NAD, but the patient a few years ago. I had a boil on my butt that I thought as Mr. Tough Guy I could “walk it off.” Um, no you can’t. I was in so much pain, couldn’t sit or stand near the end; I could only limp along or lay down in an extremely convoluted position. I went over two weeks before it got so bad I couldn’t stand it anymore. I finally went to the ER to get it drained and the doctors there were not really happy with me when I told them that I left this try go away with Epsom salt baths or my own wishful thinking.
For my stubborness I earned myself a staph infection and a very upset doctor who let me know in no uncertain terms I brought this upon myself.
Well my obvious answer would be lack of healthcare
I’ve seen a few over the years, and they generally fall into the category of ‘If it’s not diagnosed then I can’t have it,’ or ‘I didn’t think it was that bad.’ As a medical student I remember an older lady that had a breast that was necrotic and falling off. It had been progressing over the last several years. But, if she didn’t get diagnosed with breast cancer, then she couldn’t have it. In the other category I’ve seen a few cases of Fournier’s Gangrene. Pretty much obese, male diabetics that had a pimple/sore that started in the pubic region. By the time they come to the hospital it’s a raging infection where the treatment is basically to cut away everything in the pubic/ groin region down to the muscle layer. That little sore didn’t seem like much at first.
Not me but my brother is an EMT for a warehouse. He recently had a guy come to his station saying something was wrong with his toe. So he asks him to take off his shoe, which he does. My brother was about to ask him to take off the bandage around his big toe before he realizes that that wasn’t a bandage, it was his skin. Apparently, this guy dropped a 20 pound tote on his toe a week earlier and had been showing up at work anyway. They sent him to the doctor; the doctor sent him to the ER. Diagnosis came back as a tissue infection as well as osteomyelitis (a bone infection). But wait, there’s more! The guy come back from the ER and tells him that he doesn’t want to go through the ER doctor and would rather go through his own insurance. My brother explained to him as best as he could that, as it stood, he was already likely going to lose his toe and if he waited any longer to get it treated, he ran the risk of losing his entire leg. Not sure what happened after that, I just hope he got the point.
This happens all the time…. People have a big stroke at home and can’t move an entire side of the body. They wait several days thinking it’s a flu or something. Nope, not the flu…. Just a large clot in the brain that could have been reversed if you came in right away.