80 Medical Professionals Share The Diagnoses That Made Their Stomachs Drop

I transported a woman with advanced CJD more than a decade ago. Her husband rode in the back with me and we chatted about it and her. He showed me the progressive imaging of her brain and told me that approximately two weeks prior she experienced unresolved tingling in her hands, so she went to the hospital and now she was going home for hospice. He explained she was a successful CFO, very active, etc. He generally looked bewildered and said everything was happening so fast he did not have time to process anything.. he was just trying to keep up with taking care of things as they came and keeping the family informed. I think about them a few times a year.

Liver failure in a 37 year old. Came in walking and talking, he thought it was his gallbladder. He died 48 hours later.

I'm a paramedic in a really advanced, but semi rural system. We can do a lot for most things these days. The exception? That unexplained hypotension when you do a quick ultrasound and suddenly the abdominal aorta jumps to like 5cm+. It's just so defeating because there's so little I can do to even slow down d***h from a ruptured AAA and best case scenario if I'm at the closest point in the county to them my closest hospital that can treat it is 20min away. Some places it's an hour.

Veterinary medical professional here, I work in ER/Critical care and oncology. Anytime a cat comes in with an ATE (arterial thromboembolism) my heart breaks. If you don't know, it's basically throwing a clot, this usually occurs secondary to unknown heart disease, and presents as a cat that is suddenly paralyzed in the rear legs and is vocalizing in pain. The sounds from the cat are always terrible and the family is always in shock. There really isnt anything we can do unless the event is treated within 30 mins and it isnt something that can be medically managed. These patients always get me when they come in cause I know 99% of the time there is nothing we can do to make them better except for strong pain meds and ending their suffering.

I work in a long term acute care hospital, so we see all kinds of illnesses, wounds, etc.

After many surgeries, attempts at wound care and A LOT of pain for the patient the doctors had to change their diagnosis to "Skin Failure".

Basically no matter the intervention, the skin, like any other organ can, just quit doing what it needed to do. Wouldn't heal, wouldn't regulate fluid balances or temperatures, etc.

Of course, with it came the inevitable comfort care conversation and a very sad family.

Advanced myelo-mesothelioma. Tragic. Gentleman worked his whole career at an asbestos plant.

I used to work for a queer PCP in Manhattan, and I remember the doctor’s anxiety before having to tell a gay man that he had tested positive for HIV. (This was around 2010 or 2011.).

Miscarriages.

My first week of clinicals as a family nurse practitioner student. Woman came in with advanced breast cancer. Had the peau d’orange skin covering half of her breast. First saw her by myself for the whole health history and exam. Part of me died inside when I saw it.

An autoimmune disorder that attacks your own red blood cells. Patient had a hemoglobin in like the fours. But a transfusion could send her body into a spiral. That one was crazy. But the one that always makes me terrified is epiglottitis. Where you're epiglottis swells up and you can't breathe.

I used to work on a leukaemia unit and even though I worked with leukaemia patients all day every day a brand new acute leukaemia patient would always fill me with dread. I never stopped feeling absolutely terrible for these patients.

Got a patient who was supposed to be a simple stroke workup, which didn’t turn out to be so simple. His symptoms were non focal and really all over the place. Multiple sclerosis was on the top of the list for the differential, but was not what it actually ended up being. Turns out the guy had Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease. Over the few days of admission his symptoms significantly worsened. He initially asked for a second opinion but ultimately decided against it. He was discharged home in less than a week, died at home on hospice 2 weeks later.

He was the second person I have known of to get CJD. My coworker’s mom died the same way a couple years earlier.

As a vet tech- osteosarcoma.

An owner brings their dog in because it started limping and developed a “knot” on the leg the day before. We take x-rays and find bone cancer.

Osteosarcoma is also one of those cancers that spreads so fast that in a lot of cases it’s already metastasized elsewhere by the time we find the osteosarcoma, and it’s aggressive with a poor prognosis.

It’s just me, my fellow tech, and the vet looking at the screen knowing we are about to ruin someone’s day and give them awful news for what they probably thought was a sprain or fracture.

End stage liver disease in the undiagnosed alcoholic.

I am a therapist and there are a few. I used to work primarily with kids and I specialize in neurodevelopmental disorders. Rett's is awful. I worked with a teenager a year watching her decline further and further knowing that her end was coming and there was nothing anyone could do. Her parents were lucky and had the ability to afford the best of care for her other parents have not been that lucky. I eventually had to stop. There was just nothing I could do anymore.

GSW. Especially with children. Gas stations in Detroit are not at all safe.

Paramedic here.


Once had a 4yo that managed to put a key into an outlet. There was a loud nouse and the fuses tripped, but the kid was fine. Just had a big scare. My stomach was one big knot on the drive there. Might have done 50 in a 30 zone...


One that still makes me think about it, 35yo woman, 4th pregnancy, previous 3 were all c-sections du to anatomy of mom, and she reported her water breaking and contractions about 10mins apart and the incision site hurt a lot. She was told she'd need to have another c-section, and had already agreed, by her OB team and when we got to L&D the nurse/midwife didn't seem to take me seriously when I said 4th pregnancy, contractions now 4mins apart, previous 3 were c-sections and the incision/scar hurts. (That was one of the red flag things I was taught. Pain at c-section scar - more than normal contractions - could mean tearing of the scar tissue/uterus)
I wonder if the pt and baby are alright.

Terminal cancer in a child, certain birth defects diagnosed in utero.

Vascular ehlers danlos. Very rare but terrifying.

Oncology PA here. Anytime I have to diagnose a malignancy in someone under the age of 30 a little piece of my soul dies.