"I look back and feel foolish that I excused away so many warning signs."

I'm an LA-based trending news writer covering health, politics, and internet culture.

"Even with all of these 'odd' symptoms, I was asymptomatic for a carotid artery issue. I didn't have slurred speech, body numbness, or face drooping. I didn't have lifestyle issues. I'd been eating cleanly for two decades. I didn't smoke, my bloodwork was good, I didn't have diabetes, and as soon as I was diagnosed with hypertension at the age of 33, I was on medication to regulate it. Please pay attention to your symptoms and don't ever allow a pompous, clueless doctor to try to make you feel like you're crazy. I didn't, and it saved me from having a stroke or possibly dying!"

"I finally went to the doctor and told him something just feels wrong. Got general blood work done on a Friday afternoon and fell asleep. Slept for almost a day and a half. Woke up to a dozen missed calls from my doctor, including from his personal cell, and tons of voicemails telling me to go to the ER immediately. Went immediately after I woke up."

"I spent three days in the hospital because my platelet count was 0. They told me the only platelets they detected were dead. I was walking around at extreme risk of internal bleeding, including in my brain, from the slightest bump or any type of fall. It can also occur spontaneously, even without platelets. I've had intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG), platelet transfusion, and extremely high doses of steroids. I didn't sleep for the entire three days. They tested me for a dozen different cancers."

"Doctors can't explain why it happens, when it's going to happen, or what I can do to stop it from happening. Took me a long time to stop worrying about it, take life as it comes, focus on living a healthy life because it's just a good approach, and just watch for the signs of a flare-up so I can seek treatment accordingly.All the other autoimmune disorders, though? They've gotten worse but are manageable. Not looking forward to the next 20 years tbh, health-wise anyway. The takeaway? Please never ignore random bruising, especially petechiae, and know the difference between a rash and micro-bruising. When something truly feels off, see a doctor."

"It can develop at any age, so to be safe, I go now (as well as my kids) to regular cardiology exams. Especially for women- since heart disease is the number one health issue that kills women- always advocate to see a cardiologist if you have symptoms like that; women are sadly underdiagnosed when it comes to heart issues."

"I went to a new doctor who examined me, and it was a cyst — not a polyp — in the opening of my cervix. It made my body feel like I was having a non-stop miscarriage for 18 months, since it was causing it to dilate. I had it surgically removed and am now back to normal periods. Ladies — get second and third opinions if necessary. Don't be dismissed like I was for being 'that age.'"

"Went to the ER to find that I had a double aneurysm, and one was about to burst! I was sent to a specialist that night at another hospital to have it stented. I can actually feel the stent from time to time. I was incredibly lucky. Oh, and my grandfather died five years prior to a brain aneurysm."

I finally had one in 2020 at the urging of a friend that is a nurse, and a large lump on my thyroid was found. Turns out I have stage 4C Medullary Thyroid Cancer. It has metastasized throughout my bones, my liver, and lungs. There are no medications that will help me, but it's now five and a half years later, and I'm still stable!My metastasis has not grown noticeably. I go for yearly checks and am receiving no treatments. One day, it may take off and kill me, and there's nothing we can do about it. But I got to see my kids graduate from high school, and I created a nonprofit to try and save others from being diagnosed at stage 4 like me."

"I finally found an endocrinologist who listened to me and figured out that 'normal' lab ranges were not 'normal' to me. I had a total thyroidectomy and partial neck dissection, and then had radioactive iodine therapy. Now, almost two years later, I'm cancer-free. Have to watch it though, with the combination of factors surrounding my PTC, it has a high recurrence rate (28%)."

"I told them I would be lying on the couch in the living room and to just come on in. They told me at the hospital that it was not the worst ever, but the worst case of pancreatitis he'd seen that year, along with gallstones and liver damage. When something hurts – don't ignore it!"

"I finally decided to go to the ER when my heart was racing, and I almost blacked out going to my third-floor apartment. The doctor couldn’t believe I drove myself or walked in on my own. I was experiencing chest pain and had multiple blood clots in both lungs. Don’t ignore persistent chest pain."

"Lost the weight, exercised, and nothing improved. It kept returning, sometimes with a vengeance, in the form of fatigue and stiffness. After my knees and hips began hurting, I found another doctor who was willing to do the appropriate tests and begin the needed treatment. It took me six years to get a diagnosis. Don't ignore your chronic pain, kids."

"Still missed the classic red flags! I had routine bloodwork, and my white blood cell count was wildly high. Long story short, I ended up being admitted to the hospital that very day and was diagnosed with a chronic form of leukemia. I look back and feel foolish that I excused away so many warning signs. Please take this as a cautionary tale!"

"When I went to the ER, they wanted to do two CT scans, but after the first one, they said, 'Nope. You are going straight into surgery.' Turns out I had a rare form of diverticula in the middle of the small bowel that was totally blocked. They had to remove five inches of my intestine. I was lucky the thing didn't burst open — it would have been sepsis and likely killed me."

"The next day, my son convinced me to go to a walk-in clinic. They ran some tests and immediately sent me to the ER. I had been bleeding internally the whole time from a duodenal ulcer, which required a blood transfusion. Don't be an idiot like me and ignore symptoms, especially when they're glaringly obvious."

"Turns out that I have what's called a unicornuate uterus, meaning I was born with literally only half a uterus; one fallopian tube and all. That's why I had painful periods and was struggling to get and stay pregnant. With the right timing and medication, I was eventually able to get pregnant and deliver a healthy baby girl at 39 weeks despite automatically being a high-risk pregnancy."

"That doctor sent me to the ER for an MRI. Turns out I had a benign brain tumor, which was causing the nausea and the vision problems. I had surgery 36 hours after the initial diagnosis. If they hadn't caught it, I probably would have collapsed or had seizures. So so glad I didn't ignore my eyesight even though I ignored the nausea."

"A CT scan and ultrasound revealed that the duct from my liver was pinched closed, so a stent was put in. During that procedure, it was discovered that there was a lesion on the head of my pancreas that caused the duct to be pinched closed. The biopsy showed it was malignant. I've since had eight rounds of chemo and a Whipple procedure to remove the cancer. So, don't ignore it if food starts tasting wrong, especially if meats and cheese start tasting slightly sour."

"Eighteen months later, I was diagnosed with stage 4 throat cancer and had a total laryngectomy, then the complete chemo and radiation routine. Cancer-free three years later, but I lost a lot of function permanently, and might not have if I'd gone in earlier. I had been a performing singer my whole life. No more."