Month: February 2019

Parents Reveal The Most Embarrassing Things Their Kids Have Said In Public

Post author By HealthyWay Staff Writer
Post date February 28, 2019

Kids say the darndest things. They also say the cringe-iest things. They hear everything, they remember, and they repeat. Think about that next time you’re tempted to drop an f-bomb in front of a toddler.
Anyway, when kids veer off-script, it can be humiliating—but it can also be highly entertaining. Parents can spin that embarrassment into comedic gold. All they have to do is tell the story.

That’s what a bunch of face-palming parents gathered to do on Reddit, in response to a question about the “most embarrassing” things kids have said in public. We edited the best of them for grammar and readability.
Do yourself a favor and keep reading. Every parent will cringe in sympathy. Non-parents might just decide to stay that way. But we can all agree that these stories are painfully hilarious.

“Daddy, why are the police here?”

Social mores are not a toddler’s strong point.
“In a McDonald’s, my son saw two police officers,” wrote thatdan23. “His comment: ‘Daddy, why are the police here? They don’t eat hamburgers, they eat donuts.’”

“One of [the police officers] was not amused.”
Somehow, the embarrassing comments kids make often seem directed right at the parents.
“[I was] carrying my daughter back from the bathroom through a crowded hipster brunch spot while she shouted ‘He farted!’ at every single table,” wrote flippenzee. “In case there was any confusion, she was also pointing at my face.”
At least that kid didn’t imply something worse, like this next one.
“In the middle of the DMV, my 2-year-old sniffed my butt and said ‘Poops!’ because we always do that to her when checking her diaper,” wrote a Reddit user with a since-deleted account.
Of course, kids usually don’t mean to embarrass their parents. Sometimes they don’t even mean to use inappropriate language.
“[I] had my son in a doctor’s office waiting room,” wrote another Reddit user. “There was a large clock on the wall. We had just taught him what a clock was, so anytime he saw one he would get excited.”

“He started pointing and yelling, ‘Clock! I see the clock, look at the clock!’”
That doesn’t sound too bad. What’s the catch?
“He was also 2 years old and couldn’t pronounce his ‘L’ yet,” concluded the Reddit user.
Oh. Oh dear.

“We can punch a stranger!”

Where do kids come up with this stuff?
“My oldest daughter and I used to run away from my wife when we went shopping,” wrote openletter8. “One time, we got particularly far away, and I asked her what do you wanna do now that Mom can’t stop us?”

“She exclaimed loudly, near others, ‘We can punch a stranger!’”
No, no you cannot. Here are a few more head-scratchers:
“My daughter is an only child and has an imaginary sister and brother,” wrote adreamaway1. “And she will tell her preschool teachers or strangers things like, ‘We left my sister at home alone,’ or, ‘My brother died.’”

That went dark quickly. Moving on…
“I was in Subway with my 3-year-old daughter,” wrote Shokker88. “A very large man came in behind us, and he had a stomach that hung down past his shirt.”
“My daughter saw this and said, ‘I see someone’s belly,’ and went forward to tickle it before I stopped her. It was a game we played at home where I would tickle her belly … ”

“I want that f***in’ truck.”

Remember, kids are little sponges. If you use profanity around them, they will pick that language up. Then they will deploy it in the most awkward situations they can find.
“My friend’s [2-year-old] daughter saw another kid in the grocery store with a toy truck, and out of nowhere says, “I want that f***in’ truck…” in an angry tone,” wrote thebroklahoman.

“[It’s] not the funniest thing to read, I know, but we’ve been saying that in a baby voice for the last few years, and it always cracks us up.”
This was far from a one-time experience. Here’s another kid who learned to drop f-bombs before being potty-trained.
“My cousin called a wardrobe a ‘f***ing wardrobe’ for around a year,” wrote RainingBlood398. “The wardrobe had fallen on her younger sister (thankfully not doing any lasting damage), and her dad, hearing the bang, ran into the room and screamed, ‘That f***ing wardrobe!’”
“My cousin assumed that was it’s correct name.”
These things have been going on for generations.
“Great-grandpa was 12 before he found out those animals they kept weren’t called ‘damn-sheep,’” wrote eritain.

One more:
“When I was little, for some reason, at Thanksgiving dinner, while everyone was saying what they were thankful for, I yelled,”I am thankful for this G*******d dinner!” wrote zBrettz. “I then proceeded to stuff my mouth.”

“I did not stick around to see the reaction of the cashier.”

Kids don’t know the stakes. You can’t just assume they’ll know what will embarrass their parents, or, worse, get them arrested.
“When babysitting my young cousin, she ran through the store yelling, ‘You’re not my daddy!’ as I chased her telling her to stop running,” wrote I_am_number_one. “Target security didn’t like that too much. It embarrasses her now that she’s older because I like to remind her about it constantly.”
Stores are dangerous for people with kids. Inevitably, our little angels will come up with something that makes you look like a bad parent, or worse.

“Just last week walking out of a store, my 3-year-old turned to the cashier and said, ‘I farted in your store,’” wrote KittenHobbes. “Just like he was saying the sky was blue. [I] did not stick around to see the reaction of the cashier.”
It’s not just the grocery store that parents of young children have to worry about. It is everywhere.
“After his little sister was born, my toddler announced to the parking garage that [her sister] ‘came out of mommy’s magina!’” wrote boneandbrine. “So that was nice …”
Nice indeed.

“Is that my daddy?”

From the mouths of babes…whatever that’s supposed to mean.
“My 4-year-old nephew [screamed] at my brother, ‘Dad, stop acting like a child!’ at some big family event,” wrote aminice. “It was absolutely clear to everyone present he picked it up from the mother scolding my brother in private. He really had a point, though.”
Kids don’t always clarify their meaning. They just say what they’re thinking.
“My son came home from kindergarten with his backpack full of canned food,” wrote twillsteele. “When pressed about the issue, he confidently stated that he had told the teacher he was hungry, and we didn’t have any food at home!”

“They sent him home with the donations for those in need! We got him to return the food the next day. It’s a funny story we tell now, but talk about embarrassed!”
Finally, there’s the weird mind of the 2-year-old. They make associations that the rest of us never would.
“My husband is a police officer,” wrote IWantALargeFarva. “When my oldest was 2, she would point to every officer in uniform and ask, ‘Is that my daddy?’ It was so embarrassing.”
Sounds like.

“Santa isn’t real.”

Things get really tricky when family beliefs butt heads with the broader culture.
“My son is full of embarrassing stories,” wrote killjennyproductions. “We told him about Santa not being real because he was terrified of Santa and cried night after night, screaming that ‘the evil Santa pirate was going to come into his house and mess with his things.’”
“Being 4, he didn’t understand our warnings not to tell other children. At Chick-fil-A one day, a kid comes running out of the play area, crying that some kid was telling them that Santa wasn’t real.”
“I rush in, aiming for damage control, and hear my boy finishing his lecture: ‘Santa isn’t real, and Jesus isn’t real. I am Jesus!’”

“Chick-fil-A asked us not to return.”
Wow. Chick-fil-A, of all places. Anyway, this sort of culture clash can pop up just about anywhere.
“My niece asked my sister in church, ‘Mommy, when are you going to poop out the baby Geegus?’” wrote deedaree.
Sometimes it’s nice not to be a parent.

“She’s a witch!”

You can tell this next one is going to go wrong from the very start.
“When my kid was a toddler, and just learning how to tell men from women, he liked yell out his verdict,” wrote DevonianAge. “One day, we were in a cafe, and he decided to practice.”
“’Mama, you’re a woman,’ he said.”
“‘That’s right, honey.’”
“‘And Papa is a man!’”

“He was pointing and talking loudly so that people noticed and started watching. No problem, it was cute. He labeled a couple of strangers next, talking loudly because he liked the attention. But then he pointed to an old woman across the room.”
“’And she’s a witch!’”
“In his defense, she was, in fact, an old hippie, and she was dressed … in long flowing scarves, etc. I don’t know if she heard him since I shushed him real fast (though a lot of other people definitely did), but she did come over later to introduce herself and meet the kids.”
“This was the kind of place where it’s normal to chat with strangers, so I don’t think this was necessarily a sign she heard us. Her name was Adina. I thought that was a pretty good witch name, so ever since then that’s been our family’s stock name when making up a story featuring a witch.”

“We don’t pick our nose, man.”

Kids see everything. Then they make comments.
“I have a 2-and-a-half-year-old, and so this just happened the other day,” wrote diciteco. “At a baseball game, I’m carrying my daughter so that her head is resting on my shoulder.”
“Suddenly she pokes her head up, looks directly at the man behind me, and says: ‘We don’t pick our nose, man. I said, we don’t pick our nose. No thank you!’”
“I didn’t turn around, instead saying that we only say that to people in our family … My daughter is very outgoing … [I’m] looking forward to plenty more embarrassing moments with complete strangers.”

Speaking of baseball, there’s this:
“When I was 4 years old, my dad took me to a baseball game,” wrote Tgs91. “Phillies vs. Padres. He takes me to the bathroom and there’s a guy with an eyepatch. Staring at the guy, I loudly ask my father, ‘Dad, I thought we were playing the Padres today?’”
“Dad replies, ‘We are.’”
“I point at the guy, while … next to him at a urinal [and say,] ‘Then why is he dressed like a pirate?’”
“My dad was barely able to stop laughing long enough to apologize.”
We can relate.

“I was the best pooper at Disney World that day.”

Here’s one that speaks for itself. We certainly don’t want to speak for it.
“[I] took my 3-year-old to Disney World,” wrote Explodo86. “Of course, after about an hour in the park, both I and the offspring have to go to the bathroom. We head off to one of the main bathrooms right next to the castle.”

“I let the boy go first … then I of course sit down and perform my own glorious No. 2 … ”
“At this point, the child starts saying in a voice that can only be described as booming, ‘Good job, daddy! You’re the best pooper I know!’”
“This of course led to chuckles from the long line of stalls populated by other fathers. The chuckles ended up turning into outright laughter. I was so proud of my pooping abilities.”
“Well, I’m somewhat shameless, so I clean up and go wash my hands to find that I’m now getting the nods of approval from everyone in the can who heard the interchange. I was the best pooper at Disney World that day…and internally embarrassed and entertained at the same time.”
“Embarrassed and entertained at the same time.” That sounds like a fair description of parenthood, at least until the kids get a bit older.

Tags social

Mindful Parenting

When Daddy Feels The Kicks: A Look At Sympathetic Pregnancy

Post author By Cindy Lamothe
Post date February 7, 2019

Known more simply as “sympathetic pregnancy,” couvade syndrome describes cases where male partners of pregnant women begin to experience symptoms similar to pregnancy, explains Connie Alford, MD, a Naples-based fertility specialist at Florida’s IVFMD. She notes, however, that couvade syndrome is not a recognized physical or mental disorder—there’s not a lot of scientific research on the subject.
Regardless of whether Couvade syndrome is medically recognized or not, for those who experience it, the symptoms are more than real. Want proof? Just take a look at this Reddit thread of those who have gone through it or whose partners have.

For Redditor u/newtothisdadthing, symptoms are a little more disruptive than you’d expect:
“My wife is having a difficult pregnancy in terms of nausea. Our OB assured us that it’s nothing to worry about and can even be a sign of healthiness. Every pregnancy is unique, etc. There’s nothing to worry about in the bigger picture, and I do everything I can to make her as comfortable as possible.
“The strange part is that I’m doing it, too. There are days that I wake up violently ill and I can’t keep anything down all morning. I don’t feel sick otherwise, just the vomiting. So much vomiting. I don’t know what’s causing it.”

But he has a possible answer:
“Listening to it all the time might be a factor. Maybe her hormonal changes are putting out some kind of pheromone that affects me on a biological level. Maybe it’s all in my head. I had no idea.”

Is sympathetic pregnancy real?

Being named after the French verb couver, which translates to hatch or “to brood,” is pretty fitting for a phenomenon that has only recently received attention from biologists.
“There is no known physical cause of couvade syndrome, but it could be due to antepartum changes in the male hormonal profile—cortisol, testosterone, estrogen, and prolactin—that are associated with the typical symptoms,” Alford explained. She notes, however, that these changes may be “initiated by the increased anxiety associated with the upcoming change in the family unit.”

That sounds like a reasonable explanation. Researcher Arthur Brennan takes it a step further. In his article for the Washington Post, he attributes the condition to a “man’s envy of the woman’s procreative ability.”
“The event may cause regression,” Brennan wrote. “The man’s retreat to childhood feelings and conflicts triggered by his partner’s pregnancy, such as rejection, exclusion, ambivalence and anxiety—with a sense of passivity and dependency that is intensified by the developing foetus and which conflicts with the man’s need for autonomy.”
While estimates of the frequency of the syndrome are difficult to come by because of the low rate of reporting symptoms, Brennan’s 2007 study found that between 25 to 52 percent of all men whose partners were pregnant experienced the phenomenon. “It affects biological fathers particularly during the first and third trimesters of pregnancy with cessation of symptoms after birth,” Brennan and his co-authors wrote.

“Collectively, these symptoms may signify an empathic identification with a pregnant partner and to the man’s unborn child, but the [sic] could also be a resolution of unconscious thoughts that might threaten both,” Brennan outlined in his Washington Post article.
Along similar lines, Katherine E. Wynne-Edwards, a biology professor and researcher of hormonal changes in expectant fathers, wrote of studies that suggest “men who have deep empathy toward their pregnant partner and are prone to couvade symptoms end up with strong attachments to their child. If this is the case, then the symptoms might either stimulate, or result from, underlying biological processes that are involved in social attachment.”

What exactly are these symptoms?

While Alford recognizes there isn’t a lot of scientific data available about the syndrome, she says the symptoms include “bloating … nausea, vomiting, food cravings, food aversions, musculoskeletal aches, tooth aches, and occasionally breast enlargement.”

Another study from 1983, cited by the Washington Post, found a modest correlation between paternal-fetal involvement and attachment (such as feeling the baby kick and hearing their heartbeat) with six physical symptoms: feeling more tired, sleeping difficulties, indigestion, upset stomach, appetite changes, and constipation. Still, it’s important to note the limitations of the study, which focused primarily on a sample of white, middle-class men.
More of the psychological symptoms, according to Alford, can manifest in depression, anxiety, mood swings, poor concentration, and memory loss.

What do their partners think?

Research has shown that “when wives were asked about their husband’s experiences, a higher incidence of couvade was reported than when the husbands answered the same questions at the same time.”

In fact, partners reporting on their husband’s symptoms is one you’ll find all over Reddit, as highlighted in this post by one Redditor:

“Couvade syndrome dude. It’s real. My husband had nausea (on and off for a couple weeks), and he gained weight. He was always the skinny guy and he never could put on weight no matter what he tried. When he was in the military they had him on a crazy diet where he had to eat all these protein bars and tons of extra calories but that didn’t work either. When I got pregnant we joked that maybe he would gain some pregnancy weight too and he ended up putting on 15lbs! It’s crazy how pregnancy can affect both parents.”

Here’s another by Redditor ChillyAus, who likens her husband’s symptoms to a hangover (which really isn’t far off from the whole pregnancy thing):
“My hubby experienced afternoon fatigue very early in my pregnancy followed by a few days of actual nausea and generally feeling blah. It was when we he said he felt terminally hungover that I knew it was sympathetic morning sickness.”

Could stress be the hidden culprit?

Possibly. According to Evonne Lack in an article for BabyCenter.com, men with severe couvade symptoms (more than the occasional fatigue) experience actual changes in their hormone levels, thus making their body feel out of whack.
“Stress can lower testosterone levels in men, leaving them with out-of-balance estrogen levels, creating pregnancy-like symptoms,” Lack wrote. She notes that in addition, men with extreme couvade often have too much cortisol—a stress-related chemical that, while effective in the face of short-term dangers, is troublesome over time.

It’s not difficult to see why men would be stressed or anxious during their partner’s pregnancy, given that they often fall into the role of main provider for their budding family, which can take a mental toll.
Indeed, restlessness could also easily be attributed to the new financial pressure new dads face. And it’s not for nothing, but this financial stress would cause anyone to have intense cravings late at night.

Mental Health Hurdles Involved With Fatherhood

But these symptoms can also point to something more serious than mere stress. For some men, worrying about being a dad can cause depression, possibly accounting for their reduced libido, sleep problems, and changes in appetite that are associated with couvade.
And while postnatal depression in fathers is more well-documented (though relatively less known compared to postnatal depression in moms), there’s even less information on a dad’s depression prior to a baby’s birth.

But according to one 2015 study, one in eight first-time-fathers suffer from depression while their partner is pregnant. As Deborah Da Costa, an associate professor in the Department of Medicine at McGill University, noted: “The mental health of men remains a neglected area of research and one that is not adequately addressed during the transition to parenthood.”
Similarly, Olivia Spencer, in her book Sad Dad: An Exploration of Postnatal Depression In Fathers, argued that “the true extent of the problem—like so many mental health disorders—is greater than we know and that society’s approach to fatherhood needs an overhaul to address it.”
Indeed. Da Costa indicated that many depression symptoms in dads-to-be can be easily spotted. One of the biggest clues being the link between lack of sleep and depression during the pregnancy term. “We know that antenatal depression is the strongest predictor for postnatal depression. So teaching fathers and screening for this early on, can be beneficial in terms of decreasing the risk or the continuation of depression postpartum.”

According to PANDA (Perinatal Anxiety & Depression Australia), men who feel unsupported or who lack information about what to expect with pregnancy or childbirth may be at increased risk for perinatal depression and anxiety. Here are a few signs to look for: constant tiredness or exhaustion, ongoing irritability, anger, moodiness, or emotional withdrawal from your partner.

Contributing Factors

Aside from a personal history of anxiety or depression, there are other factors that can contribute to mental health struggles in dads and dads-to-be, as outlined by PANDA:
A history of childhood trauma or family conflict. If a dad-to-be experienced a harsh upbringing, it’s likely his impending fatherhood can bring up a host of mixed feelings and difficult memories.
Relationship stress/problems. “A new mother is often very emotionally involved with or focused on the baby. It is also a physically demanding time for her and this can reduce her desire or energy for sex. Men can experience feelings of resentment or anger towards their partner or the baby as a result of these changes. They can also feel lonely and isolated.”

Sleep deprivation. This one’s a biggie. Lack of sleep impacts a person’s family and working life.
Lack of available support. Not having a network of supportive friends or family can make a dad-to-be feel alone in his new role, without anyone to turn to for advice or guidance.

Supporting a partner with perinatal anxiety or depression. A factor that is less addressed but shouldn’t be surprising, and which “can trigger a range of difficult emotions, including confusion, fear and helplessness. These feelings can negatively impact men’s own well-being.”

Tips for Looking After Yourself (Couvade or Not)

We get it: Being a first time dad is hard. And this applies unilaterally for men of all different walks of life. Still, there are ways of processing this tumultuous time. PANDA offers the below tips for looking after yourself:
Recognize that having a baby brings many unexpected changes. This is true for both you and your partner: In other words, give yourself time to adjust.
Life might be different, but embrace the experience. Sure, we understand this is easier said than done, but know that it will take time to come around to the idea of becoming “three.”

Don’t try to take on everything or solve every problem. You are part of a team. And that’s a good thing.
Keep in touch with your friends and family. Having a network of supportive people in your life can help you navigate the puzzling waters of fatherhood. They don’t say it takes a village for nothing.
And most importantly: You don’t need to deal with this alone. “If you think you need some help or support, don’t be afraid or ashamed to ask. Your health and wellbeing is important to your baby.” Reach out to a therapist if your symptoms don’t improve.

Time for a Reality Check

Couvade or no-couvade: Being a dad is kind of a big deal. Meaning, the first step in seeking help for couvade symptoms is recognizing that while moms take the brunt of these biological changes, there’s no denying the mind-body connection in fathers, too.

And while no one theory can account for the origins of the syndrome, what is known, is that “very little research has been done on male reactions to pregnancy and childbirth,” as explained by Tim Lott of The Guardian. “Instead we live with a lot of inbuilt assumptions—that the man will be as blissful and anticipatory as the mother expects herself to be, and that when the big day comes his life, like hers, will be transformed, not without difficulty but unquestionably for the better.”
Moreover, it’s important to look at the whole picture when speaking of the phenomenon. Or as Lott puts it: “Time for a reality check. Becoming a first-time father is many things—terrifying, joyful, nerve-racking, exciting—but unconflicted it is not.”

Tags social

Health x Body Wellbeing

Cancer…Or A Cough? Patients Reveal Their Scariest Misdiagnosis Stories

Post author By HealthyWay Staff Writer
Post date February 7, 2019

It isn’t easy to be a doctor. There are literally infinite causes of any cluster of symptoms, and it’s your job to narrow that down to a single diagnosis. Odds are, you’re going to get it wrong every now and then.
In fact, the National Academy of Medicine warns that “most people” will have at least one incorrect diagnosis in their lifetimes. More than 20 percent of the patients who visit the Mayo Clinic show up with the wrong diagnosis.
The point is, doctors make mistakes. That’s no consolation when a physician tells you to start preparing for the end…and it turns out you’ve just got a cold. These patients of Reddit can tell you all about it. In fact, they will.
We’ve edited these stories a bit for grammar, style, and readability. Here are some of the most terrifying tales of misdiagnosis from all of Reddit:

There’s one diagnosis that we all fear more than any other: cancer.

Of course, a doctor telling you it’s cancer doesn’t necessarily make it so. Here are a few folks who have stared down the “emperor of all maladies” only to find out they’re actually doing pretty alright…at least compared to having cancer.
“Leukemia,” wrote a Reddit user, getting right to the point. “I spent two weeks continuously going to my doctor because I started feeling sick the night I graduated high school. They thought it was mono at first and did countless mono tests. They were all negative.”

“Then they told me it might be HIV. Thankfully that test was negative. After two weeks of no luck, my doctor put me in the hospital and said I might have leukemia. I was 18 and just graduated. I spent a lot of time crying.”
“Anyway, I was there for a week. They did countless tests and finally diagnosed me with mono. I don’t know why it took so long, but that’s all I had. I still had to go to a cancer center and have tests done every two weeks for six months just to be sure.”
That’s awful. Patients themselves aren’t the only ones who suffer, though. Another Reddit user describes what happened when his father got a false cancer diagnosis.
“My dad came home and told me, with tears in his eyes, that he had been diagnosed with leukemia,” wrote MacFluffle. “He spent a few months thinking he was going to die before he went to another doctor and they told him it was type 1 diabetes.”

Of course, cancer is just as easy to miss as it is to misdiagnose.

Here are a few Reddit folks whose cancer looked like something else—at least to their doctors.
“[The] dermatologist thought the spot on my face was acne and gave me acne medication,” wrote WickedCurious. “One year later the spot is bigger and not going away. Turned out to be basal cell skin cancer.”

In a lot of ways, women have it worse than men in the misdiagnosis department. Here’s one example of that dynamic:
“My doctor told me I had PMS in response to my repeated visits about severe stomach and back pains, cramping, and of course issues with BMs,” wrote Moos_Mumsy. “[They] told me to take some Midol and to get over myself. Turns out it was colon cancer.”
Yikes. But we saved the saddest story for last (in this section…oh, there’s much more to come).
“Not me, my dad,” wrote juanangrybadger. “[He] was misdiagnosed with gallstones. They kept cancelling his operation—three times in total.”
“When they finally did open him up they found nothing there. [It] was actually bowel cancer, and by the time they got round to treatment…they found it to be pretty much untreatable. He died that October, a day before my mum’s birthday.”

If you think you have appendicitis, well, you very well might be right.

Every year, 250,000 patients are treated for appendicitis. Something like 7 percent of Americans have the disease at any given time. It’s not rare. Still, doctors often have a hard time diagnosing the condition. Here’s all the anecdotal evidence you’ll ever need:
“They said I was constipated,” wrote DialTone657. “My appendix almost bursted.”
Yes, we’re aware that the past tense of “burst” is “burst.” We were just charmed by “bursted,” so we decided to leave it. That’s what you call editorial privilege. Anyway.

“Mine was that my pediatrician thought my ruptured appendix was the common cold,” wrote a Reddit user who’s since left the site.
Doctors have called burst appendixes pretty much everything you can think of.
“Mine thought my ruptured appendix was constipation,” wrote Zamochy. “After some x-rays, they sent me to the hospital where one of the doctors there thought I was faking it.”
We do mean everything.
“My appendix was perforated in two places and I almost died,” wrote gumiho-9th-tail. “[The doctors called it] ‘growing pains.’”

On the other hand, some patients just have weird appendixes.

It’s hard to fault the physician in the following case.
‘“It’s definitely not your appendix,’” wrote Ozyman_Dias, channeling a misguided doctor. “You’re describing pain in the wrong place.’”
“One burst appendix and a heap of gangrene later, it was confirmed to me that my appendix lay in a non-standard place in my body.”
Then there are those cases where doctors don’t diagnose anything; they just miss what’s right in front of them.
“[The] pediatrician couldn’t find anything wrong with me,” wrote dottmatrix. “A day or two later, my appendix ruptured.”

Appendicitis is almost as hard on parents as it is on the patient herself.

Here’s an epic tale that will strike horror into the heart of every parent out there.
“When my daughter was in second grade, she became very ill,” wrote JazzyJerome. “[I] made her an appointment for her doctor. [The doctor] examined her [and] told us there was a bad flu bug going around and that’s what she had. [She] gave us some meds and sent us home.”
“Later that evening, my daughter wakes up screaming, saying her stomach hurts. [I] give her meds and put a warm compress on her stomach. She falls back to sleep for around 15 minutes and starts screaming again.”
“[I] carry her to the bathroom and let her take warm bath. [I] dry her off and lay her back on the couch. She tells me she wants to lay in my bed instead. She starts walking down the hallway and collapsed, screaming in pain again. I try to pick her up and she screams louder.”

“When I finally get her to calm down, I call the nurse and explain what’s going on. Her doctor said it was the flu but she’s never reacted to one like this. The nurse informs me to rush her to the emergency room. We get there, still thinking it’s just a bad flu. After an hour of waiting, a doctor finally examines her. They tell us she needs surgery right away.”

“They told us her appendix ruptured.”

“The operation would take 45 minutes or so…she was in there for two hours. Her stool had been leaking in her body, and it was all over the intestines. They had to clean her insides.”
“She spent one week in the hospital while nurses were teaching my wife and I how to give her antibiotics through a catheter. We finally took her home, where she spent two more weeks with a nurse coming to our house to clean her catheter.”
“[That was] one of the scariest moments of being parent for me.”
But we won’t end on a sad note. There’s a happy ending to this terrifying story.

“When she was able to go back to school, all her classmates came up to hug her and gave her a huge ‘We Missed You’ card, signed by all her classmates and faculty,” concluded JazzyJerome.

Apparently, infections and illnesses are tough to spot, at least for some general practitioners.

“I had H. pylori, which is bacteria on the gut, which overproduces acid,” wrote Hoyata21. “The stupid doc said I was depressed.”
Helicobacter pylori is the main cause of stomach ulcers, and you definitely don’t want it taking over your stomach. Meanwhile, though, another Reddit user had an even worse infection.
“[The] lab mistook MRSA for regular staph,” wrote creepyredditloaner.
The Reddit user is talking about methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). It’s a form of staph bacteria that’s evolved to resist many of the antibiotics doctors rely on to control infection. So if a lab calls it regular staph, the health care team will blast it with useless medications while it thrives and damages bodily systems…which is exactly what happened in this case.
“I almost lost my leg and kidneys multiple times,” creepyredditloaner continued. “[It] took over a year to heal completely. It’s been a little more than a year since it healed, and I still have ghost sensations of fluids running down my leg.”

Just like infections, diseases of the bowel can escape the notice of the physician on duty.

“I was 18 or 19, [a] freshman in college, and [I] started experiencing this soft pain in my stomach,” wrote another Reddit user. “I didn’t think much of it, but it got worse, so I went to the student clinic. Nothing came of it.”

“Things got much much worse. Severe vomiting, stomach pain, fatigue, and a couple other symptoms I don’t really want to mention. Turns out I had Crohn’s but it took about 5 months for a proper diagnosis even after CT scans and such. They just thought I had IBS. Nope, IBD.”
That’s “inflammatory bowel syndrome” (IBS) and “inflammatory bowel disease” (IBD), for the record. Neither one is a picnic.
Pivoting a bit, here’s a story about a common-enough illness that the doctors managed to misdiagnose as another familiar disease:
“I had a doctor tell me I had a mild sinus infection, and it would clear up on it’s own,” wrote natalie_d101. “He told me I was being dramatic.”
“Five days later, I black out in the bathroom of a Good Year Tire store. Turns out my mild sinus infection was pneumonia. That was a fun time.”

At least broken bones are pretty easy to spot, right? Ummmmm…

Not to alarm you, but a glance at an X-ray isn’t enough to diagnose a lot of broken bones. Based on the testimony of the Reddit community, doctors miss broken bones all the time. Here are just a few examples:
“[The] doctor told me my X-ray was clear and that my foot was fine,” wrote eatsleeplaugh. “[It] turned out they had X-rayed the wrong part of my leg, and by the time they noticed, my heel-bone was shattered completely.”

“I had been walking 20-plus miles a day, thinking I was just imagining the pain. My foot was ridiculously swollen but I kept telling myself it was nothing because ‘X-ray was clear,’ and I could push through it with enough willpower. I ended up in a wheelchair for three months and a cast for four months.”
Remember that your bone doesn’t have to be strictly “broken” to be terribly injured. This story makes the point:
“A super apathetic nurse examined my foot X-rays after I ate s*** skateboarding and came to the conclusion that it wasn’t broken,” wrote pizzapede. “He said he was going to get some bandages and he’d be right back.”
“About 10 minutes later, a doctor came around the corner and asked if the nurse talked to me, then informed me that I had actually put so much tension on a ligament or whatever that it peeled part of one of my bones off.”
“If you wanna get technical, the nurse wasn’t wrong, but I haven’t been back to that hospital for obvious reasons.”

You’ve probably broken a bone at some point in your life.

Hopefully, you didn’t have an experience like this one:
“When I was about 17 I broke my fibula in two places, and the resultant chunk was displaced a fair bit,” wrote Kobe_Wan_Ginobli. “[I] went to the doctor and he pressed up and down that bone real firmly, asking me if it hurt, and I told him it did. Then he told me it was just a bruise and told my dad I just felt pain more than most kids.”

“Two weeks later, I’m still getting a fair bit of aching pain along with severe pain when going down stairs or kicking the footy or even just putting weight through it the wrong way, and we have to go back and demand an X-ray. As soon I got the results I was sent to an orthopedic surgeon to see if surgery was necessary. Turned out to be borderline, so I opted for crutches instead, though it still pains me if I run long distance.”
Or this one:
“[The] doctor told my mother and I that my arm was simply hyperextended and that I’d be okay after a few weeks in a sling,” wrote wavinsnail. “A few weeks in a sling later and I couldn’t move my arm without extreme pain. Turns out that my elbow was broken and too far along the healing process to do much else. I spent eight weeks in a sling in sixth grade. That sure made me popular…”

Finally, here’s a story that boggles the mind…and the foot.
“[I] went in with an obviously broken foot,” wrote ThanatosX23. “There was even a bone sticking through the skin, along with massive bruising and swelling and my foot being bent at a 90-degree angle where there’s no joint.”
Okay, we’re convinced.
“They X-rayed it, shoved the bone back in, put a Band-aid on, wrapped the ankle in an ace bandage, and tried telling me I had a sprained ankle,” continued ThanatosX23. “[I] got a second opinion. That moron said it was a heel spur. Finally, [I] got a third opinion from an orthopaedic surgeon who immediately said I’d broken six different bones and dislocated my big toe.”
“There are too many quacks around here.”

Allergies are famously hard to identify, so it makes sense that doctors make mistakes wherever they pop up.

“My mom was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis when I was young,” wrote enchantedrosemary. “She was given a few years to live, at most, and told that she would die a painful, terrible death.”
“We packed up and moved across the state to be closer to family since my dad was going to be left alone with several small children (I was the oldest at 7) supposedly quite soon. I remember her getting frequent shots, lots of hefty doctor’s bills, her crying all the time, etc. Very traumatic.”

“Well, apparently her symptoms didn’t continue to escalate the way they expected, so they ran more tests and found out it was just a food allergy all along. To this day, I’m still super confused about what happened there…”
If you’re not too traumatized by that last story, here’s another.
“[I] ended up sick most of my childhood/teenage life, throwing up, horrible intestinal problems, cramps, just general illness,” wrote nightlymare. “They did every stomach test they could do and found nothing, so they pushed me onto a shrink thinking I had an eating disorder [or] was mentally depressed and making myself sick.”
“Turns out I have severe allergies to animal proteins. The huge glasses of milk and pork chops, meatballs, and other meat/dairy-based items my mother was feeding me were making me ill. Cut the animal products out of my diet and am now 100 percent.”
At least there was a happy ending to this story.

Some conditions are rare enough that doctors rarely even think to check for them.

“[I] had a bone cyst in my neck that was eating my spine, which had collapsed on my nerves connected to my arms, giving me the worst pain I’ve ever felt when I so much as moved,” wrote Blue-Rhapsody. “I was told this was because ‘I slept wrong’ and to do lots of stretches and exercise every day, which only made things worse.
“On the bright side, now part of my spine is made of metal, and a few years later and many surgeries, I feel almost good as new.”
We guess that’s a bright side? Let’s hear another.
“My cholesteatoma was misdiagnosed as a bad ear infection,” wrote pianogod.
This one requires a bit of explanation. Cholesteatoma is a noncancerous growth that pops up behind the eardrum. It’s a dangerous condition that can damage hearing and even paralyze muscles in the face. What cholesteatoma is not is a “bad ear infection.”

Here’s another scary one:
“I have problems with low blood sugar and asked my new doctor to refer me to a nutritionist,” wrote Meelissa123. “Instead, she diagnosed me as depressed and tried to give me drugs. F that.”
Our sentiments exactly. Moving right along:
“I had a rash from a medication reaction, and [the doctor] told me it was bedbugs,” wrote one Redditor.

It seems that hepatitis C is a go-to diagnosis, regardless of the actual cause of symptoms.

“My doctor told me I had hepatitis C,” wrote cant_afford_gas. “Turns out taking Mucinex can make your liver appear pretty screwed up.”
We couldn’t verify the visual effects of Mucinex on the liver, but we do know this: Other Reddit users also complained of false diagnoses of hepatitis C.
“Heh, fun story about being told you have hepatitis C by mistake,” wrote Sweetwill62. “So when I was 16, I went to go donate blood. About two weeks later I get a letter in the mail saying I have Hep C, and at the time [that] wasn’t very likely in the slightest.”
Fun!

“Turns out I make a protein that looks like Hep C on the kind of tests they were using. That was not a fun trip to the doctor, to be told I shouldn’t have been sent that letter because they had already re-tested it and realized it was a false positive.”
Oops, we guess? Here’s a particularly egregious misdagnosis:
“Went to the doctor for a rash,” wrote cphoebney. “[The] nurse swore up and down it was something flesh-eating.”
“It was dermatitis.”
Finally, we’ll leave you with a misdiagnosis that led to a joyful event…more or less.
“My mother went to the doctor with stomach pains and the doctor ran some tests and diagnosed it as gas or something and gave her some pills,” wrote amart591. “Turns out that was me, and I was almost accidentally [never born]. Thankfully she got a second opinion.”
Get those second opinions, folks.

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Health x Body Wellbeing

From HealthShares To Asking Alexa: Healthcare For Those Without Health Insurance

Post author By Cindy Lamothe
Post date February 4, 2019

“When you don’t have health insurance, you’re constantly gauging just how severe your ailment is and whether it’s worth taking that trip to the hospital,” says Steve DiMatteo, an Ohio resident.
Many people think accessible healthcare should be a given, but what happens when you can’t afford health insurance or choose to forgo paying upwards of $500-$1,000 each month for medical attention you may or may not need?
“Those without health insurance often go without until they are in crisis,” says Kryss Shane, a dual-licensed social worker from Ohio.
According to PBS, approximately 44 million people in the U.S. don’t have health insurance, and another 38 million have inadequate health insurance. In fact, research from 2017 shows that up to 11.3 percent of Americans can’t afford health insurance at all.

“This means that nearly one-third of Americans face each day without the security of knowing that, if and when they need it, medical care is available to them and their families,” the study reads. So what do they do?

For one, they don’t get sick.

They can’t afford to. Staying healthy becomes top priority when you don’t have insurance, says digital marketer Richard Kelleher, who lives in Arizona. “That means eating correctly, being in the gym every morning. It takes regiment and dedication”
As a self-proclaimed “solopreneur” who prefers to invest in digital marketing education and training, Kelleher has known what it’s like to be uninsured for the past decade. But he notes there’s a downside. “Last year, I went to a dental school after visiting two dentists with a toothache. I ended the year spending $3,000 on dental work.”

According to one study, uninsured people are both less likely than those with coverage to use any health services in a given year and have lower expenditures for services on average.
Dorma McGruder, who lives in the greater Detroit area, hasn’t had insurance since 2013 and has instead learned to manage her health issues by working on her weight and stress levels. Despite struggling with migraines, high blood pressure, astigmatism in both eyes, and much-needed dental work, she relies on a combination of natural remedies, prayer, and exercise. “Sometimes the pain is unbearable and my blood pressure shoots up to 190/110.”
“I take something over the counter, lay down and rest,” she says. “But I have to keep going.”

They self-diagnose.

Google becomes the go-to for all things health. Those without insurance will often self-diagnose using resources they find on the internet, according to Shane, and this can cause unnecessary stress and anxiety. Back in 2012, in a piece for The Atlantic, writer Gary Stern reported that a staggering 97.5 million Americans used health websites to obtain information.

While this can seem perfectly convenient in the moment (when you’re unsure what that suspicious rash is), it poses significant risks in that you can’t really know for sure what that rash is unless it’s seen by a medical professional.
Here are just a few dangers that arise from self-diagnosis:
Unwarranted panic and worrying about worst outcomes (which goes back to the stress Shane mentioned).
Trusting unreliable sources. Health blogs written by unqualified advice-givers don’t equate to a doctor that knows your medical history.
Dangerous self-medicating, aka using products with unforeseen side effects. Experts advise instead to try alternatives like 24-hour nurse hotlines, where you can discuss symptoms and whether it’s urgent for you to be seen at a clinic.

They take their health issues abroad.

“I travel internationally often and get all my work done overseas in countries that have better healthcare than where I live in Seattle—and is only 20 percent of what it would cost in the U.S.,” says Alex, who prefers to be identified by his first name only. He goes to Bangkok to get his teeth deep cleaned annually and receives his regular cleaning when he’s in Vietnam or Korea.
This form of medical tourism, where people live in one country and travel to another to receive medical, dental, and surgical care, is nothing new. In fact, there’s a whole association devoted to it, and that association says Americans can enjoy a 90 percent cost savings if they opt to receive healthcare abroad.
As of this year, Nian Hu of INSIDER reports that more people than ever are ditching U.S. healthcare in favor of traveling to other countries for medical procedures that are more affordable.
“Compared to the rest of the world, people in the US pay much higher prices for medical services such as hospitalization, doctors’ visits, and prescription medication,” Hu writes, pointing to a 2015 report that found 150,000 to 320,000 Americans travel abroad every year to receive healthcare.
While the pros are advantageous for people living with chronic illnesses and who can budget in a yearly trip, what about those who don’t travel abroad for work and can’t afford a quick flight out of town?

Fortunately, there are a growing number of assistance programs for those without insurance or who need help paying their premiums. Below are just a few to look into:
CoverageforAll.org offers a state-by-state directory answering all of your insurance-related questions and information on eligibility for programs based on the federal poverty level.
Free clinics are an option for those who don’t have insurance or have limited healthcare coverage. Check out this handy list of free clinics provided by the United States Department of Health and Human Resources.
BenefitsCheckup.org and Eldercare.gov are resources for older Americans without insurance. They can help them explore their long-term care benefits and assistance options for food and nutrition.

They become over-the-counter connoisseurs.

Shane points out that those who do seek healthcare treatment typically go to a drugstore or grocery store clinic for their medical needs. This is true for Alex, who refuses to buy insurance through his employer. He says he’ll try to tough it out when he gets sick. “I take over the counter meds, and usually it goes away within a few days.”
“If I do need to visit a doctor, I will usually pay out of pocket, and that is still less than what I would have paid with insurance.”

According to an article published in the Journal of Bioanalysis and Biomedicine, many older adults rely on self-management of medications to treat common medical conditions such as the common cold, pain, diarrhea, and constipation. And while using over-the-counter meds have their advantages, they’re also associated with risks of misdiagnosis, excessive drug dosage, prolonged duration of use, and unknown drug interactions.
If you can see a doctor and do get a prescription, trying to get a prescription filled without insurance can be a daunting task, but it’s not impossible.
The good folks at USA Today compiled this helpful list of options including alternatives to paying out of pocket, including an overview of discount and pharmaceutical assistance program that can save you up to 85 percent on the prescriptions you need.

They get by with a little help from their friends.

“When you’re single and under a certain age, you don’t think about health issues until ‘it’ happens,” says Los Angeles resident Nicholas Christensen.
And by “it,” he means a big enough health scare.

In his case, it was flu-like symptoms that gradually appeared in a 12-hour period which became monumentally worse during a short flight home. “I was doubled over with stomach cramps, feeling nauseous, gassy, bloated, and literally started to morph into a white walker from the Game of Thrones.”
All kidding aside, it was not looking good. “I went to urgent care, which is advertised as an ‘affordable alternative’ to emergency rooms.” He assumed the medical attention would be within his budget since he had missed the open enrollment period for health insurance, but he was wrong.
While the doctor in attendance wanted to admit him to the emergency room, Christensen resisted. “After getting a rough estimate of the urgent care treatment, which came with sticker shock, I decided to call my high school friend who is a third-year resident in NYC.”
Together, they determined that his symptoms were most likely a virus or bacterial infection caused by swimming in stagnant lake water. “Sometimes the more affordable option is finding a doctor friend or google your symptoms—free of charge!”

While somewhat extreme, Christensen’s concerns are not exactly unfounded.
According to Maureen Groppe of USA Today, while emergency departments are required by law to stabilize and treat anyone entering their doors regardless of their ability to pay, that doesn’t mean the uninsured can get treatment for any old ailment. “It also doesn’t mean that hospitals won’t try to bill someone without insurance. And the bill they send will be higher than for an insured patient because there’s no carrier to negotiate lower prices,” she writes.

Groppe points to one 2016 study published by the National Bureau of Economic Research, which found that someone who goes into the hospital without insurance doubles their chances of filing for bankruptcy over the next four years.
While opting out of the ER is certainly more affordable, it’s also a slippery health slope that can have dire consequences. Luckily, WebMD offers five tips to consider for ER visits, the top one being, “Don’t assume it’s the right place for you (if it’s not broken, burnt, or cut deeply, you’re better off at urgent care).” In other words, if your symptoms are bad enough to think your health will be in danger if you don’t get care right away, the ER is probably the right place for you.

They seek help online.

Approximately 56 percent of American adults with a mental illness do not receive treatment, according to an article by Nicole Spector for NBC News. And in many cases, it’s the cost of therapy and prescription drugs that deters people from getting the help they need. So what’s a person to do?
According to Shane, those who need mental healthcare often use social media to request support when they feel lonely, or seek out online or texting therapists in an attempt to get care.

Sites like BetterHelp offer online counseling as a more affordable and convenient way to seek mental health support, but it’s also come under scrutiny related to ethical questions regarding privacy and safety challenges.
In her NBC article, Spector recommends checking out other resources such as private therapists who will work on a sliding fee scale (sometimes offering their services for as low as $10 an hour), finding out whether you are eligible for Medicaid, or even turning to local training institutes that sometimes provide patients with free sessions for up to two years.

They use HealthShare plans.

“I am very healthy physically and think it is a waste to spend $500 to $1,000 a month on health insurance when there is very little chance of something happening,” notes 27-year-old Stacy Caprio in Boston. “And I’m self-employed, so I would have to cover the whole cost myself as opposed to being partially reimbursed by an employer.”
Caprio currently has a HealthShare plan that fulfills the Affordable Care Act (ACA) requirement (otherwise known as Obamacare) but is also, according to her, “low cost and low coverage.”
As of 2016, due to the rise in healthcare costs, health sharing memberships have more than doubled—going from about 200,000 to about 530,000 participants annually.

While attractive because of their low monthly costs, it’s important to note that these plans are cooperatives (often faith-based) and do not equal health insurance—meaning consumers have very few legal protections.
“For me right now, it is okay, because I am young and healthy,” explains Caprio, “but it is a risk that I am living with day to day.”

They try to maintain a positive mindset.

They have to. “I have more good days than bad by using a lot of prayer and mental discipline,” says 61-year-old McGruder. She says it’s scary being unemployed and wondering about her health future at this age.
“It’s embarrassing because I have never been in this place before,” she adds. “I have to get healthier so I don’t end up in a facility with no insurance to cover basic needs.”
Ultimately, maintaining a positive mindset makes her work harder to be healthier and less dependent on medicine.
“I have to. I can’t get any.”

More Than Positivity

Overall, staying healthy and positive can only take you so far when you’re in the midst of an unexpected health scare (appendicitis comes to mind).

Taking the time to research your options and learn what resources are available can help you better prepare and avoid putting your life at risk. Remember, even some coverage is better than none at all.

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