People Are Revealing The “Unconcerned” Symptom That Led To A Severe Disease

It’s incredibly scary to experience a random symptom out of nowhere, especially when it won’t go away. So when I saw Reddit user NotThatOneGuuy ask: “What’s a symptom of a severe disease you wish you or a loved one hadn’t ignored?” I thought it would be important to share their stories.

1.“When I was 31, I just knew something was wrong. The depression hit out of nowhere, the fatigue was crushing, the weight kept falling off, and the pain was constant. Deep down, I knew it was cancer, but no one listened. Not at first. It took eight specialists/doctors and nine long, terrifying months before I was finally diagnosed with aggressive stage III colon cancer. By then, it had almost cost me my life. Because it took so long to find, I spent the next four years in a brutal fight just to stay alive.”

—johnny_19800

2.“Someone close to me didn’t get her period for a year. Too embarrassed to say something. She had a brain tumor.”

—Dragon_Master7128

3.“I (34M) have back pain that I ignored and managed for months with pain killers. When I went to the doctor, they said I had stage 4 lung cancer, barely symptomatic, that had spread to my bones, brain, and liver. Now, I’m in palliative care. Do your check-ups, folks… even for the smallest nuisances.”

—Gkhatt

“My wife was the exact same: extreme pain in her tailbone for a year. She could barely sit still for more than five minutes at a time. I bought her a new recliner, exercise ball chair, and different gel pads to sit on… nothing made a difference. Eventually, she had a seizure whilst we were watching TV. They did an MRI at the hospital, where they found the brain tumor.

The next day, they found a mass in her right lung. Stage 4 lung cancer, prognosis 6 months to 1 year. She walked out of palliative care after two years, never been back since then. It’s now nearly nine years since the initial diagnosis, she refuses any scans, and only speaks to her neurologist by telehealth appointment once per year.”

—Jumpy_Significance11

4.“My dad had a ‘stomach ache’ for a few months. Kept nagging him to go to the doctor. He didn’t. It was a basal cell cancer metastasis. RIP dad. We miss you.”

—Mysterious_Heron_539

Related: It Turns Out That Most People Wipe Their Butts Completely Wrong, But This Doctor Is Here To Teach Us The Right Way

5.“When I turned 50, I started having constantly upset stomach. Didn’t matter if my stomach was full or empty, or how many over-the-counter digestion aids I took. Turned out this was my first sign of congestive heart failure. None of my organs were receiving the optimal flow of blood, and my stomach was the first organ to let me know it wasn’t getting enough blood.”

—HalJordan2424

6.“Extreme thirst and using the bathroom more. Both signs I had Type 1 diabetes.”

—Adorable-Nerve9822

7.“My dad felt generally run-down for a few months and had a toothache. It didn’t even occur to him to go to the doctor for a ‘cold’ because he’s very fit and had never been sick. Turns out he had squamous cell carcinoma in his throat. Never smoked and drank only moderately. He’s seven years cancer-free!”

—casa_laverne

Related: Older Women Are Revealing Their Biggest “Life Regrets,” And Every Young Person Needs To Hear This

8.“Pain/numbness in shoulders. I was told I was ‘sleeping wrong’ and ended up totally paralyzed a week later with Guillain-Barré syndrome.”

—CocoohCoco

“My symptoms were also brushed off when I got GBS. The ER doctors told me I wasn’t able to walk anymore because of ‘anxiety.’ WTF.”

—taylor3161

9.“Melanoma. Mine didn’t look like any pictures I had ever seen of melanoma. It looked like a tiny earlobe growing on the side of my face. I had planned a trip out of town and wanted it removed beforehand; it looked weird, and I didn’t want to bother covering it up with band-aids, so I asked my dermatologist to remove it. He did, and he sent it off for a biopsy, which came back borderline 3rd-stage melanoma. So, after a scary, intubated, general anesthesia operation by a plastic surgeon and a night spent in the hospital… all I can say is, please have your skin checked, regardless of what something looks like or doesn’t look like. And use sunscreen!”

“After the operation, my pathology report came back clean, but I’m being monitored every four months for two years, so fingers crossed.”

—Eiffel-Tower777

10.“Constipation and hemorrhoids. It’s not something most people talk about much. It turned out not to be hemorrhoids or constipation. It was colon cancer.”

—GiveUp-WatchItBurn

“I had a patient in the ICU very early in my career who hadn’t had a poop in three months. THREE. MONTHS.

His colon cancer had grown to fill his colon and then grown through the colon wall, into and through everything it touched as it grew. He was gone within two weeks of diagnosis.

PLEASE don’t ignore not pooping, everybody! And no matter how long it’s been, know that somebody put it off longer and wished he hadn’t. It’s worth an embarrassing conversation.

(Since people always ask, he was drinking his calories, because he obviously was in a lot of pain and discomfort. He was still working the entire time. He was taken to the ER on an L&I injury because he fell at work, and that’s how they found it. Yes, this was in America.)”

—ittybittylurker

11.“My dad had a pain in his chest for months. He kept saying it was nothing, and he would go to the doctor when he had a holiday. The doctor said it was nothing and to come back in a few weeks. Went to a different doctor a few weeks later, they said nothing was wrong and to come back in a few weeks. He went to the physiotherapist the next week, who immediately told him to go and see a specialist because there was something definitely wrong near his liver region. Stage four bile duct cancer. Died roughly two months later.”

—littlehungrygiraffe

“That’s what happens when doctors don’t examine their patients thoroughly. Sitting in a chair and looking at each other won’t give you a suspicion or diagnosis in many cases. I remember a young teenage boy with ‘swollen eyelids’ back when I was still working in the ED. He had early liver failure; his skin wasn’t yellow, but the whites of his eyes were faintly yellow. His eyelids, ankles, and belly were retaining fluid. Sent him to get an ultrasound. The biggest liver the radiologist had seen in such a young patient was autoimmune hepatitis.

And he came in a baggy gray sweatsuit. He had been sent away by two doctors in their practices. I was tired, it was late in the evening, but I still examined him thoroughly. I didn’t want to gaslight him; I believed him. (Female doctor here, been gaslit before by other doctors, even though I am a colleague…)”

—ThelovelyDoc

12.“Burning in my feet at the end of the day. I didn’t ignore it, I actually brought it up to several doctors, and they said it was probably perimenopausal neuropathies. I would cry at night and beg my husband to rub/squeeze my feet because it helped with the nerve pain.”

“Turns out my B12 was in the single digits (should be over 300). I now have permanent neuropathies that can’t be reversed. I also have brain fog, insomnia (that DID improve with supplements), decreased sensitivity in my hands, and my hands shake when I get tired, increased clumsiness because of weakness in my legs.

I learned to say, ‘Okay, it may be that, but we need to rule out other causes before we assume it’s something that can’t be corrected.'”

—ittybittylurker

13.“I ignored the fact that at one time, I couldn’t get up without heart palpitations and was fatigued. Only to find out my hemoglobin levels were critical and I had to get three blood transfusions and two iron infusions.”

—Luxkid515

14.“I had a friend who thought her weight, skin, sleep, and mood issues were just her personal failings/depression, but it turned out to be mostly thyroid dysfunction. She suffered many years without knowing that.”

—jeeves_my_man

15.“Not me, but my sister was always sick growing up: upset stomachs, food making her ill, round face, couldn’t lose weight. Parents never believed something might actually be wrong. Finally got diagnosed with celiac’s disease after college. Having a gluten allergy or being gluten sensitive is much more commonly talked about today, but there is a huge difference if you actually have celiac’s: it’s an autoimmune disorder that untreated, can affect the liver, spleen, cause osteoporosis, anemia, damage your nervous system, increase risk factors for infertility and pregnancy loss… it affects so many systems long term. If you think you might have it, get tested. It was totally life-changing for her.”

—Dangerous-Bit-2081

“Goodness, yes. I have two siblings with Celiac, who fortunately got diagnosed young. The terrifying thing about it is that it progressively worsens, so there isn’t a clear ‘trigger’ like regular allergies. It just slowly ruins your gut.”

—Secure-Cicada517

What symptoms of a severe disease did you wish you or a loved one hadn’t ignored? Tell us in the comments or anonymously in the Google Form below.

Also in Goodful: This Woman Is Going Viral For Begging Women Not To Get Married Right Now, And Personally, I Couldn’t Agree More

Also in Goodful: People Are Sharing Their Biggest “How Doesn’t Everyone Know This?” Facts, And I’m Honestly Embarrassed I Never Realized Some Of These

Also in Goodful: “I Can’t Wait For This To Go Out Of Style”: People Are Sharing Popular Modern Trends That Are Actually Pretty Toxic