Medical Professionals Share 80 Distressing Diagnoses in Reddit Thread

1 articles · Updated · Bored Panda · Aug 22

A Reddit thread drew about 80 responses from medical professionals describing the diagnoses that gave them the worst "pit-in-the-stomach" feeling when telling patients and families devastating news.
The accounts centered on moments when clinicians recognized catastrophic illness before patients did, including scans showing widespread recurrent cancer, EMGs suggesting ALS, and ultrasounds confirming term stillbirth.
Other stories described sudden, high-stakes emergencies such as dissecting abdominal aortic aneurysms, necrotizing fasciitis, bacterial meningitis and advanced brain tumors in children and young adults.
Several contributors said the emotional toll lingers long after the encounter, with one doctor invoking a "tiny graveyard" physicians carry and urging colleagues to seek therapy.
One veterinarian offered a rare hopeful note: feline infectious peritonitis, once effectively fatal, now has treatments linked to remdesivir with reported 80% to 99% cure rates.