Medical professionals of Reddit, what mistake have you made in your medical career that, because of the outcome, you've never forgotten? [SERIOUS]

Doctor thought I was faking being sick. This was quite a few years ago.

At about 11 o'clock one night I started vomiting, became delirious, was in massive amounts of pain and pretty much hysterical. Had to get an ambulance. A few hours later (The next morning) I was seen by the doctor I told him I felt like I had a bone sticking out below my ribcage, I got a phone call from my friend asking where I was (We had a major assessment that day and I wasn't there), I told him I was in a hospital and explained what had happened. The doctor asked what the phone call was, and I told him about the assessment, then he started telling me it was impossible for a bone to be sticking out below my ribcage and an hour later I'm discharged with no explanation as to what happened.

It turned out the doctor thought I was faking being sick to get out of a test, and he was angry that my parents called an ambulance.

So the next night the same thing happens, There is no vomiting but the pain is way worse and I'm still delirious like you get from a really bad flu, then the next day I go to the same hospital but this time it's a different doctor who comes to see me, almost immediately I'm brought through A&E and told that I'm going to be operated on. They tell me that my appendix has been perforated and that they need to operate right away.

Then after the operation I get pumped full of morphine, an IV, I have to breath in this vapour respirator thing and get regular doses of antibiotics which made my throat taste like metal. My family keep hanging around which was pretty weird, and the staff keep checking on me, more so than they are checking on the other patients on the ward, taking blood samples, temperature and all that. Then a fucking chaplain turns up and starts talking to me, even though I'm high as shit on morphine.

I wasn't told until a few days later that I had severe Sepsis and that I was being monitored because there was a good chance I would die, and had I went to the hospital a few hours later then I would most likely be dead, my parents had been asked if they wanted a priest to give me the last rights which is why the chaplain turned up.

So basically nearly died. Because of one fucking dick, but the rest of the staff were great.

/r/AskReddit Thread Parent