We all make some decisions without giving them much thought. Most of the time, they are harmless. But now and then, one seemingly minor choice can send things seriously off course.
Medical workers have seen plenty of these cases up close, and some of the stories are hard to forget. We found a Reddit thread where medical professionals shared shocking cases of small choices with surprisingly serious consequences, and we’ve rounded up some of the wildest ones. Scroll through for some jaw-dropping stories you probably won’t see coming.
#21
Diabetic woman stepped on a tack. Didnt take her antibiotics because the pills made her nauseous. She just stopped taking them, never asked for alternative options, then went a cruise. Ended up having to get a BKA.
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19points
A quick swim or a casual boat trip feels like a completely harmless way to spend the day. You are having fun, everyone is relaxed, and nobody is expecting anything to go wrong.
But the WHO warns that drowning can happen within seconds, which is why things like supervision, swimming skills, and lifejackets matter so much.
#22
Not sure this counts as a minor thing but during a residency rotation a sweet elderly man came in for a skin concern that was a simple benign fix and patient said he had no other concerns but dermatology attending did a full skin check. On patient’s shoulder was a gnarly looking growth larger than a plum (insert attending looking at me shaking his head because he knew right away). It was black, blue, green, white, red, crusted, scaly etc. When attending scraped (biopsied) it, parts just crumbled apart. Patient said it’d been there for like 15-20 years so he wasn’t concerned. Sadly, the patient passed away a few months later from something so treatable. 😞.
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19points
#23
Patient had folliculitis (infected hair follicle) from shaving his beard. Bacteria spread and got into his bloodstream. Bacteria set up shop on his aortic valve and destroyed it. Bacteria grew and he developed an aortic root abscess. We operated, surgeon did his best to decontaminate everything. An aortic valve replacement and root reconstruction for endocarditis is a big big operation. He did great postop, went home in a few days.
6 weeks later he had fevers and chills. Root was destroyed by bacteria. Patient ended up passing away at the local university hospital. All from an infected hair follicle.
6 weeks later he had fevers and chills. Root was destroyed by bacteria. Patient ended up passing away at the local university hospital. All from an infected hair follicle.
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18points
#24
Drinking at the golf course, fell off the cart. Doesn’t sound like a big deal, but had a TBI resulting in not being able to do anything, barely able to talk at all either. Was in his 30s and likely to be in a nursing home for the rest of his life.
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18points
We are all guilty of ignoring a small symptom now and then. Maybe you hit your head, feel like something is off, or notice a change in your body, but instead of getting it checked out, you carry on and hope it goes away. Sometimes that works out just fine. Other times, waiting can turn something that could have been treated early into a much bigger problem.
That's what makes these cases so interesting. Some outcomes could have been avoided by making a safer choice or getting medical help sooner rather than later.
#25
PACU RN: woman in her mid-twenties had a tooth infection she ignored. By the time she got help for it, the infection had spread into her chest and she was septic. She had to have emergent surgery to drain the infection, a PICC line for IV antibiotics, and two drains running from inside her mouth to under her jaw. The extent of the infection was severe, and she had to remain sedated and intubated in the ICU for a couple days.
There was also a minor complication during the surgery where a facial artery was clipped. She had quite a bit of blood loss and needed 2 units of blood transfused.
There was also a minor complication during the surgery where a facial artery was clipped. She had quite a bit of blood loss and needed 2 units of blood transfused.
18points
#26
A minor intervention that prevents a major thing. Not giving their newborn the vit k shot. Have seen way too many babies with brain bleeds over the years.
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18points
#27
My mom’s best friend was sick for months, coughing and losing weight. She refused to go to the doctor because she thought it was cancer (so many people their age have/had it) and didn’t want to go through the suffering of treating it. One day she collapsed and was taken to hospital. It wasn’t cancer - it was tuberculosis. If she’d gone to the doctor earlier it could have been easily treated. She passed away a week later.
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18points
It is wild how something that feels so minor at the time can end up having such a huge impact.
Have you ever seen a small mistake turn into a much bigger medical problem? Tell us what happened in the comments.
#28
Me. Training for a running race. Diagnosed with tendonitis. Did all the things to fix it. Strengthening, PT, reduced workload etc. only for it to continue to get worse.
Turns out I had bone marrow edema which has now morphed into a chronic neuropathy. I've spent over $100k out of pocket in 9 months trying to fix it. Will likely lose my job/house over the next year and its likely it will be chronic and worsen.
Turns out I had bone marrow edema which has now morphed into a chronic neuropathy. I've spent over $100k out of pocket in 9 months trying to fix it. Will likely lose my job/house over the next year and its likely it will be chronic and worsen.
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18points
#29
Mother brought her kids next door so the kid there could transmit their chicken pox to her three children “to get it over with.” All got the chicken pox. One of them appeared in the ER comatose and seizing. Varicella had made its way into her brain, caused infection there, not just the skin.
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18points
#30
I had a poor patient that lost an infant and had her footprint tattooed on his shoulder as a memorial. It got infected and it led to sepsis and spinal osteomyelitis that eventually left him a quadriplegic.
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18points
#31
One of my nursing instructors had an abscessed tooth and didn’t want to take time off to get it dealt with, spring break was 2 weeks away. They had it pulled first day of spring break, infection had already gone to their heart. They developed sepsis and passed a week later. They were only in their late 40’s.
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18points
#32
I'm a patient, I recently walked into a pole and got a brain bleed. Wasn't even walking that fast.
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17points
#33
Not a medical person. But I was the dumb person.
I almost lost my finger and hand because I left a cat bite fester too long. If I ignored it for maybe..2 more days it would of been bad.
They had to slice a hole from my finger to my palm to flush out the infection.
I almost lost my finger and hand because I left a cat bite fester too long. If I ignored it for maybe..2 more days it would of been bad.
They had to slice a hole from my finger to my palm to flush out the infection.
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17points
#34
I'll share some we see in vet med a lot: people think preventative care like vaccines & spay are too expensive, so they skip it. Then they are shocked when their dog suddenly needs treatment for parvovirus, or pyometra (uterus infection), that's going to cost 4x as much as the preventative treatments they didn't get.
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17points
#35
Spent only a year out of 13 as an ICU nurse. Had an absolute train wreck of a patient in his 40s who had a bad stroke. Totally unstable for a week, stable but still super critical for a while after that. Sometimes his nurse was 1:1 that shift. Money was tight, and he thought he could get away with skipping his warfarin for a few months, maybe save him $30 at most. That’s still a lot money for some people in some circumstances. I still think about him more a decade later and hope his wife is okay
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17points
#36
Kid was vaping, a common enough thing among adolescents. Unluckily for them, they ended up with vape associated lung injury. Team was trying to decide if they could lung transplant or if they were too neurologically devastated to be a candidate.
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17points
#37
Patients sleeping in their contacts or showering/swimming in them, leading to an infection. It can lead to corneal scarring and ultimately reduced vision for life.
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16points
#38
My doctor didn't realize that my years of diarrhea was due to gallstones, which resulted in severe necrotizing pancreatitis and a two month hospital stay.
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16points
#39
Misdiagnosed and therefore untreated otitis externa (swimmer’s ear) eventually led to 2 craniotomies to remove pus pockets putting pressure on his brain, plus months of IV antibiotics.
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16points
#40
I had a diabetic patient who got lobster red sun burn on his feet one day at the beach. It didn’t register with him that anything involving the feet in diabetics is serious. He wound up with bilateral AK amputations. Very, very sad.
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16points
