Not a doctor, but my mom went into a walk in clinic and told the doc she had really bad headaches all the time. She was a stay at home mom to me (10) and my sister (6) so it was written off as stress and got a prescription for pain pills.

Two weeks later the headaches were migraines. Stronger prescription and try to reduce stress.

A few weeks go by and she can no longer get out of bed, throws everything up including the meds, is completely disoriented and barely alive. My dad was a truck driver so he was never home. I was taking care of me, my sister, and my mom all by myself. We go back to the doctor and this lady had the audacity to say this is the weirdest migraine case she’s ever seen. Tells her to take warm baths and just keep taking the meds when she throws them up.

Two months go by and my dad came home, saw the condition of my mother (who was so sick she would urinate herself), the house (which was being kept up by a 10 year old), and said he wanted a divorce.

That night we found out she had stage 4 lung and brain cancer with a tumor the size of an egg pressing on her brain as well as many others scattered throughout.

I still haven’t forgiven that doctor for not taking my mom seriously

Edit: I figured I’d answer the questions you’ve been having here because I’m on my phone and keep getting lost trying to reply :).

As far as my mom goes, she fought hard for two years eventually passing in November 2010. I was 13 and my sister was 9. My dad fell out of a tree about a month after her diagnosis and shattered his heel. He became disabled because of the surgeries it required and his back. He was a monster while I was home. All I remember from my younger years was walking on eggshells, constantly being accused of things I didn’t do, and being watched like a hawk 24/7. I suspect he is bipolar and has severe PTSD, but you know how older people feel about treating mental illnesses.

As for us, it sucked not having our mom growing up. She talked every day about how she couldn’t wait to beat cancer and leave my dad so we could all have the life we deserved. I think we turned out fairly well. I’m 23, have a family, moved far away from all of those memories, and have committed to breaking cycles and loving my children the way I wish I would have been loved.

I do wish I knew the drs name now. Even though I know that it wouldn’t bring back my mom, make her diagnosis better, or even prevented anything, I still want to ask her if she started believing her patients. I think being a stay at home mom, previously poverty, woman has a lot to deal with how things went down. I wish no harm on the doctor, but I haven’t forgiven her for not saying something about going to the ER.

Life is short. I learned that by watching my mom give up on every dream she had because she knew she’d die. Go do scary stuff because who knows what’ll happen tomorrow. :).

I work in a public library and, because of how our book hold system works, I once accidentally informed some poor guy that he was likely getting a divorce.

His wife had placed several DIY divorce books on hold and they had a shared library account. When I called their landline phone number (the only one on the account) to tell them that their book holds were in, he answered the phone and, when I explained why I was calling, he asked what the book titles were. With out thinking, I rattled them all off. "The Michigan Divorce Book," "The Divorce Book: What Every Michigan Married Man or Woman Needs to Know," etc. I think there were four or five of them altogether, so it seemed pretty inevitable that he was headed for the single life.

We don't typically share our patron's private account information with anyone, including what books they have checked out or on hold, but if they are sharing an account with another person, we have no idea which person on that account has placed the hold, and sharing an account means that all the account info is shared freely amongst all the people on the account.

I know it's not my fault that this guy got a divorce, but that's a heck of a way to find out and I *do* feel bad about that.