Worst advice given to you by a "professional"

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  • Robin_Bin
    Robin_Bin Posts: 1,046 Member
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    My grandson was sent home from the ER after suddenly losing use of his left leg during his 2nd birthday party. Sprained ankle or knee was their diagnosis. Pediatrician concurred with the ER doc's decision, but agreed to further testing at my daughter's insistence.

    He finished treatment for Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia last month at age 5.

    Thank goodness your daughter insisted! Congratulations and best wishes for his continued health!
  • katiebythebay
    katiebythebay Posts: 611 Member
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    I was told I had stage 5 cancer when I didn't.

    Um, winner. This post has to take the cake.

    That has to be the most absurd thing a doctor can tell a person - a misdiagnosis. Wow, just wow.

    Sorry you had to go through that. I'm sure it was scary for a bit before you found out the truth.
  • watchtheworld
    watchtheworld Posts: 39
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    I had a blood test (not fasting) in November. It was high (in the 200s). I had another blood test (also not fasting) in February to check where I was at. When I called to get my results, the doctor proceeded to tell me that it was still in the 200s. I then freaked out because I kept thinking that "I have lost 30 pounds eating decently well and STILL have high cholesterol? What is wrong?"

    After talking to her multiple times on the phone to get my information, I found out that she was an idiot and had given me my numbers for November again - my real numbers were in the normal ranges. Thanks doc for making me upset for a week, and then not apologizing for giving me incorrect information!

    Just a side note - unfortunately with the whole "sue everybody about everything" culture, doctors often can't apologise even when they'd like to, such as something like this which is a small, easily made mistake, and one that bears no huge harm beyond a week of anxiety, for fear of huge law suits that could derail or damage their livelihood permanently.
  • LaMujerMasBonitaDelMundo
    LaMujerMasBonitaDelMundo Posts: 3,634 Member
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    Oh there are definitely good doctors, but there are also doctors who aren't listening, paying attention etc. See my story above about the doctor who agreed when I pointed out that I didn't have high blood pressure, so didn't need the prescription she had just written. Doctors get it right most of the time, but they also get it terribly wrong sometimes. I've been the "companion" on some relative's doctors visits, so someone who was well and less stressed could listen and take notes. I agree that many patients, and people in general, mis-remember conversations. But there's also a reason for second opinions. Also, medical personnel tend to know who the better doctors are and who to avoid. The best doctor I ever had was recommended by a nurse I was doing some volunteer work with. And there's quite a bit of research about what doctors choose to say to patients... to give them hope, to scare them into taking their medicines or using specialized jargon that the client can't understand. So yes, the doctor may have told the patient to reduce sodium, and the patient may be able to repeat that back, but does the patient know that means no table salt?

    Sodium isn't only limited to table salt. There are lots of non-salty foods that has a high sodium content especially in processed foods like cakes, cookies, candies, cereals, instant oats etc. also in sauces like ketchup. Any food that requires a longer shelf life is guaranteed to have a high sodium content because that's the main job of sodium, to prolong the shelf life of a food.
  • LaMujerMasBonitaDelMundo
    LaMujerMasBonitaDelMundo Posts: 3,634 Member
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    I was told I had stage 5 cancer when I didn't.

    OMG, what a jerk!
  • DeckerDoll
    DeckerDoll Posts: 201
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    I paid a nutritionist $50 for a session in which she basically printed out the first two top hits of a google search regarding eating clinics.

    I did not go to the clinics. I did not care to heed a word she said after she handed me the pieces two sheets of paper.
  • smilingalltheway
    smilingalltheway Posts: 216 Member
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    I went to the er at our local hospital because I could not catch my breath I mean I could not walk 3 steps without gasping for air, the first doctor who examined me told and I couldn't breathe because I was anxious and I said no I'm anxious because I can't breathe. After a c-scan showed both my lungs were full of blood clots I never saw the orignal doctor again.


    ps..made a full recovery
  • watchtheworld
    watchtheworld Posts: 39
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    When I was in middle school went to the doctor for a regular check up. At the time I was slightly overweight. She took my BP and it was normal but said that it should be high since I was fat. She took it 3 more times and decided that I needed a test for diabetes cause clearly anyone who isn't thin has it.


    All females are pregnant until proven otherwise, and anyone overweight or underweight has diabetes until proven otherwise.
  • watchtheworld
    watchtheworld Posts: 39
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    My wife is a physician. And a good one. In her experience, patients often only listen to about half of what their docs actually say to them and the half the listen to can often get terribly distorted by the time they get home or repeat the conversation. It's shocking and sometimes amusing when a patient will call back to clarify something (which should be done a lot more than it is), to hear what the patient thought the doctor told them to do/said to them. She is a specialist, and I can tell you that the conversations are carefully recorded and placed in the patient record. I can also tell you that unless the doc is primarily a "weight loss" practice, your weight, BMI, obesity, what have you, is a very small piece of a very large picture they are looking at. I imagine that can be frustrating and feel very much like they aren't focused on what you are focused on and therefore "idiots". I know a lot of doctors, as you can imagine, and have yet to meet an idiot. Jerks, yes! Idiots, no.

    This.
  • wolfi622
    wolfi622 Posts: 206
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    I was told I had stage 5 cancer when I didn't.

    OMG, what a jerk!

    There are 4 cancer stages, but there are multiple "grades" of tumors, depending upon which part of the body is affected and a "grade 5" classification for a tumor can be accurate and can exist for a cancer at differing stages (say, 3 or 4).
  • wolfi622
    wolfi622 Posts: 206
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    When I was in middle school went to the doctor for a regular check up. At the time I was slightly overweight. She took my BP and it was normal but said that it should be high since I was fat. She took it 3 more times and decided that I needed a test for diabetes cause clearly anyone who isn't thin has it.


    All females are pregnant until proven otherwise, and anyone overweight or underweight has diabetes until proven otherwise.

    Yup. And on the latter, especially when they are pregnant.
  • Robin_Bin
    Robin_Bin Posts: 1,046 Member
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    ... So yes, the doctor may have told the patient to reduce sodium, and the patient may be able to repeat that back, but does the patient know that means no table salt?

    Sodium isn't only limited to table salt. There are lots of non-salty foods that has a high sodium content especially in processed foods like cakes, cookies, candies, cereals, instant oats etc. also in sauces like ketchup. Any food that requires a longer shelf life is guaranteed to have a high sodium content because that's the main job of sodium, to prolong the shelf life of a food.

    No, of course it's not. (Demonstrating how a point can be misunderstood.) What I meant is that most patient have no idea what has sodium. And a doctor that assumes that saying "reduce sodium" will be enough to explain what changed a patient needs to make to his or her diet, is making a bad assumption.
  • Eandretta96
    Eandretta96 Posts: 119
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    Yeah maybe people should listen a little more to Atkins. So many that studies have been done that contradict Keys.
  • strawberrie_milk
    strawberrie_milk Posts: 381 Member
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    I had a urine test done at the doctor's a few weeks back and they found ketones in my pee (I guess I was in ketosis from my low carb diet). Doctor told me that this was caused by not eating enough protein (I eat 1-1.5g protein per pound of my body weight, so I know for a fact she was wrong) and that my body was going to eat itself and I would die. Had to suppress the urge to laugh in her face.
  • Elf_Princess1210
    Elf_Princess1210 Posts: 895 Member
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    I was told by an internist that I needed to stop eating all carbs and i'll lose weight. When I told her there was carbs in veggies and fruits she studdered a bit and said, " well those carbs are good" . *facepalm*
  • Funsoaps
    Funsoaps Posts: 514 Member
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    Or even better while I was in labor "Go home, come back later, you need to hurt more". I went home and had my daughter at home, great doc that was!

    My mother delivered me 30 minutes after she got to the hospital. 5 years later she went to the hospital in labor with my brother. They *tried* to send her home even after she told them she had a history of quick labors. Dr confirmed that she needed to stay. Nurse checked her dilation and turned to chart, my mother grunted and asked the nurse to check again. Nurse says ( without turning around) I just checked you honey...then turns around and my brother was delivered to the shoulder and looking at her :)

    Yep my son came even faster. I told my new Doc that my mom has fast deliveries and I do, too that she needs to be prepared and no, I won't go home from the hospital. She knew, but probably wasn't sure. She came in to check on me and I was just starting labor, and she goes "I'm going to go get coffee, something to eat and come back and check on you"....she didn't barely get down the hall. My son went from 6 dialated to 9, and up in my ribs and out in one big grunt. He never even crowned. My doc just barely got her gloves on. I was like "I told ya!".
  • meshashesha2012
    meshashesha2012 Posts: 8,326 Member
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    in college, i got a skin rash on my fingers and saw a doctor about. she tried to tell me it was because i was using my fngers to cause myself to puke. i was harassed by that last for an entire semester because not only did she keep contacting me to come back in and talk to someone for some bulimia i didnt have, she eventually contacted my DEAN.

    turns out it was an allergic reaction to some lotion. i never got an apology from that jerk either
  • PuggleLover
    PuggleLover Posts: 261 Member
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    I was doubled over in pain and felt like I was bleeding to death every month. Finally went to the doc and she said, "think of this as prep for having a baby - that's what labor pains feel like." I said... but I am not having a baby. She said... this is like endurance training for giving birth.

    I went to another doc who promptly did surgery to remove all the disease and scar tissue developing in my guts.
  • mheightchew
    mheightchew Posts: 334
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    128 lbs ago when my Dr told me to get gastric bypass. When I asked her if I should try it the traditional way first (cause truth be told I hadn't) she said "girls like you don't lose weight without surgery" guess I proves that theory wrong!
  • spartangirl79
    spartangirl79 Posts: 277 Member
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    Not weight loss related, but when I had raging bad TMJD and couldn't open my mouth more than 9mm without intense pain and my jaw making all kinds of horrible cracking noises, a tmj specialist oral surgeon told me, "That's just the way god made you."

    Dude... I'm an atheist. In my mind, god didn't make me. And I wasn't "made" this way two years ago, so fix my damn jaw already!

    My regular dentist got me all straightened out. And now I can open my mouth like a frickin' Pez dispenser. :happy:

    I'd be walking out of that office and not paying the bill. I don't go to the doctor for a sermon. Dang.

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