Doctors see things on the job that might make the average person's stomach churn. You have to have a strong constitution for this job, especially if you're working in the emergency unit, where anything can happen at any given moment.

Some years ago, I met a doctor who told me about all the things he had to fish out of people's butts because they'd... get things stuck up there. Needless to say, this is burnt into my brain.

We heard more stories after Redditor Naypotato asked the online community,

"Doctors of Reddit, what is the weirdest thing you’ve seen while at work?"

"But all was well."

"Baby was born in a small village with all her bowels and stomach outside of her body (gastroschisis). Mum wrapped the baby up in a swaddle and mum, dad, and baby walked 8 hours to the nearest hospital."

"Caused quite a ruckus in the emergency department triage counter as they couldn't speak the local language and had to open the swaddle to show the triage nurse what they meant."

"But all was well. Baby survived and went home well."


Walking eight hours immediately after giving birth? The woman must have been strong as hell.

"I resorted to..."

"450-pound woman bleeding from the belly button, which was obviously a very deep innie. I resorted to a large speculum to visualize then cauterized the bleeding vessel."


Anyone else ever randomly get worried about your belly button just opening up?

"That night..."

"Mexican doctor here. Got a call from a patient who wanted me to check on his wife since she had been laying in bed all morning. When I arrived I could smell rotten eggs and humidity in the room."

"Open the door and a body lays there, decomposed (probably 2-3 weeks), and the stench was strong because the mattress was all soggy due to the body liquids draining all over flesh. I took the poor old man outside and perform quick exploration, finding his left eye is moving uncontrollably and non-respondent to light."

"We call his family and I give them the news. Turns out he had been an epileptic his whole life but rarely took his treatment accordingly. Most probably he suffered a seizure that made him motor functional, but mentally challenged. One of the saddest cases I’ve encountered."

"That night I took a long shower, called my parents to tell them I love them. Had to take the dog in bed just for comfort. 3 months passed before I decided to do house visits again. Now I carry a hazmat mask in the car at any moment."


This is such a sad story. No wonder you took the time you needed to recover.

"Medic here. Went to a rural hospital for a clinical day (as opposed to my usual inner city trauma center I work in, which is a different brand of crazy) and we had to get an eyeball out of a woman's vagina."

"Apparently she was getting ready for a fight, and needed to keep her prosthetic eye safe. So obviously the best way to do that is to pop it out and stick it up in nature's pocket. Well it turns out that both the object and its container had enough lube to make it very difficult for her to remove."


Really never knew what the next sentence was going to be with this one.

"A homeless guy..."

"A homeless guy came in complaining of foot pain. He hadn’t taken his boots off for 18 months. Doctor took one off, turned it upside down and a toe fell out."


This is absolutely tragic. There are no words.

"Part of me thinks..."

"Anesthesiologist here."

"Part of me thinks I went into medicine because I'm inherently nosy. Anyway, in my last year of residency, we had this young patient and her husband. She thought she was pregnant, as her periods had stopped and her belly was getting bigger. I don't know why she didn't go and see an OB but....anyway."

"She was at home at a point where she thought she was "8 or 9 months pregnant," felt "something pop" and a sharp pain and thought she was going into labor. Then, her legs went numb and she could no longer walk -she and her husband didn't think that was normal so they checked into our ED."

"She had a huge yolk sac tumor with mets to the spine, liver, and other places and had to go for an emergent spinal decompression given her neurological symptoms. I wasn't the anesthesia resident for that case, but I was the one for her 2nd surgery when they wanted to remove the primary tumor, and resect some of the liver mets."

"Primary tumor was about the size of a basketball. I felt so bad for that young couple, but I still wonder to this day why they didn't get some sort of ultrasound or see an OB."


There's a movement/subculture of "solo/unassisted pregnancy and births." This theory that births and pregnancy are natural and medical intervention is unnecessary. There have, obviously, been some very tragic outcomes.


"Surgery rotation in third year med school: stat call from ER about a guy who had lost a vibrator in his rectum. Physical exam: NAD; palpable vibration noted LLQ abdomen. The vibrator was still on."

"Patient stated the vibrator had been fully charged prior to “use” and would last for hours.Ultimately the attending surgeon wanted to avoid surgery due to the still-on vibrator leading to potential complications."

"The residents made the surgical intern manually pull it out to avoid surgery. Intern ended up getting it out along with a couple of hotel-sized shampoo bottles."

"Patient discharged home from ER in stable and improved condition."


That’s why adult toys should have a flared base.

"During my internship..."

"During my internship, a person casually shared that he had been drinking sanitizer for past 3 months."


Sadly, chronic alcoholics are famous for this.

"This is a story..."

"This is a story from my mom who was an RN for decades as a hospice nurse but worked in a small country hospital for several years when she was just starting out. While this story has a little gore in it, the weird thing is at the end."

"One day a farmer came in from the field."

"He was working on a disc tiller and one of the large metal discs fell off onto his head and sliced it open so the grey matter was visible. After he arrived at the ER, they got the guy onto a bed and he was fully conscious and talking. They were waiting for the helicopter to come take him to the "big" hospital that was probably an hour away by ambulance."

"When the chopper arrived, the farmer sat up in bed so they could transfer him to the stretcher and a small piece of brain tissue fell onto the pillow. My mom pointed it out and the doc just picked it up and threw it in the trash can."

"Because it was a small hospital and was rural, the same doctor did all the follow-up for the guy after he got home."

"For the rest of his life he could remember up to New Year's eve 1961 and then New Years day in 1963. All of 1962 was completely erased from his mind as though it had never happened."

"My mom always wondered if 1962 was in that small piece of brain the doctor threw in the can."


"Well, there goes 1962."

Your mother wins this round.

Doctors have to deal with so, so much. Be kind to them. And if you ever enter the field, make sure you have a strong stomach.


Want to "know" more?

Sign up for the Knowable newsletter here.


People Divulge Which Brands They Absolutely Swear By





Keep reading...Show less

You know what would be great?


Let's just toss them out, shall we?


"What should be socially acceptable but isn't?"
Keep reading...Show less
Tara Moore/GettyImages



Keep reading...Show less
Photo by Erol Ahmed on Unsplash


Lucky for them, it's delicious either way.




Keep reading...Show less