People Are Sharing The “Harmless” Little Signs They Nearly Ignored That Predicted Life-Threatening Health Scares, And They’re Crucial To Know

People Are Sharing The “Harmless” Little Signs They Nearly Ignored That Predicted Life-Threatening Health Scares, And They’re Crucial To Know
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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 that turned 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…”

Close-up of a human eye with visible details such as the iris, eyelashes, and skin around the eyeClose-up of a human eye with visible details such as the iris, eyelashes, and skin around the eye

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 hadn’t gone away, it was time for a heart catheterization. The next week, I went in for the cath, sure that it wouldn’t show anything the other tests wouldn’t catch. Boy was I wrong. I remember my doctor saying, ‘This isn’t good,” and he came closer to explain 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 surgery consult and, the next day underwent a coronary artery bypass graft (CABG). I was stunned, to say the least. I am feeling much better since the bypass!”

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…”

A person tests their blood sugar level using a glucose meter, which displays a reading of 229. A small blood droplet is on one fingerA person tests their blood sugar level using a glucose meter, which displays a reading of 229. A small blood droplet is on one finger

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 sprayed it, she asked if I had any others. I said, ‘Well, I’ve got a crusty-looking wart on my left calf.’ Long story short, that thing I thought was just a wart turned out to be squamous cell carcinoma-type skin cancer. Fast forward to the present day, and I have had an excision to remove the SCC, plus two other biopsies. Thankfully, a spot on my toe turned out to be benign, but a spot on my face is basal cell carcinoma and will require Mohs surgery sometime later this month. The story’s moral is: wear 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…”

A close-up of a person's arm with bruises, showing discoloration. A hand with trimmed nails gently touches the armA close-up of a person's arm with bruises, showing discoloration. A hand with trimmed nails gently touches the arm

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…”

A person wearing a medical gown holds the front of the gown tightly near their chestA person wearing a medical gown holds the front of the gown tightly near their chest

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…”

A cat is stretching and yawning on a cozy, rumpled bedA cat is stretching and yawning on a cozy, rumpled bed

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 given some antibiotics for her cold, and we went home. Two days later, I got a phone call from her doctor, who wanted us to come in ASAP. My daughter’s hormones were way off. She had a testosterone level the same as a 25-year-old man and hardly any estrogen. She ordered a bunch of tests that included an MRI of her brain. An ultrasound of her uterus sent us to a specialist for hormones. Tests came back, and she was riddled with ovarian cysts, a tumor in her rectum, and a tumor near her pituitary gland just behind her eyes. Everything turned out to be fine. She is now 28 years old, and her hormones are back to normal and the ovarian cysts went away as soon as she started her periods again. She had to have brain surgery to remove the tumor 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…”

Two IV bags with attached tubes hang from a metal pole, likely used for medical treatment in a hospital settingTwo IV bags with attached tubes hang from a metal pole, likely used for medical treatment in a hospital setting

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 days. He had a breathing tube and was on life support. The doctors said that he was going to die. Then, they put in two abdominal drains and did a tracheostomy (put a hole in his throat with a tube so the machine could help him breathe). 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 didn’t die, but it was very close. He is now recovering at home; he still has the abdominal drains and is now an insulin-dependent diabetic and has to take enzymes to help him digest food. Everyone said he wouldn’t make it, but I’m so grateful 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…”

An elderly hand resting on a younger hand, symbolizing support and connectionAn elderly hand resting on a younger hand, symbolizing support and connection

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…”

Close-up of two people holding hands, one with aged and wrinkled skin, symbolizing care and supportClose-up of two people holding hands, one with aged and wrinkled skin, symbolizing care and support

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…”

Close-up of a person's face in a handheld mirror, showing their lips and part of their cheek with visible acneClose-up of a person's face in a handheld mirror, showing their lips and part of their cheek with visible acne

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 sent me to a rehabilitation doctor who suggested physical therapy, so I started PT a couple of times a week. I was fit then, doing 100-mile cycling rides, sprinting, and Olympic-level triathlons.

As the months passed, there was no real progress, except I started getting shooting, shock-like pains in the side of my face that would make me twitch. They were intense yet momentary. The rehab doctor decided it was time for MRIs of my head and neck. He said the scans came back with nothing significant and decided we would start a course of lidocaine injection therapy. I went and had the injections.

The injections didn’t work for more than a couple of days. I called the doctor, and he was dumbfounded. He said the injections should have relieved for weeks, and we would try another round. He was referred to a neurologist for nerve testing. The testing showed nothing notable.

During that time, I found a large lump in my neck. It was close to my lymph gland and felt like it, but it wasn’t in the right place. When I went for my appointment, I asked him what he thought about it. He looked shocked and sent me for more MRIs.

When I met to review the new scans, he sheepishly admitted the first scans had shown a problem, and the doctor reviewing them said I needed further testing that extended further down my spine. The new scans revealed a massive schwannoma (a rare type of tumor) growing on my spinal cord and enveloping my C-2 nerve. The entire process to get the diagnosis was close to a year.

I was referred to a neurologist, who quickly said the tumor was too entangled and was beyond his scope of expertise. He referred me to another doctor who said the same thing and then referred me to the chief neurologist at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center. He had concerns but took the case. We scheduled the surgery for a couple of months forward. He explained it was a slow-growing, non-malignant tumor and a slow approach would give me time to get my affairs in order.

Then, my partner suddenly died. As I write this, I still don’t know how I survived those days and weeks. What a horrible nightmare.

I had the surgery, which saved my life. They had to completely cut out my C-2 nerve and my vertebral artery on my right side. Permanent bilateral rods were placed in my neck. Much to everyone’s surprise, I could walk, talk, and breathe independently.

I survived and could return to my whole duty as a police officer seven months later. I will be forever grateful 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…”

A person holding a cheeseburger with their hands, showcasing the burger's sesame seed bun, melted cheese, and beef patty. The person's face is mostly out of viewA person holding a cheeseburger with their hands, showcasing the burger's sesame seed bun, melted cheese, and beef patty. The person's face is mostly out of view

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…”

A close-up of an unidentified person's arm with an IV drip and hospital wristband, resting on a pillow on a hospital bedA close-up of an unidentified person's arm with an IV drip and hospital wristband, resting on a pillow on a hospital bed

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…”

Person in graduation attire standing at the bottom of a grand staircase, looking up towards the light coming through large windows nearbyPerson in graduation attire standing at the bottom of a grand staircase, looking up towards the light coming through large windows nearby

Have you ever experienced a seemingly minor symptom that was actually a sign of a significant problem? Tell us in the comments or in this anonymous form.

Note: Submissions have been edited for length and/or clarity.

Read original article here.

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