1. Shortness of Breath
Since I was a kid, I often struggled to catch my breath, but I always thought—well, my family said—that I just wasn’t fit enough. When we went hiking and I fell behind gasping for air, they teased me for being lazy and weak.
At 22 years old, I got bronchitis and nearly died because I couldn’t breathe properly—I needed steroid injections. That’s when they discovered I had asthma; turns out I’d always had it. The doctor was shocked I’d lived my whole life without a bronchodilator spray, struggling to breathe. The worst part? My family now thinks I made up the asthma—they believe it’s psychosomatic—just an excuse for not being sporty.
2. The Spot
I thought something bit me when I noticed a small red spot on the inside of my upper arm. It itched and kept growing, but I ignored it until my friend dragged me to the doctor. The doc took one look and said it was an abscess, so surgery was urgent.
They removed a golf ball–sized chunk and squeezed out tons of pus next to my biceps. I was lucky it hadn’t reached my tendons yet, only the muscle. They barely managed to stitch my arm back together, and I still have a few scar surgeries ahead.
3. Headaches
My migraines got so intense I literally saw stars and my speech blurred. My doctor refused to order an MRI until I was stumbling and had lost feeling in my right arm. That’s when I was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.
4. The Glasses
In eighth grade, I noticed my right eye was getting worse, but I thought I just needed stronger glasses. Because of exams, I waited 4 months before seeing an eye doctor, who told me I had glaucoma. I lost 90% of vision in that eye—I was almost blind.
5. Clumsiness
My dad often stumbled or wobbled around the house, and we joked about how clumsy he was. Months later, we found out he had ALS, and three years after that, he passed away.
6. Abrasion
I was playing with my dog, slipped on a stone, and scraped my knee. It hurt and itched, but my mom didn’t care. (To be fair, I was a pretty dramatic teen.) That night, the itching got worse, and the area became hot and red.
The next morning, I was screaming in pain, so they finally took me to the doctor. It turned out to be cellulitis—a serious bacterial infection of the skin and deeper tissues. They almost had to amputate my leg. The doctor even told my mom to call relatives because if the infection spread, it might be the last time they saw me. If we’d gone that same day, a penicillin shot and a box of antibiotics would have done the trick.
7. The Lump
I had a small lump near my esophagus that I sometimes felt when applying neck cream but never paid much attention to. A CT scan done for something else revealed it was thyroid cancer. I was incredibly lucky it was caught in the early stages.
8. Spotting
I’d been going through menopause for years and didn’t think it was unusual to have spotting a few times a year. I casually mentioned it to my gynecologist during my annual checkup, who immediately ordered tests. That’s when they found cervical cancer. It was caught early, so I didn’t need radiation or chemo—just a hysterectomy.
9. Binge Eating
I craved iceberg lettuce so much that sometimes I’d raid the fridge at 2 a.m. and eat a whole head. My boyfriend finally sent me to the doctor, where they found my iron and hemoglobin levels dangerously low. The doctor and nurse said it was a miracle I was alive. I was rushed to the hospital for two blood transfusions and an iron infusion. Since recovering, my lettuce cravings have disappeared.
10. Twitching
It wasn’t me, but my childhood friend whose hand twitched occasionally. She thought it was just nerves. This went on for months until one day she had a seizure in class. Instead of calling an ambulance, her parents took her home. She died the next morning; it turned out she had a brain tumor.
