There is little more stressful than awaiting a lab result from a medical test.
As the results could bring devastating news.
Awaiting the results isn't only stressful for the patients, however, but also for the nurses and doctors conducting the tests as well.
As they need to brace themselves to tell their patients whatever the results may be.
Which sometimes, truly defy description.
Redditor freeshavacadont was eager to hear about the wildest lab results doctors and medical professionals ever received, leading them to ask:
"Medical workers of Reddit: what’s the craziest lab result you’ve seen in a patient?"
A Miracle That He Ever Woke Up!
"Sent a patient for an ambulatory sleep study when he was referred to us for suspected sleep apnea."
"Was very tired and apathetic when he came in."
"His test came back with an AHI of 127 with the longest apnea episode lasting 77 seconds, essentially meaning he was stopping breathing 127 times every hour."
"Called him back in urgently to start a CPAP trial, moved to VPAP and last I had seen him he was happy; cheerful and about 35kg lighter than when we initially saw him."- HaruDolly
And Not Out Of 10...
"Elderly woman with a pulse rate of 8."
"I figured the pulse ox was sh*tting the bed, as they often do, so I told my coworker to take it off the patient and put it on me, to check if it was the machine acting weird or not."
"Coworker put the pulse ox on me and it showed a normal, healthy pulse rate almost immediately."
"My coworker and I looked at each other, looked at the patient, looked at each other again, and just went 'oh f*ck'."- Mysterious_Bag_9061
Sometimes You Can Actually Smell Trouble
"My mom was a type 1 diabetic."
"Her glucose frequently dropped at night when she was sleeping."
"I was home visiting and pregnant & had to get up to pee a bunch at night."
"Both my mom and I were sleeping on the sofas in the family room."
"I’d take a whiff every time I walked by to pee."
"Once her glucose dropped she’d start sweating out the excess insulin - low blood sugar sweats are something you can smell if you have been around it at night."
"She smelled low & I had a hard time rousing her."
"I got the glucagon out and got her food."
"But just before I gave the glucagon I texted her blood sugar (my dad was a real @ss about using the glucagon injections because it was $150 for 3 doses - 20 years ago)."
"I felt like I had to justify giving the glucagon."
"Her blood sugar was 12. It’s a miracle the glucagon worked."
"I still had to give her Pepsi & make a sandwich."
"I wish she had lived long enough to get a continuous glucose monitor."
"It would have completely changed her life."- MechanicBright8644
Bad Vibes...
"Not a lab, but I had a patient walk in for an EEG."
"We chatted the whole time."
"Super nice."
"Start the EEG."
"They were having a seizure every 30-40 seconds and had no idea."
"They drove there."- Nomofricks
Two Lives In Danger
"Blood pressure of 280/186 on a pregnant patient in the field (I’m an EMT)."
"Terrifying."- Downrightshy
As If One Of Them Wasn't Bad Enough...
"Not technically lab results, but on intake, my best friend's pulse ox was 44%."
"The oxygen she was getting was purely through agonal breathing at that point."
"She was immediately rushed back, put into a medical coma and intubated, life support for four days, ICU for 6."
"She had a triple whammy of influenza, strep throat and pneumonia."
"Needless to say, she was incredibly close to death, and it amazed everyone that she made it."- chica1994
Age Truly Doesn't Matter...
"As a lab tech, I've seen quite a few."
"The highest glucose I've seen was 1750, and the highest accurate potassium was 7.9 (the rule of thumb is 8, and you're big dead; hemolyzed samples make it shoot up, so it's likely not real, but that one WAS)."
"I learned our lactic acid analyzer only goes up to 40, that guy unfortunately didn't live long."
"I've seen a urine sample with so many crystals I couldn't see anything else."
"My most recent was an 89-year-old man with what appeared to be a LOT of very healthy-looking sperm in his urine sample, I was shocked at the quality and quantity of them lol."- cybersmuck
McDonalds Shakes? Seriously?
"I had a 10-year-old boy come into Emergency for his diabetes."
"The finger prick result was so high it wouldn't give a measure, which means it was ridiculously high."
" Parents are saying 'he's always thirsty but we only give him orange juice that has no added sugar'."
"'And Macdonalds shakes'."
"For anyone not aware, both these things may as well be pure sugar for someone with diabetes."- Binda33
No Shame In Sick Days...
"I recently had a hemoglobin level of 5, and I overheard my nurse telling everyone else at the nurse’s station 'she went to work today!'” with a laugh."
"Idk if this is 'extreme' but every nurse and doctor was like 'no sh*t you’re tired all the time'."- Glum-System-7422
How Low Can You Go?
"Not a medical worker, but I scared the sh*t out of some once with a blood pressure reading."
"Was 60/40."
"I was 19 and felt totally fine, but the nurse triple-checked the reading before bolting out of the room and bringing the doctor (along with damn near the entire medical team of the office) in the room."
"Been since told I have chronically low blood pressure."- Ki-Larah
There Is Always Help
"Addictions field. LFTs."
"Serum Gamma Glutamyl transferase."
"Top end usually 130."
"Patients result was 5980 ish."
"3 bottles of red wine a day for many years."
"No idea if he's still alive."
"The scarier thing is when this result comes down, people believe they are getting better, but it could be simply there no liver cells left to measure."- CinnamonFan
Clarity Is Key
"Not a specific lab result, but one time I had to process a blood sample where the plasma looked like strawberry gogurt."
"Ideally it would be almost clear."- Popular_Emu1723
Obstinance Is Rampant...
"Hemoglobin 1.9."
"She walked into the ER (admittedly dizzy but still walking,) then refused blood transfusions."
"Blood glucose 1,472."
"Stage 4 gastric cancer patient with uncontrolled diabetes."
"Woke up and felt fine after a couple of hours on an insulin drip."
"Blood glucose 19, rectal temperature 89.6."
"Same guy, nursing home said he was fine 3 hours prior."
"ANC 0.0."
"Came in for a fever."
"Lactic 14."
"My grandma a week before she died of sepsis and pancreatic cancer."
"Blood pressure 312/199."
"Big dude slipped in the shower and hit his head, had a brain bleed the size of a baseball."
"Still awake, but very confused and pissed off as f*ck."
"He got clevidipine."
"Troponin >23,500."
"I didn't know our lab had an upper troponin limit."
"Blood alcohol >.6. every day for three years straight."- teachmehate
Problems From Top To Bottom...
"IM resident here, our clinic often has patients who get lost to follow up."
"A patient came in just under 2 years after his last appt where it was revealed he had a ferritin of 1."
"I repeat, ferritin of 1."
"Poor guy also had hemorrhoids and said he was bleeding every day; continuous fatigue - no kidding!"
"Nothing to replete your hemoglobin stores!"
"The crummy part is that the ferritin was a lab from a while ago, and he never followed up for intervention; we’re on track now though."- tbh5012
Literally Saw It Coming
"Triglycerides of 5,335."
"Does it count if I'm the patient?"
"They said they could see it in the tube before testing."- FastHopper
Doctors and nurses are prepared for all sorts of things.
This doesn't mean they still won't find themselves in for a surprise every now and then...
