People Are Revealing The Worst, Most Unprofessional Thing A Doctor Has Ever Said To Them, And I'm Absolutely Furious

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a day ago

A Reddit user recently posed the question, "What's the worst thing a medical professional has said to either you or someone you know?" While most healthcare workers are compassionate, hard-working, and brilliant, many flaws in the system cannot be ignored. Bias, differences of opinion, lack of research, hubris, and other factors can interfere with a patient's ability to get proper care. Here are 27 stories from people who felt dismissed by the professionals they turned to during their time of need:
1."A psychiatrist told me my depression would go away if I just 'smiled more and wore prettier clothes.' I was literally there because I couldn't get out of bed for weeks. Still makes my blood boil thinking about it."
—SpicyBabygirl1
2."I told the doctor I was not having periods anymore, and I was having hot flashes. They said, 'You women are always fantasizing about health problems. Are you really trying to say you're experiencing menopause in your 30s? I'm so embarrassed for you that I'm not even going to put it in your chart.' A year later, I finally saw an endocrinologist. When he looked at my bloodwork, he was shocked. I was post menopausal. 'Why didn't you tell anyone?' It took a few years, but it turned out to be a flare of psoriatic arthritis that killed my ovaries."
—Dessertcrazy
3."I was having dizzy spells so bad that I couldn't stand without vomiting or falling down. Like, I woke up one day and couldn't walk in a straight line. I saw an ENT and had an MRI on my ear. Turned out I had a physical anomaly in my ear. I'm missing a bone/some tissue that would normally separate a main artery from my inner ear. As I age and things sag, the artery pushes straight against my inner ear, causing tinnitus and making me dizzy. While explaining the results of my MRI to me, the ENT then said, 'And guess what we can do to treat it?' all full of glee and with excitement. Dumbfounded, I stammered before he exclaimed, 'NOTHINNGGGG!!!!! Hahahaha.' I literally just started sobbing. I was 28 and suddenly couldn't walk, and this man was laughing at my diagnosis."
—sabdariffa
4."While half-asleep at around 6 a.m., I stepped out into thin air halfway down the stairs and fell about six feet directly onto my right ankle. An emergency room doctor, the only available doctor in town, said 'You've probably only sprained it. You need to walk on it to get it to heal,' after a visual inspection from six feet away. He didn't touch it or even bend down to get a closer look. He refused to call the X-ray tech in for something so minor. I had to wait until the following morning to get one of my staff to drive me to the next town over (an hour away) to see another doctor who immediately had me X-rayed for my broken ankle and torn ligaments. I was off that foot for like four months."
"My intellectually disabled sister had frequent vomiting and fever, and her skin turned yellow. The ER doctor said it was a tummy bug. I pushed the issue because, you know, her skin turned yellow. In a huff, he sent her to get an ultrasound to 'get me off his back and put my mind at ease.'
The ultrasound guy had a look, went and got his boss, who came and also had a look, and asked, 'Are you in any pain?' My sister replied, 'A little bit,' and the ultrasound boss was like, 'You should be in absolute agony.' She had massive gallstones and an infection. Immediate emergency surgery. Never saw that first dipshit again."
—princecoo
5."I have a genetic condition that (among other things) causes my joints to spontaneously dislocate or sublux. This is extremely painful, obviously. For me, the first joint this started happening to was my shoulder. It's a very shallow joint, and if the head of the humerus moves out of place enough, it starts to wear down the cartilage and make it easier for it to slip out again in the future. Before I got diagnosed, I just knew that I had a fucked-up shoulder that was really painful sometimes. I'd seen many doctors about it, and one had finally referred me to an orthopaedic specialist. I remember being so excited about the appointment because I was finally going to get some answers and stop being in pain all the time. He was an older guy, and after listening to my story, he just said: 'I think you should consider a breast reduction.'"
—calibrateichabod
6."A doctor told me a particular problem I had was my weight. I said, 'It's been there when I was underweight, overweight, and everything in between. If you can tell me the magic number on the scale where it won't be a problem, I will try my damndest to get there.' Lost the weight again, and it was still a problem. He's not my doctor anymore, though."
—ComeHereBanana
7."I was in the ER after months of unknown stomach pain. The doctor told me it was 'probably just a virus' and that 'teenage girls tend to exaggerate their pain.' A few months later, I ended up needing emergency gallbladder surgery, which fixed the issue. Thanks for nothing, loser!"
—halcyonhearted
8."My gynecologist looked at my chart and said, 'Oh, you're 32? Better hurry up and have kids before your eggs turn to dust.' I switched doctors that same day."
—DesirableBabygirl
9."I was told by an ER nurse that 'God only gives what he knows you can handle.' I have multiple chronic illnesses. Another time in the ER, a male nurse said I had an obstruction in my pelvic area after a scan. I said yes, I'm wearing a menstrual cup. This confused child looked me in the eyes and said, 'Well, there shouldn't be any obstructions. I can check it out if you like.' I screamed at him that if he didn't know what a menstrual cup was, he sure as shit wasn't going anywhere near my vagina. The patient on the other side of the curtain cracked up at the exchange."
—oonlyyzuul
Related: Adults Are Sharing Their "I Can't Believe I Have To Explain This To Another Adult" Stories, And I Need A Break From Life After Reading These
10."I was exhausted, kept getting sick (colds/flu), and just didn't feel right. I was told, 'I don't think anything is wrong except that you're a mum and they're always tired.' I pushed for blood work and was low on vitamin D, anaemic, and needed an iron infusion. I had a history of poor iron levels, but apparently I was just 'tired.'"
—External_Camp
11."I went in with complaints of severe abdominal pain, and the gyno told me, 'Well, good news. At least pain won't kill you.'"
—amancanandican
12."'No, I'm not going to redo your PAP. It's not unusual to have an abnormal test once in a while. Come back in six months, and if it's still abnormal, we will look into it.' I didn't like that, so I got a second opinion. I had endometrial cancer with a bonus ovarian tumor. The ovarian tumor could have metastasized quickly if I hadn't had surgery as soon as I did. Thankfully, all was caught in time and I didn't need chemo or radiation, but I can't help but think of the people who trusted this doctor's word and got a different diagnosis."
—stellarseren
13."When my brother was born, he was unable to swallow. He was in the NICU; they had him on a feeding tube and were suctioning him regularly to keep him from aspirating. On Mother's Day, my mom asked the head of the NICU what his odds were of surviving, and without even looking at her, he said, 'Your son can't swallow. People who can't swallow eventually choke on their secretions and die.' And then he walked away. My brother just turned 40. Fuck that doctor."
—dorky2
14."I was newly married and went to the doctor to get back on the antidepressants I had been on in the past. I've had awful anxiety and depression my whole life, but I had to get off my meds since I lost insurance. I got insurance again after getting married. The doctor wanted to try me on some new meds, and I told her I just wanted to be on my old ones, and she said, 'Well, since you're newly married, you might want to try something new and stronger since depression and anxiety normally cause problems in marriages. You wouldn't want to ruin your new marriage, would you?' I never went back to that doctor again."
—SnooCupcakes1551
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15."The guy really WANTED my symptoms to be fake because that was the conclusion he'd already drawn and he was really pissed off when a few things in my tests turned out to be slightly elevated enough that he couldn't deny me care. He gave this big, frustrated sigh and said, 'Look, you're [blah blah] levels are slightly elevated, so I'm going to admit you, but...' and then he trailed off because I think he realized he'd get in trouble for whatever he planned to say next. It's good he did too because it turns out I was totally right and we caught something that could have been VERY dangerous very early."
—Popular_Try_5075
16."'Migraines aren't a real thing.' This was after I'd just had a bad one that lasted three days with me in bed, unable to tolerate lights or sound. Yep, I found a new doctor."
—Agitated-Income9146
17."When I told my pediatric psychologist that I was seeing things that I was pretty sure weren't real, she told me, 'Well, some people are just more attuned to the other side.' When I moved, I finally got a new psychologist who recognized that I was having manic episodes with hallucinations and put me on a mood stabilizer."
—sleepy_protagonist
18."Over the course of 20 years, I've often had my pain dismissed as period cramps. The last doctor told me he'd send me to a psychiatrist if I came back because he didn't think my pain was real. By the time they found the issue, I had an ovarian mass the size of my head in my abdomen and pelvis. It had already developed into cancer. Had any one of the dozens of doctors I went to over the course of 20 years even done a simple ultrasound, this would have been caught before it was cancer."
—Frosty_Comparison_85
19."Someone I know was explaining that she has an iron deficiency but was afraid to watch her diet too much (to manage this deficiency) because it could make her fall back into anorexia (for which she's had hospitalizations in the past), especially at the moment when she was very stressed (new job, break-up, etc.). The doctor looked her up and down and said, 'Oh, it's okay. You don't seem to be at risk of anorexia.' Not only is this a ridiculous remark (and very dangerous given the situation explained), but she was just at her ideal weight and was a size 8 (US size). I can't imagine what it must be like for people with eating disorders who are actually overweight."
—NutrimaticTea
20."I went to see a specialist about my endo (diagnosed via laparoscopy) because I was having some worrying symptoms. My MRI scan came back normal (pretty common for endo not to be visible on the scan). He told me I should think myself lucky I didn't have something like cancer, and that he didn't want to refer me on until I was in 'real' pain. Turns out my deep infiltrating endo that was left untreated had now caused adenomyosis and spread to my bladder and bowels. I WISH I had made a complaint at the time."
—Old-Original1965
21."'Seven weeks of bleeding is normal. Our first availability is in another seven weeks. Come back then.' He also rolled his eyes at me and huffed with annoyed exasperation, like a bratty/moody teenager does. I had been bleeding for over seven weeks already. As this provider told me the above statement, blood had started literally gushing down my legs. It was summer, and I was wearing white shorts, so he could very clearly see blood pooling down my legs. I waddled off to the closest bathroom, cleaned myself up, and called my primary care doctor to explain the circumstances. My primary care usually doesn't handle gynecologic issues, but he was (literally) stunned into silence when I explained to him what had just happened at my usual gynecology clinic, so much so that he responded: 'I've got a buddy on duty at the ER at [hospital across town]. I'll contact him directly and let him know you're en route.'"
"I grabbed an extra roll of toilet paper to cover my driver's seat so I wouldn't bleed all over it, and drove myself to that hospital. That hospital had me in an operating room barely an hour later."
—disjointed_chameleon
22."I once had a cardiologist tell me he didn't recognize me with my shirt on."
—MelancholyMorbs
23."'It must be caused by what's between your ears.' That's what a doctor said when my girlfriend's kidneys were literally failing. This went on for years."
—ww59GV
24."I was living in two rooms with two small children, going through a stressful and unpleasant divorce at 25. I went to the doctor, saying I thought I was depressed, and she said, 'You don't look depressed.' I was too depressed and defeated to argue."
—Important-Sundae1418
25."During a routine women's wellness exam, including a breast exam, a male doctor told me, 'You know, you can fix your asymmetrical breasts with plastic surgery.' He then proceeded to tell me what all the options were, including different-sized implants, fat transfer, etc. The young female medical assistant who was required to be in the room looked absolutely horrified."
—Ok-Passenger-4855
26."I was trying to get a referral for a new OB-GYN for a hysterectomy after bleeding nearly every day for two years, and my female PCP says to me that I didn't need one. Since I had not had kids, my uterus was 'hungry' and I just needed to drink celery juice instead of coffee."
—TMNTiff
27.And: "I was having severe pain and digestive issues, undergoing a lot of medical tests. It turned out I had gall bladder disease, and a gallstone was cutting into the duct. I was hospitalized for the third time, and my kidneys were shutting down (along with other systemic failures), and they sent a psychiatrist to talk to me. He accused me of making everything up, not having friends, and generally causing problems. The next day, they did an exploratory surgery and found the problem with my gall bladder. I was angry and hurt that the doctor accused me of basically lying. For the record, I'm female. My story happens to a LOT of women."
—LyricalWillow
Have you ever dealt with a condescending or dismissive doctor who ended up being totally wrong about your condition? What happened? Tell us in the comments or share anonymously using this form.
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