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Doctor visits are supposed to address ailments that a person may be dealing with. But of course, that’s not always the case. In some instances, people end up having some of the worst experiences that leave a bad, lingering taste in their mouths.
Here are some disappointing and worrying stories shared by people on Reddit. You wouldn’t believe how some medical professionals could actually put their patients in danger with their negligence.
Some of these responses are quite difficult to read. If you have similar experiences, feel free to share them in the comments below.
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
Friday Morning:
Me: My stomach is really hurting, I can't stand up straight it hurts so bad, I feel like I'm going to p**e and/or poo my pants and the pants of everyone in a 4 yard radius.
Four hours later:
Dr: Here's a prescription for ibuprofen, take some pepto. Peace out.
Sunday Morning:
Me: My stomach is still hurting really bad, I haven't slept at all since Thursday, I haven't eaten at all, yet I still feel like I'm going to be spraying from both ends.
Two hours later:
Dr: Cool lets get an scan done.
An hour later:
Dr: Yeah, looks like your appendix is about to burst, you will need surgery immediately.
2 hours later:
Dr: The surgeon will be coming in an a few hours.
3 hours later:
Dr: Yeah, the surgeon will be coming in Tomorrow afternoon.
1 hour later:
Me: I just left this other hospital because my appendix is about to burst and they can't help until tomorrow
45 minutes later:
Better Dr: Ok, we got your scan results let cut you open.
2 hours, 1 surgery and $84,000 dollars later:
Nurse: Your insurance will cover most of this but for some reason even though our hospital is covered your anesthesiologist isn't so another $3,000 will need to come out of pocket.
6 months, dozens of phone calls, hours and hours on hold, and calling one insurance agent a jerk later:
Insurance: Turns out you were covered, we just filed the claim wrong.
C64LegsGood:
"Turns out you were covered, we just filed the claim wrong."
IOW, we knew you were covered, but I'm trying to make our numbers look better (because one of my KPIs is mitigating payouts), and most people will just give up and pay.
Azriial:
I had a similar insurance issue. I go in for an elective but pre-approved surgery. Months later I get a bill for $5000 from the hospital. It says that the day I had surgery one of the regular operating room nurses was out sick so they had to use a locum nurse and she was not in network so I had to pay for her fee. Luckily my surgeons office fought the bill with me and although it took almost a year I finally got the insurance company to pay it. My basic argument was that I was under anesthesia at the time this issue arose and therefor had no way to consent or not consent to an out of pocket surgical nurse. It was very stressful and a huge pain in the a*s. I hate insurance companies and their rules and policies regarding treatments etc.
RELATED:
#2
Was 17, had an infected ingrown toe nail. My pediatrician tried c*****g and digging it out with what looked like pliers and bracing his leg against the table. After messing around for a bit he realized he wasn’t going to get it. No numbing gel or anything. Hurt like h**l. Scheduled an appointment with a podiatrist, he numbed it, had it removed in about two minutes and told me to never see that dr. Again.
JayisBay-sed:
Reading this while having a potentially infected ingrown toenail is making me rethink my life choices
Sam_i_am_68:
Go to a podiatrist. They’ll fix you right up without pain.
PromotionOk9737:
I had a similar thing happened to me when I was 9 or 10. I went to the ER because it was severely infected and I hadn't told anybody about it for whatever reason.
They didn't even numb me when they cut it out. Thinking back on it, it's a pretty messed up thing to do to a person.
#3
I thought I had a broken nose. The doc was showing me, on a heavy glass x-ray plate, that my nose was not broken. But as I was looking up, he dropped the plate on my nose and broke it.
anonymous:
"I, uh, guess you're here for a broken nose after all, huh?" - Dr probably
#4
At a hospital.
A little context. I am white. My wife is African-American.
We were checking in for the birth of our child. It was after normal business hours so we were checking in through the emergency room. A woman (white) was there in front of us. She had a bad accident and cut off a toe. Me and my wife were waiting patiently next to each other because the woman was definitely the priority. They check her in and we walk up to check-in. They ask my wife some questions and take her back for vitals before we are to go to maternity.
A few minutes later a nurse indicates that they are done and I can join my wife. I start to walk to her when a security guard (late fifties white male) stops me and yells at me. He puts his hand on his firearm. He then insists I join my wife. I step forward towards my wife and he grabs the handle again and orders me into a room. I step into it where I see the woman with her toe cut off. He steps in and continues to yell at me (and the woman) for not listening to him. He berated her for having an 'idiot' for a husband. It took another security guard and a nurse to stop his shouting and tell him my wife was the African-American woman.
He didn't finish his shift before he was terminated but it didn't make the experience any less bad.
ANONYMOUS:
Some people's idiocy amazes me, I'm sorry that has happened to you
usually_late:
Similar thing happened to my friend. She had her second child in the height of covid when there were lots of restrictions on who could be in the hospital with you. The rule was only spouses/parents were allowed in. My friend was already in labor when her wife was trying to get in to the building to meet her. A security guard was refusing her wife entry and escalating things because he literally could not wrap his head around the fact a woman could be there for the birth of her own child yet not be pregnant. Eventually a supervisor came and sorted it out but imagine nearly missing the birth of your child because some guy didn’t believe you were the spouse/parent.
Spencer's slave no longer 2 hours ago
So the entrance/admissions for maternity, in this instance, only operates during "normal business hours..." and why is the ER involved? I get that the US medical business is, well, a business but surely this isn't a regular occurrence?
#5
I've severe chronic pain for the last 11yrs but I also have a very h**h pain threshold. I was weaning off my meds so we could possibly begin looking at starting a family.
Everything was going OK, I was in more pain but I was managing it when one night I woke up screaming. I couldn't put my leg on the ground. I went to the ER and I spent 3hrs sitting outside the front door in a wheelchair vomiting and shaking in pain before they let me in and without any xrays told me I had a pulled hamstring and told me to take ibuprofen.
I went to my own doctor 2 days later when the pain was no better and I hadn't slept more than 10mins at a time and her exact words were "how do you expect to have a baby if you cant handle a few sleepless nights". I left there so disheartened and felt like I was over reacting. Weeks later, after l spending most days screaming in pain and thinking I was overreacting, I started loosing bladder control and went to see my pain Specialist who is amazing. She had me in an MRI that day and I was operated on by my neurosurgeon the day after. I was diagnosed with Cauda equina syndrome. He said had I waited any longer that I could've have ended up with a permanent wheelchair and urinary catheter.
He rang both the ER and my Dr in front of me and yelled at them. I realise I'm lucky I have two Specialists who have my best interests at heart but I never felt so gaslit in my life.
#6
I was getting a bone density scan for some odd reason, and the doc came in a while later and told me I had Osteoporosis. This was not why I was there in the first place and was completely surprised. I asked him if I could see the chart, and it was for a 70 year old woman. I was a 30 something man, and he had the wrong chart! Turns out I did not have any issues at all, well, bone density related….
swanlakepirate423:
Oh god, this reminded me of the time I took iron pills daily for four months because LabCorp mixed my results with someone who had severe anemia.
When I went back to be tested again, my iron levels were SO g*****n h**h it was almost bad.
Chronohele:
I was in the hospital during a Crohn's disease flare-up several years ago, just bloody diarrhea everywhere. A nurse came in and gave me a cup of laxative to drink. I had to yell twice that it wasn't mine to get her to come back, and she still tried to argue until I showed her that the name on the label wasn't mine. She left saying "Good thing I caught that." I guess that kind of denial is how nurses sleep at night?
#7
If an emergency room counts:
Walked in with chest pains and severe pain area around left shoulder blade. Here, fill this out. Wait over here. Walk back here. Go back to waiting room. Walk back here again.
Doctor walks up, first time I saw him, hands me discharge papers. “Follow up with your doctor in a few days.”
Wife drove me 40 miles to another hospital. They f***k. Rush me to the cath lab. In the Nick of Time.
Had 200% blockage of coronary LAD. Also known as the widow maker heart attack.
Hooligan9892:
Did you ever get in touch with a patient advocate at the first hospital? They needed to know about that incident.
OP:
I met with the hospital president and staff. He stated the ER doctor no longer worked there. I brought a hard copy of my paperwork from the other hospital and showed it to them.
#8
I went to a clinic to see a doctor about a fever and body aches and informed him I was allergic to NSAIDs.. he said he'd give me something and it was not an NSAID
Went home, swallowed the pill, immediate allergic reaction starts.. rushed to the A&E of a hospital where they pumped me full of meds to stop the allergic reaction.. and the doc there asked me why I took the NSAID.
I think the A&E doc reported the clinic doctor because he was never seen again.
Impossibilia:
I had a similar thing at a hospital here. Told multiple nurses and staff that I was allergic to aspirin, basically everyone except the doctor. Doctor prescribed me Advil, and assuming he looked at my chart and having no idea that both are NSAIDs, took Advil. Came back to the hospital an hour later in anaphylaxis and difficulty breathing.
25 years later, had a minor surgery at the same hospital and now they put a bright band around my wrist immediately, and the first thing any person I interacted with asked is “Do you have any allergies?” Annoying to be asked that 25 times in a 4 hour period, but nice to see that policy has changed to make sure that kind of thing doesn’t happen again.
#9
The ENT doctor removed a skin cancer from my nose, leaving an ugly scar. Turns out he excised the wrong area and I went to a different doctor to actually remove the cancer.
Linhasxoc:
That’s malpractice
LandoCatrissian:
I got a suspicious mole removed for biopsy. A week later, the doctor rings to say the lab lost it. Had to go back and have more skin removed for testing. It was benign. I now have a scar double the size.
#10
My family practitioner referred me to the therapist connected to their office. Before our session, I made sure to ask about patient confidentiality. The therapist assured me that it was all private, locked behind a different level of access, so only she would be able to see this part of my records. I was struggling a lot with my mental health at the time and really needed the help, so I was brutally honest about what I was going through during the session.
At my next appointment with my FP, the nurse doing my pre-assessment started going down the list of all the very private things I had told the therapist, asking me for updates for the record. There was no extra layer of privacy, the therapist had simply entered it into my patient notes that the entire office staff could see.
I ended up walking out. Never went back to that office.
GurglingWaffle:
Just as an FYI, the current "popular" Electronic Health Records do have walls between psychiatric and the rest of the chart. There is also a barrier between normal view and some sensitive diagnosis such as HIV/AIDs. The system has a "break glass" option if accessing the information is needed. But as soon as you hit that button and hit confirm a report goes to Medical Records Administration with date, time, user, specific documents viewed, etc. Actually all that stuff is recorded all the time but Break Glass puts a flag up for mandatory review.
Flags are put up for any views by people that don't need access. For example, if Neurology brings up a chart for a patient that doesn't have an appointment with Neurology within a set time before or after the access.
Unfortunately, if a hospital doesn't have proper procedures or neglects auditing charts there can be abuse. That is risky as patients and staff can report HIPAA violations to the government. Also, not all healthcare facilities use the most commonly purchased EHRs.
#11
It took me 13 years to find out my gall bladder was dead. I went to my doctor repeatedly, then another, then another. Seven different doctors. I had excruciating pain that never moved, always flared when I ate. It would last for hours. If I felt the pain coming on, it would stick around for about 6-9 hours before it abated. Solid 10 on the pain scale. If I ate anything other than toast the next day, it would come back. Impossible to sit, stand, move, lie down, exist.
Went to the ER a few times. They’d give me ultrasound after ultrasound—and because they saw NO GALL STONES they always wrote it off.
You’re probably constipated.
You’re just overweight.
After begging for a referral to another specialist, they gave me a full body MRI and several hours of testing (a HIDA scan—this was the test that caught it!) to watch the minute-by-minute function of my organs. Turns out my gallbladder had 93% non-function. Just a mostly dead organ. They had me scheduled for surgery the next week. I had it out and it was life changing.
It was only AFTER having it out that I realized how common the surgery is, and how any doctor who’d given me even vague consideration might have realized a gall bladder can malfunction WITHOUT stones.
I did not know how to advocate for myself because I kept being dismissed. I wish I’d been more assertive, because I suffered A LOT.
ifiwereinvisible:
Omg this happened to me!! I finally got my gallbladder out after 15 months of t*****e, only to get back to work for 9 whole work days before a disc in my back herniated and I had my second back surgery. Of course I had to suffer for another year with complications from that one, so I had my third back surgery on my birthday last month and hopefully NOW I can get my life back. Good luck in life, gallbladder buddy!
#12
Dealing with my daughter’s illness and having doctors downplay it, ignore her pain and tell me it was all in her head. Until she died from her “imaginary” illness. I find it very difficult to deal with doctors anymore after witnessing the widespread incompetence and horrible behavior.
GrannyTurtle:
My daughter had three different serious problems - one of which involved her heart and could have k****d her in an instant. She got ignored and didn’t get them diagnosed until she became an RN and asked questions of the doctors in the hospital she works at. They pointed her in the right direction - as an adult.
I was told I was “coddling” her by her h**h school, so I took her out that school. Jerk doctors and jerk educators made her teen years rather horrible. I’m lucky she didn’t try to self-medicate then.
#13
When I wanted a hysterectomy because my life was literally in danger due to anemia and non-stop bleeding and was told no, because my husband might want kids. I am not nor have I ever been married, I was in my 40s and I didn't want kids in the first place, but after explaining all this, was still told no. Because I might meet a man and he might want to knock me up at over 40, and I did not get a say, apparently.
I went to Mexico and they yoinked that thing out for me.
I came back and met with a completely different doctor for follow-up, and when he learned I'd had a hysterectomy without my future husband's consent, he told me he wouldn't treat me and to see PP for any future care because 'they're used to dealing with loose women.'
This was six years ago, if you're wondering. 2017. I have no reason to think anything has changed and quite a few reasons to think it's getting worse.
stubbytuna:
What is it with awful OB/GYNs?
I saw an OB/GYN in my twenties that I really regret spending so much time on. I have amenorrhea (lack of menstruation), severe uterine cramps, ovarian cysts, and pain during intercourse. Every time I would talk to my OB/GYN about it he would say: “Try using lube during intercourse” and give me a half used bottle of lube. But my complaint was I wasn’t menstruating and I was in pain all the time. He was laser focused on how I didn’t want have intercourse as much bc it was painful, so he was only worried about that. For nearly ten years btw.
Turns out, I have endometriosis and PCOS.
#14
Tuesday.
Went to my urologist just to ask questions, literally just questions.
So I have a catheter right now, he said hey let’s change that, like uh okay, this man used no anesthesia at all, he yanked the old one out, then shoved the new one in, I started screaming cause no anesthesia again, he shoved this thing in me that felt like a multi pronged fishing hook all through my nether regions. He said yeah it’s in there let’s inflate it, the pain was so intense I blacked out. So the next day the bag had less than an ounce, went back, then they said oh you got to go to the ER. 9 hours later they booked me with the original guy that put the last one in, had to go into surgery because the badly placed one was floating in my body distending and expanding my body. They got that one out new one in with no issues this guy used anesthesia. My private area is sore as a m**o because of that failed replacement.
#15
The time one told me to go to church and pray to get better and when I told her I didn’t really believe in that she started yelling at me that we were made n God’s image. I still can’t believe that happened.
#16
I had been having chronic migraines for probably 7 years at this point and couldn’t for the life of me get a doctor to listen to me about wanting medication. Saw another doctor, gave her the backstory to which she replied with something along the lines of “Well you’re about to turn 25 soon, you’re starting to get up there in age and need to start planning for a family soon. You shouldn’t be on any medications while pregnant, so just think about staying more hydrated and stress free for a while.”
I did not continue seeing that doctor.
Edit for context: I do not want children, and when expressed she said I would change my mind and need to start working on it soon. Again, because I was “old”.
#17
Laid on my side with my back to the door for a prostate exam. Heard people walk by talking while a finger was in my bum and realized the door was open.
Heyzeal:
imagine you're just walking around minding your business trying to find the x-ray room and you walk by an open room with a doctor shoving his finger up some dude's hole.
ThePopeofHell:
My urologist made a joke about the tightness of my pelvic floor by saying that he was worried it was going to bite his finger off.
I laughed when he said it because the situation was so absurd. I still can’t believe he said that to me. Not really offended or anything but it was def the weirdest thing that’s ever happened to me in a doctors office.
#18
Not me, but a close friend:
She was having debilitating migraines, to the point she couldn’t work or function. She waited nearly a month to see a neurologist. Upon a brief examination, he said:
“You don’t have anything wrong with you. Just exercise and try not having headaches.”
Three months later, he finally relented and did an MRI. She had massive lesions on her brain. She was diagnosed with MS. The smug jerk was somehow irritated she had a positive diagnosis. Her health wasn’t as important as his ego.
lunarmantra:
I must have had the same neurologist. I was having severe migraines most days for several years in a row, to the point where I was beginning to feel suicidal. He suggested some herbal supplements and vitamins, and then without warning reached over and grabbed my stomach rolls, told me I was fat and it was causing the migraines. I was shocked and humiliated.
The same doctor did that s**t to my dad about a month later when he was sent to the same clinic for migraines. He grabbed my dad’s stomach and called him fat, and then my dad was banned from the hospital because he nearly busted the door off its hinges when leaving the exam room, and threw a chair at the neurologist.
RelativelySatisfied:
And I’m very sorry your friend went through that! I had my first headache/migraine in a long as time, that I’d rank it was 7. And I was miserable m. I can’t imagine going that long in debilitating pain then being dismissed by a Dr!
This is for others who may be reading and have migraine/headache disorders, and are contemplating seeing a neurologist. Find one that specializes in headaches or better yet migraine. A neurologist who specializes in dementia isn’t going to be any help with your headaches.
#19
When I got the news I had stage 4 cancer 🫠 after being told by a Dr. That I was “too young for cancer” (I’m 29).
nananananaanbread:
My primary care is an office of rotating residents. I went in one time for a suspicious raised area on my back. Before doing the skin biopsy, the resident told me I was too young to be worrying about cancer. Had to break the poor guy's heart and tell him I couldn't lay on my stomach for the biopsy because I had a mastectomy a few months ago and can't lay on the tissue expanders.
Fair_Ad_6259:
My second time with cancer I'm waiting weeks on the biopsy results because the surgeon went on vacation right after ordering the tests. So I call my GP and ask about the results and staging? He tells me I have 'tumors'. I go can you give me more staging information than that? He repeats 'tumors' and says sorry. (Tumors can be benign or malignant the 'sorry' tipped it into malignant for me.). So I get his office staff to drop the info in the patient portal and find out I have Invasive Breast Cancer all by myself.
#20
I had a brown recluse bite under my nose, and it began to open up. I went to the urgent care, the doctor told me to lay down and prepare myself. Now, I work in healthcare so I already knew this wouldn’t feel good because he told me he was going to scrape out what was going on, pack it and send me on my way. He comes in, doesn’t give me any warning and shoves a needle in my face with lidocaine, doesn’t wait for it to localize, and began to scrape out the wound. I gave birth NATURALLY and would rather do that again than have to go through that horror ever again. I was in shock, just uncontrollably shaking after from the pain.
whitneywestmoreland:
I’m sorry you went through that. I have a very low threshold for pain so I don’t think I would have been able to resist telling the doctor to back the f**k off until the anesthesia took affect. This guy sounds like a [jerk]
HighwaySetara:
Sounds like the ER doc who stapled my son's head wound even though the numbing solution hadn't worked.
#21
I had pinched my syatic nerve pushing carts at work. He accused me of having very kinky s*x while my gf was in the room. I told him it was at work, and he assured me he would not judge me if it was from s*x. He then gave me OxyContin and told me when ever I needed a refill I should call him and he’d make sure I had plenty. Very weird.
The other is super mild but he kept farting. Like the whole time he’d fart every few minutes.
#22
Months after a breast lump removal my breast was still numb. I had the surgeon recheck it for the reason why. He said he didn’t cut any nerves, flicked my n****e and said “You’re fine.”.
TheRealJackReynolds:
My wife is an ER doc and the way HMOs treat women is ridiculous.
“Take an Advil before we blow air into your uterus. It’s like bad cramps.”
“We can’t take out your ovaries because then we’ll have to put you on estrogen therapy. We don’t care how much your PCOS hurts.”
I honestly do not understand it.
#23
Went to dr for 9 am appointment. 11 rolls around still waiting. Pharmacy reps come in with pizza. Now it’s noon. I go up to tell them I have to leave. Receptionist wants to charge me $25. Said dr was very busy that morning. I said “Not too busy to have pizza with pharmacy reps”. Everyone else waiting collectively gasped.
I did not get billed. And I never went back.
anonymous:
This happened to me around the holidays! The reps were streaming in giving the doctor presents and left the patients in the waiting room to ROT
#24
My pediatrician told me that the reason I wasn’t doing well in school was because I spent too much time shaving my nether regions 🙃.
likethedishes:
My very catholic doctor told my mom I had herpes when I was 16. She didn’t test me for herpes, just saw that I had razor burn and assumed that’s what it was. She then tried to give me ringworm medication for a years-old scar on my arm, and later went on to nearly k**l me when she told me I didn’t have strep when I definitely did and it ended up spreading to all my lymph nodes.
#25
My new doctor looked up my pharmacy report before my visit, as is custom. I lived with my terminally Ill brother, whose name was James and mine Jamie, so we had the same address phone number and initials and similar names. When they ran my pharmacy report as they normally do, my brother’s many medications showed up on my list. The doctor yelled at me, called me a d**g seeker and kicked me out of the office while I cried and pleaded with him to listen to me and that those medications were my brothers and not mine. He said that is not possible and that couldn’t happen. I ended up calling the board of pharmacy, who informed me that yes, closely named relatives who live together could show up on the same report, and the name doesn’t show but a patient number does, and if the doctor looks closely he will see 2 different numbers. The board member called the doctor and said he had to search by my SS# to get a more thorough search. Upon doing this, he realized his mistake and profusely apologized and my visit was free. He had no idea that 2 people could show up on the same report if they have similar details, and now he tells this story at all his conferences so other doctors don’t make the same mistake. Most of them had no idea that could happen either! Well, they do now!
anonymous:
This is a real issue. I work in healthcare, and we put warning stickers next to the name plates for patients with similar names. Even if they just have the same last name.
#26
Hands down, my IUD insertion. No warning. No numbing. Just spread on a table and an evil lady shoving a barb up in my cervix.
Swear to God I screamed at the top of my lungs, threw up, then blacked out for 2 mins. Then spent the next hour in the fetal position in the bathroom crying and throwing up. THEN drove myself home in the fetal position shaking from the pain. F**k that lady doctor!
t3hgrl:
So many people are completely unaware of how painful IUD insertion is!!! I assumed I’d be in and out in time to get to class and take a quiz. I was traumatized and bedridden for days. This is why I’m now very open about talking about how much I like my IUD but it certainly SUCKED for the first few months.
For the record, once my body was used to the foreign object being in there, getting the first one switched out for the second was a breeze. I was also able to have numbing the second time which I was nervous about but it mad it completely painless!
#27
Went to the dermatologist to have a mole on my back removed and biopsied. I was laying on my stomach and the dr was on one side of me and his assistant on the other. They're talking like they haven't caught up in months and I feel like an afterthought and am getting annoyed. Is this my time or theirs?
Then I feel this searing pain immediately followed by a warm liquid falling down my side and I hear the doctor say, "Oops." You never want to hear a doctor say oops. I was fully pissed at this point and said, "Would you mind paying attention to what you're doing when you have a scalpel in your hand?"
I ended up needing like 5 stitches and I have an inch long scar there now.
When I went back into the changing room they initially put me in to get dressed, I was basically topless when I noticed a window washer hanging outside the window just looking in.
Pissed turned into outraged and after I got dressed, went out in the waiting room and unloaded on the staff in front of a room full of people waiting to be seen, leaving nothing out.
I hope at least a few of them decided to cancel their appointments. I never went back, that's for sure.
Adept-Reserve-4992:
That’s truly terrible.
#28
Was sent to a rhumetologist for test and medicine for lupus. The doctor told me they had medicine to help but she wasn’t going to give it to me because I was in the “prime birthing age range”.
WithoutDennisNedry:
So many stories like this. One of the MANY reasons I got a hysterectomy. I felt like that thing was holding me hostage and couldn’t wait to get it out. F**k a society that gives more bodily rights to literal corpses!
#29
I had a non-emergency emergency out of network (it was later found out that I have PCOS and one of the cysts had popped, 10/10 do not recommend) so I managed to get back into my health insurance network area and a doctor's office was closer than an ER.
Went to said doctor and he was convinced that I was either faking it for attention or faking it to obtain some pain meds. During his examination he kept pushing on my lower torso/uterus area and every time I screamed in pain he'd tell me to stop being dramatic and that if I didn't stop flexing that area then he'd have to push harder. I wasn't flexing that area but he insisted that I was.
I kind of zoned in and out of the rest of the exam but I remember realizing I was completely screwed when he was literally hopping up and down to be able to feel what was going on. Eventually he proclaimed that I probably just have an upset stomach due to being fat and that he'd draw blood if it got my mom to stop "enabling" me. His nurse couldn't get a vein after multiple attempts in both arms. When a different nurse tried multiple times she finally went "Oh, you're really dehydrated" to which the doctor then chastised me for drinking too much soda which likely caused the dehydration.
My mom was frantic and kept my doctor up to date with everything that was happening. My doctor told her to just take me and leave and try to hold out until we reached the closest ER. As we were leaving the doctor told us that he had already called ahead to multiple nearby ERs in our plan to let them know that I was just trying to get pain meds and to not give them to me.
Eventually my pain started subsiding and we drove to my regular doctor. She was beyond pissed and ended up helping us file a s**t ton of paperwork to complain to the medical board about what happened. My doctor's biggest push to my mom about why she should file an official complaint and negligence claim was because
1. He didn't know what was wrong and if someone complains of pain somewhere you shouldn't be pushing so hard that you're jumping up and down to dig in because you could be making things WAY worse.
2. Due to the pain being caused by a cyst popping there was a good chance that digging his fingers into my lower torso could have caused more to pop
3. If a patient comes in screaming and crying saying they're in pain, you shouldn't automatically dismiss it, especially when they continue showing signs of pain when you touch the area they're complaining about.
#30
I told my pediatrician at 15 I was having chest spasms and anxiety and wanted to see a therapist. My mom was in room. He told me stop googling things I’m fine and teenagers don’t have anxiety because there’s nothing to worry about. I never went back to him ever and didn’t see another doctor until I turned 19 to be committed in a psych ward. Turns out anxiety was real and interving at 15 possibly could have prevented many many things from happening. 🙃🙃.
WithoutDennisNedry:
Christ on a cracker, I’m so sorry. I’m much older than you but if I had had access to Google and known as a child what anxiety was, you bet I would have asked for help too. I can absolutely see the signs looking back and I’m positive if my issues had been addressed then, I’d be much better equipped to deal with anxiety now.
#31
I saw a psychologist after my brother's s*****e because I was an absolute mess. He'd been living with us and I found him. The psychologist proceeded to chastise me during the session because I never finished college.
It totally soured me on therapy and I waited a lot longer than I should have to see one for other mental health issues I have.
lyndluv:
I was trying to get help for anxiety and panic attacks and my first therapist told me to stop eating chocolate and to lose weight.
Eight years later, I know I have ADHD.
#32
I had a whole list of symptoms pointing to type 1 diabetes, I was sent for a blood test, the results showed I was diabetic, and then my doctor didn’t refer me for treatment, I was left untreated for an extra 10 days before action was taken - which absolutely could have k****d me, I was given the option to sue after everything was eventually sorted.
#33
A doctor once told me that I didn’t need antidepressants, that I needed to find Jesus and I would be fine.
anonymous:
Hope you reported them to the medical board
#34
I brought my daughter in for her shots (she was 6 at the time, I think?) and the nurse was lovely until she asked about the health history of my daughter's bio father, which I wasn't sure of (big mistake with the guy, but great reward on my end bc she's amazing) and this Nurse Ratchet turned into some kind of demon and made the experience much more painful than it should have been. My poor kid still talks about the Nasty Nurse and she's 12 now. She hasn't forgotten.
#35
Probably the 4th time they told me I had Cancer. Sorry to be a bummer, but that's my answer.
#36
Went to go get blood drawn before surgery
Got stuck 13 times in my hands, wrist and elbow, still couldn’t draw a drop
My mom, who came with me because this was 2 HOURS out of the way, “can I try”
She got it on the first try
(For context my mom used to be a phlebotomist).
#37
Woke up in the ER tied to a bed screaming my husbands name. I had no memory of how I got there or why. Kidney infection went septic. I didn’t even know I had a kidney infection.
I seriously almost died.
#38
This was a ripple effect. One doctor (from a religious office that my parents sent me to) prescribed me medication for my migraines.
Another doctor, about two years later, prescribed me birth control.
Neither doctor told me that for every 50 mg of this headache medication you took, it lowered the effectiveness of your birth control by 25%. I was taking 200 mg.
First doctor didn’t tell me because I was 19 and unmarried, therefore “shouldn’t be having s*x”. The next one didn’t tell me because it was a Planned Parenthood, they were extremely overworked, and there were protesters outside, so everyone was a bit on edge.
Suffice to say I have a 7 year old now.
Thankfully, I have an amazing partner who’s got my back through everything. And we roll with the punches. But I wonder a lot how much different my life would’ve been if that first doctor would’ve been forthcoming with information.
#39
Was sick with flu like symptoms and sore throat around the time swine flu was briefly a thing. Finally after over a week I went to a clinic to get checked out to rule that out and was told I had strep. The doctor said it was so obvious they weren’t even going to “waste a swab”. Gives me a script for amoxicillin and sends me on my way.
Next day I’m pissing blood and go back to the doc. She exams me again, gets a urine sample, and comes back about an hour later telling me she has already called ahead to the Emergency Room at the hospital and told them I was coming because I’m in “End Stage Renal Failure”. Have a year old baby at home and I’m thinking my life is over and my kid is going to grow up without a dad.
Get to the ER and the doc there looks at me and kind of skeptically raises an eyebrow, says he wants to draw blood and run some tests while they give me an IV bag.
He comes back in about 30 minutes telling me I have mono, the blood in urine was just from the associated liver infection from the virus / broken down blood cells that were being expelled in my urine (or something along those lines). Discharges me and says I’ll be fine.
It’s been like 14 years so I think he was probably right. Thanks ER doc, you were great! But I guess the original clinic doc that misdiagnosed me twice was the subject of that classic joke, “what do you call someone who graduates last in medical school?”.
#40
Doc forgot to remove the speculum. I had to call him back as he was leaving the room to get him to remove it. He acted as though I was wasting his time.
#41
Drove 2 hours, caught in some traffic, 2 minutes late....they cancelled the appointment and charged me 25 bucks, but I can guarantee if I was on time I would've sat there for at least a half hour before they called me in anyways.
#42
I'm getting my height and weight taken before an appointment, I step on the scale with my back to the display before saying to the nurse "And you can just go ahead and keep that number to yourself, I don't want to know." I was dealing with body image issues and struggling with an eating disorder, it wasn't my first rodeo so I was polite and casual when I spoke. She writes down my weight, I step off the scale and we begin walking to the exam room. Then she says to me over her shoulder:
"You dont have anything to worry about by the way, you're only -insert my weight here-"
Fricken devastating.
#43
I had been sick for a while and had been gaining about 20 pounds a month. I had seen multiple doctors and they just told me I was just eating more than I thought which was ridiculous. I went to a doctor for a skin issue and the new doctor walked in the room and looked at me from across the room and said “let’s get you to the emergency room” after about five seconds.
I had end stage cirrhosis of the liver. That kind of sucked. I had a liver transplant 362 days ago and only in the last month have I started to feel like I am getting back to normal.
Did you know you can get so sick your hair turns gray and then get better and the gray hair goes away? It’s weird honestly.
#44
If we're only talking about experiences at an office or clinc...that would be when I got my cancer diagnosis. It was the week before Christmas, I was only 23 at the time and my wife and I had only been married for six months.
It's been almost 23 years since my last treatment and I'm doing okay (knock on wood) but yeah, that was one truly s****y time in my life.
#45
I had a doctor tell me that I, as an autistic adult, shouldn't be in charge of my own medical decisions and that I definitely shouldn't be going to appointments by myself. I was in my mid-twenties, an honor student in college, and generally pretty d**n functional.
My brother, who was waiting out in the parking lot, nearly came inside to fight him.
#46
It’s a long story but a sports injury surgeon who ordered a contrast MRI which hurt like absolute hell. Worse than what was going on. He used this MRI and decided there was nothing wrong with me. Had me doing physical therapy on it for like 2 months and I only got worse.
He couldn’t figure anything out so referred me to hand specialist in the same office. Within the first visit, she used the EXACT SAME disc with the MRI he had done, and already figured out what was wrong. I had complete sever of one of my ligaments.
She not only could see this and showed me on the image itself, but that the VERY LAST sentence, which was on the last page by itself, literally said that it was a complete sever/tear of said ligament. She showed me the report. He both didn’t read the imagine properly and couldn’t be bothered to read the entire report.
Unfortunately I can’t pursue anything legally because I didn’t have any lasting disability. Despite all the pain and suffering and lost work time for over a year.
#47
I was having a pap smear from a DO that was at least 450lbs, and as he did my exam he told his nurse that once a bigger lady was having one and the table somehow failed and she fell crotch first right into his face. I was overweight at the time, and I just couldn't believe he'd bring up something so nonchalant like that. The nurse looked horrified.
#48
I was booked in for a Pap smear and my regular dr wasn’t available on the day so the offered to fit me in with another dr in the practice. What could go wrong?
After the Pap smear which was unpleasant as usual, the dr(mid50s, very strict headmistress type) followed up with “I like to do a manual exam” I said ‘No’ but she then told me that “it was compulsory part of her care standards.”
I felt like I could not refuse. So the dr gave me a manual exam, and pushed on my stomach from the outside while her whole hand was in my v****a. When I complained that she was hurting me I was told that “this is nothing compared to childbirth and I had a lot to learn.” When she removed her hand she told me off for coming to get a Pap smear when I was on my period - (which I wasn’t I had timed the appointment specifically) she had made me bleed.
I was in shock of what had happened and paid the bill and went home in a haze. I took two ibuprofen and went to bed. For more than a week I was in pain and walked hunched with a hot water bottles on my stomach.
When I next saw my usual dr, I told her what happened, and how I was unwell afterwards, and was told that ‘ah yes, some drs do things differently, but you are ok now and you have had your Pap smear, and the results are fine.’
After that appointment I changed drs practices.
Sara Frazer 40 minutes ago
Omg, last time I had the dreaded pap done an older female doctor did this to me too. There was a younger doctor who did the initial test, then the older lady came over and said she wanted to examine me, and without warning did pretty much the exact thing op described here 😣 it hurt so bad I yelped then began uncontrollably crying, the old lady stopped and nurses came over to comfort me... It's been a few years and while I have uterine problems that require me to get yearly paps, I have not been back 🙃
#49
Took 7 tries for the anesthesiologist to place my epidural during labor (I have a bit of a crooked spine). He even muttered “son of a b***h” after the 5th failure. And the nurse that was working with him told me he was the “epidural whisperer”. 7 jabs into my spine was not fun.
#50
I have torn cartilage in my shoulder and the third time I went to the doctor about it he immediately stopped caring once I said it didn't hurt that bad even though it hurt every day. Just said to come back if it gets worse. It did but very progressively so I didn't think about it for months. Went to a fourth doctor who actually diagnosed the issue and pushed me to surgery. I opted for physical therapy instead and it seems to be the right choice. 4 orthopedists to diagnose it, and only one physical therapist to fix it. The single worst experience was being flat out ignored by the third doctor which lead to me further damaging myself. If I just started PT back then, I'd probably be in better shape.
#51
I was diagnosed with chronic bronchitis as a kid. Every winter, I typically have a bout of it. A few years ago, I had all the classic symptoms, called my doctor's office, and got an appointment with the new NP. She told me that I wouldn't have a cough if I lost weight. At the time, I was at the top of my weight chart, but not obese.
#52
Told her I had a lump in my neck. She couldn’t feel it. Said don’t worry, it’s nothing. Sent me home.
A year later it got bigger. Went to a different dr. Cat scan. Biopsy. Cancer. Had it for a year before I got diagnosed because of her.
Treatment starts soon.
#54
I had a rash around my eyes. Really really red and raw. The dr asked me what happened and what i put on my eyelids to get them so red. I said i didnt put anything on, only vaseline. And idk why this happened. She was all shaking her head and giving me an attitude.
She leaves the room and i can hear her talking about me to the nurse, saying "vaseline??!!! Have you seen the girl's face? There's no way in hell that's from vaseline! These kids come in and they dont tell me the truth!! Vaseline would never do that!"
Then the nurse came in and i started crying. I told her that i could hear the doctor talking about me and how cruel she was. I also told her that im here because i need help. I dont want to look like this and i didnt do anything to myself to get like this. Idk how the dr could be so cruel.
The nurse apologized and said something like "that's just how she is". and gave me a prescription for a steroid cream. Turns out i have eczema. Idk why it was so bad that time. But that dr had no compassion and made me feel horrible.
#55
A few years ago, I had several thousand dollars worth of medical treatments. As someone who is generally unhealthy, I am very aware of how medical insurance works, so I knew how much was going to be out of pocket heading into it. Well, the clinic billed insurance and insurance messed it up. It was paid as if it was out of network and when I got the bill for almost the entire amount, I knew it was wrong. I called the insurance company and they admitted that it was their fault. They said all I needed to do was get the clinic to refile the claims and they would pay it correctly. If only it was that simple. I honestly don't know what the problem was, but the guy in charge of patient billing at this clinic acted like he was recovering from a recent lobotomy.
I called and told him about the situation, and he said he'd call the insurance company and confirm. Well, he allegedly called and they told him it was paid correctly and I owned every cent of the 8 grand or whatever it was. He put a note in my file that said this and refused to do anything from there on out. I knew that wasn't correct, so I called the insurance company back and had them draft a letter detailing exactly what needed to be refiled. I faxed it to the clinic, and he claimed he had it in his hand and was getting ready to refile the claims "right now". I breathed a sigh of relief.
About a week later, I called the insurance company to check on the status of the claim and they said they never got it. I called the clinic and it was like pulling teeth to get him on the phone. After maybe 30 messages left for him, he finally called me back and had no idea who I was and no idea what I was talking about, doesn't remember a fax...oh, but there was this note in my file that says it was paid correctly and I owe this money. I faxed the g*****n letter to him again and he was like "Oh, okay. I'll file it right now." But he didn't.
This cycle went on for *months*. It was well over a year before this was fixed. I'd fax the paperwork, he'd confirm he got it, claim he was "getting ready to file it" (At one point he even claimed he'd already refiled it) and then it's like his memory reset and the letter got sucked into the ether. At no point did he ever have a memory of getting a fax or talking to me previously or getting literally hundreds of phone message sticky notes on his desk. And every single time, he'd point out that there was this note in my file that says I owe this money. W*F. Several times it got sold into collections. I got turned down for a car loan and I had no idea why. Turns out it was because I had so much medical debt in collections.
At some point, months into this and literally hundreds of calls later, I went in for an appointment and the secretary (who was pretty new) told me I needed to make a payment before they'd even let me into the office. Evidently the billing guy told her I had this huge outstanding bill I wasn't paying on. I'm not an emotional person and I'm not a "make a scene" type of person, but I couldn't take it anymore. I started bawling my eyes out in the waiting room, screaming for her to just let me talk to him. Maybe if he can see my face he will form some sort of memory and this will be all over. He refused to come out of his office but he did admit to remembering some fax, but "it didn't say anything relevant." I LOST it.
I finally made a payment. It was against my better judgment, but I needed to see the doctor. As soon as I got back to the room, I started telling the nurses what I'd been through and I'm basically screaming at this point because I was so pissed. Basically the entire nursing staff was crowding around the room and I'm railing on this guy. I told the doctor that I couldn't do any more treatments until this billing situation was fixed. I ended up not going back to that doctor. I didn't do anything wrong and neither did he, but I just felt so embarrassed about my outburst.
About a month later, I received another collections notice. I called the clinic and asked for the billing guy and was told he no longer worked there. She didn't say as much, but I assume I got him fired. The woman I spoke to got the bill out of collections immediately and sent the now year old medical claims to the insurance company within the week. It was that f*****g easy and for some reason, the guy couldn't take two minutes to do his g*****n job.
#56
When I was 19, I was having some strange “rash”: the soles of my feet and the palms of my hands were covered in red, painful blisters that were sometimes itchy. I was feverish, in pain, couldn’t hold things because of them and couldn’t really walk either.
Did some blood work at the doctor, waited a week and then was told to come in again. The doctor leans back in hair chair super casually, says “so it’s either leukaemia or syphilis.” Tells me I have to get blood work done once a week for the next 6-8 weeks or so to monitor my platelets and white blood cell count.
After all of this - absolutely terrified I had leukaemia and was going to be undergoing the worst trial of my life, the doctor calls me back in and goes “.. I really wish it was syphilis.”
My stomach DROPPED.
Turns out it wasn’t leukaemia at ALL, it was an infection that had started in my lungs and spread to my bloodstream. When I asked him why he told me he wished it was syphilis, he said “because it’s so easy to cure! I just wished you had syphilis.”
TL;DR my doctor told me to my face that he really wished I had syphilis, while spending the entire time implying I probably had leukaemia.
#57
I wasn't thrilled with the giving birth thing. That s**t hurt and everybody saw my cooch. Pretty sure I pooped too.
#58
I was seeing a dentist and having a wisdom tooth removed. I had braces as a kid and my teeth were really f****d. Like they wanted me to wear headgear, but instead they put this electronic thing in the roof of my mouth and I have a permanent retainer. We were chatting about it and I guess that's not a really common thing because he asked me "where I got braces?" I didn't understand the question and answered "in my mouth". He meant what location in the country.
I think about this a lot. 😬.
#59
Doctor checked my balls and felt something and said “oh... oh... this isn’t right. This could be cancer right here” I got so nervous I passed out. I woke up drenched in sweat and the doctor laughing at me and making jokes. Two days later found out it was nothing... By far my worst and most embarrassing visit.
#61
I was told by a doctor that I had polycystic kidney disease. That I wouldn’t live a normal life span, I would end up on dialysis, and that I would need a transplant. Then I went to the nephrologist and they said my kidneys looked great! Turns out she didn’t actually read the radiologist report from the ultrasound and the “cysts” that she diagnosed were the ultrasound appearance of the pyramids that are a normal part of your kidneys. Yeah. I have a new primary care doctor now.
#62
Being turned away for leukemia care due to the doctor's personal religious opinion about treating trans people. "Oh, you're different inside, too, how can I treat you?" I had no idea my blood wasn't human, lady. I reported her and the office gave her the smackdown, but holy s**t I thought I was going to die.
#63
Cut my hand while making dinner one night and needed stitches. My boyfriend drove me to emergency and the nurses made me wait in a solitary side room because all of the blood on me was scaring children.
Well I was supposed to be fast tracked because the bleeding wouldn’t stop. Fast forward almost 4 hours later and I came out and said “hey if I go to the bathroom and someone calls my name, will I still be able to go in after?”
They were shocked.
“Omg you’re still here?!”
They forgot about me.
I was covered in blood. Bleeding through my bandage they gave me as I walked in. And they forgot about me in this dark, quiet room.
#64
A psychiatrist once told (teenage) me my problem was “boys and I should become a lesbian”
Jokes on her I AM a lesbian and still just as mentally ill.
#65
I was getting constant ear infections. I went to different doctors, who gave me antibiotics. They worked for a few days and then stopped. So I visited an allergist on my own, the only one in town. He was a grumpy old guy who arrived late, looked in my ear, and said "I don't see any inflammation. I don't think there's anything wrong with your ears. Maybe it's a brain tumor or MS. Or it could be hyperthyroidism - your eyes are kind of bulgy. But maybe that's just the way you look."
Long story shorter, it was an infection. He just didn't see it. I decided to eliminate foods on my own, to see if I was allergic to any of them. I eliminated milk from my diet, and poof, the infections went away. I haven't had an ear or sinus infection in over 25 years.
It takes a real leap of faith for me to see a doctor. For the most part, I either don't trust them or feel like I'm not getting the whole story.
#66
At 23, I went for a gyno visit due to a s****l health matter (not an STI) and the nurse practitioner, who had a giant cross hanging on the wall, told me I was probably having the issue due to guilt from being unmarried and s******y active. I was outraged, but hadn’t grown the backbone yet to tell her off. Looking back, I should have reported her to the medical board.
#67
In the early 80's, at about 12-13, I had a tooth repaired that got broken and the guy smoked cigarettes WHILE operating. When they finally took the protective cover off the tooth, it smelled like I had been smoking myself.
#68
Came in to an emergency room with horrible fever and vomiting. Doctors said its my appendix and that I need an urgent appendectomy. As this hospital was not the best my town provides, I decided to do the “urgent surgery” in a better hospital and rushed there.
Turns out it was a bad bacterial infection. Almost got my appendix removed for no reason.
#69
My diagnosis. I was 13 and struggling a lot against s*****e at the time. I started to scare the other kids in my middle school with how much I cried in the bathroom, so I was referred for psychiatric evaluation. I was taken into a side room by the psychiatrist away from my mom, where he asked me about my struggles. I was honest and talked about attempts at my life.
He proceeded to scream at me for it. Top of lungs yell. I’ve blacked out all the words. He left me alone to cry and breakdown and went to speak to my mother. After that I came out of the hospital with a shiny new autism diagnosis.
I hated him and that experience so much I am pursuing a career in psychological evaluation. I want to make diagnosis a positive first step to getting help, and for diagnosis to come as a relief. Healthcare shouldn’t involve screaming at children.
It also came out later he was beating his wife and children, so that tracks.
#71
Had a bone marrow biopsy done. Doc called me and my wife into his office a week later and told me I had multiple myeloma. Didn't know what that was so I googled it. Basically meant I had 3 months to live. I was in my 40's. Kinda bummed out.
Called my Dad and boss at work.
Doc called me a few hours later. He mis-read the diagnosis. It actually read that I did NOT have MM.
That one word (NOT) changed my life.
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