having headaches. He thought he needed a new prescription for his glasses. But after a particularly nasty headache hit him like lightning and floored him, I took him to the ER. Two shots of Demerol later, and Dad was still in agony. The ER doc asked me how long my dad had been an addict, and I got extremely angry. My dad never did drugs. The doctor ordered a CT scan just to shut me up. It turned out my dad had a brain tumor. They did surgery two days later (they had to get the swelling down first) and gave him two to three months. He lived six and a half years, and he lived very well… He spent the time visiting everyone he loved. When he died, there was nothing left undone or unsaid.”
— DeAnn R.
19.“A few weeks before my nineteenth birthday, I was sitting next to my mom. When I went to look at her, she pointed out that my left eye did not track with my right eye, which made it look like I had a lazy eye. The next day, after we had all laughed it off (because it did look quite goofy), my mom made an appointment with a neuro-opthalmologist. We went in on a busy Saturday, and after he examined my eye, he requested that we make another appointment on a day when he would have more time to dedicate to me and the testing that would have to be done…”
Note : meekness have been redact for length and/or pellucidity .
