A Painful Diagnosis
“I was writhing in severe pain, after presenting multiple evenings in a row with severe stomach pains to the same (military) doctor, who kept sending me away with antacids, which I consumed in copious quantities as I wandered the corridors of the military barracks, sleepless and in pain. (Later I learned that I had acute ulcerative oesophagitis that would have been much less severe, had it been treated earlier.) The doctor stood by my bed looking baffled and frustrated, and asked me, as if I were a major inconvenience to him: ‘What do you want me to do about it?’ I managed to squeeze out, between grunts of pain: ‘I believe the traditional process is diagnosis, followed by treatment.'” Source
Bad Assumptions
“Not a doctor but a paramedic told me after checking for signs of life on my mother. They ask loads of questions when it’s a sudden death and one question was ‘was she a drinker?’ I respond no and his words which still upset me to this day 6 years later ‘she looks like a drinker’ My mum just died. I was the one to find her. She actually died of a brain haemorrhage and not because of alcohol like he was clearly assuming.” Source
Thanks Sherlock!
“Sitting in my mom’s hospital room right before she was going into hospice care, the doctor was in the room talking to us. I was 19, sitting in the corner quietly because I had no reason to chime in, and it was overwhelming. The doctor singled me out, and with no emotion said ‘You know she’s going to die, right?’ Ya don’t say sherlock?” Source
Out of Wedlock
“Pregnant with my firstborn and had to see a specialist for an additional ultrasound. Doctor found out I wasn’t married (yet) and was a complete dick about how unmarried people shouldn’t have kids. Also tried to convince me to go to a state that allowed later-term abortions only because of my marital status, not because there was anything wrong with the baby.” Source
An Amazing Look
“Doctor was doing a pap smear and he said ‘woah!’ at one point while the speculum was in. I never did find out why, but I’m assuming he was just amazed by my awesome vagina.” Source
A Questionable Job
“Why do you want an Std screening? Are you a prostitute?” Source
How Rude!
“I said ‘ow’ during a pap when I was 18. Dr. says, ‘quit complaining, it’s not like this is the first time you’ve had something in there.’ Source
He Would Make Me Cry
“My dentist when I was little once told me that if I didn’t stop crying, he would give me something to cry about.” Source
No More Popsicles
“Looked at the tongue depressors and said, ‘aww man someone ate all my Popsicles!’ Source
A Misdiagnosis
“I was 13 and slipped on the stairs taking out the trash (it had just rained). I was really sore and was walking with a limp, so my mom took me to my doctor. He told me ‘there’s nothing wrong with you, you’re just fat’. So of course nothing happens. Cut to 3 months later and we had moved to a new city and I went to see a new Dr. All the doctor did was watch me walk across the room and I had emergency surgery scheduled for a day later. It’s turns out that the fall fractured my femur and dislocated the ball of my femur from my pelvis, which also had a hairline fracture. I ended up with two titanium rods in my leg and a story.” Source
The Truth Hurts
“When I was about 25, I went to a doctor for insomnia (he was from the deep south). All I said was ‘I’m having trouble sleeping’. He looked me up and down and said ‘the reason you can’t sleep is because you aren’t married. The reason you aren’t married is because you’re too choosey with men.’ I’d never met this guy in my life, he made this assumption after looking at me for 2 minutes. Scarred me for years. Turns out I had sleep apnea for 15 years, was too traumatized to see a doctor all that time.” Source
Mental Health Opinions
“Doctor I thankfully only saw once asked what medication I was on. I’m on three different prescriptions to treat my anxiety and depression, and I answered thus. He proceeds to lecture me on how the drugs won’t cure my mental illness and I have to ‘make things right in my soul’ for about fifteen minutes. Bro, I didn’t ask your opinion about my mental health. I’m here so you can treat my carpal tunnel.” Source
Suck It Up
“A doctor told me I was ‘too young’ to be having the kind of pain I was describing after an auto wreck. A doctor told my mom she was overweight because ‘survival mode.'” Source
That Was Uncalled For
“I have Tourette syndrome, meaning I make involuntary movements and noises called tics, so I can look pretty weird at times. It started when I was 4.
Recently diagnosed, highly insecure 12-year-old me was at the doctors for an unrelated health concern when I was told: ‘people won’t want to be your friend if you’re doing that all the time, they’ll think you’re weird’ – referring to a facial tic.” Source
Your Opinions Aren’t Needed
“Not me, but my Girlfriend (23). She was asking about methods of contraception, as she’d recently become sexually active. The doctor suggested ‘Why don’t you just go back to not being sexually active?’ And then would only give her poorly photocopied information sheets on the methods of contraception and to come back in a few months time if she still wanted contraception.” Source
Life Changing News
“My obgyn was a rather old woman, on the edge of retirement. I decided I would like to see a younger one, so I switched. She was about mid 40s. Went in for a pregnancy test, which came back negative. Big sigh of relief. She then started discussing my weight, like excessively for someone whose concern should be my reproductive system. Basically asking how long I’d been overweight (my entire life) and all of that. She then did a quick vagina check (no idea what for) and told me I was infertile and would have a tough time having children even with medical help. I was 19. This was devastating, but she was the doctor- obviously she knows something I don’t right? Asking for a second opinion was virtually unheard of, and I figured my old doctor was long out of touch and had missed something. DH and I (engaged at the time) had a long discussion with many tears and much heartbreak on both sides, until we came around to realize that we would have to work pretty hard to have kids and that we may never have them. We decided to quit using protection since we were fairly stable at the time. A month later, I was definitely pregnant. I switched back to my old doctor, and my baby was born happy and healthy with her 6 week checkup scheduled for the day before her retirement. It’s worked out so far, but when I told my OB what she had told me, she laughed and told me that if she had known I was going to her she probably would have stopped me and that she doesn’t know how the other doctor is still licensed/not bankrupt from lawsuits. I was pretty mad about that emotional roller coaster though.” Source
Diabetes?
“I was around 12 years old and I was getting a physical. The nurse told me I had diabetes and I was so freaked out about it I started to cry. Turns out, the nurse was wrong and I didn’t test positive for diabetes when I came back to test for it, she just misdiagnosed me on the spot. The next year, I was getting another physical at the same place when a different nurse laughed at me and said, ‘oh it’s you! Are you going to cry again this time? Haha!’ I remember feeling really embarrassed for getting emotional, until I realized that the nurse was an asshole for making fun of a patient.” Source