strangest question a friend or acquaintance has ever asked you?

Girlafraid13 · Nov 8, 2014

I've had 2 people send me pictures of their poop. And when I get the "these are my symptoms diagnose me" I usually reply saying they have ebola. The other day my friend text me saying her knee hurt and expected me to know why.

mluvsgnc · Nov 8, 2014

I had to Google "molly," lol.

RogerThatRN5 · Nov 8, 2014

My friend constantly sends me pictures of patho reports or generalized "my daughter's stomach hurts". I almost always reply with "what's the doctor say" and "does she have to poop?" And always "call your doctor". Then I gently remind her that I'm an OB nurse. Even though I have worked med/surg but I don't want to tell her that haha

I think it's part of the job!

jadelpn, LPN, EMT-B · Nov 8, 2014

i'm still in school but the questions have already started. i get a lot of random calls from friends looking for medical advice. i remind them that 1. i'm not a doctor, and 2. i'm not even a nurse yet! still, their desire to discuss their bowel habits and the state of their genitals is amusing, and i do participate, for learning purposes of course.
anyway, today i got the strangest question i have ever received. after discussing with a friend his current stomach flu issue, he asked me in all seriousness, "will taking a molly make my stomach flu worse?" i'm glad we were on the phone so he couldnt see my face.
what is the strangest question a friend or acquaintance has ever asked you?

HAHAHAHA!! I would then launch into a statistical and long winded discussion on why molly is the gateway to hell, brain damage is irreversible, poor life choices, and the number of a couple of counselors. Betcha won't get any more calls like that again.....

grandpaj · Nov 8, 2014

My grandmother, who is of sound mind, apparently thinks I must be a physician and asks questions accordingly. She also likes to tell me about not only her own medical issues, but those of relatives I haven't seen in years or have never met. After three years of telling her to contact her physician with most questions and concerns, she's STILL asking me about complex medical questions.

That said, I feel like I should be thankful no one is sending me photos of their bowel movements.

TeflonNurse · Nov 8, 2014

Ah yes, two days after passing the NCLEX I found myself kneeling on the bathroom floor staring at a spot on my grandmother's butt where she'd had a mole removed recently. All the while she kept turning around and asking me "Does it look like it's healing ok to you!?"

cayenne06, MSN, CNM · Nov 8, 2014

My sister once sent me a picture of her toddler's member, followed by a frantic call because there is a TEAR in the skin, omg what's wrong with his member! Yeah, his foreskin was starting to retract.

I've also checked my own sister's cervix in two of her three labors.

brownbook · Nov 8, 2014

This is the first time anything having to do with nursing, medicine, Allnurses, has turned my stomach. Thanks a lot for those lovely visual images :)

Farawyn · Nov 8, 2014

I have throat, eye, back (is it crooked?) and hemorrhoid pics from my friend D who is an MA.

She just found out she's pregnant. Cannot WAIT for the pics of her mucous plug. :yuck:

MissyWrite · Nov 8, 2014

I've had a few people say things like "I've got this symptom and that symptom, and I've been to four doctors, three were specialists and one was at the Mayo Clinic, but they don't know what it is. What is it?" And when I don't know, they're shocked.

But then when I DO know what something is, no one believes me! For example, I had a friend complain of how she had a headache every single weekend. I asked her about her caffeine intake, and it turns out she drank a 32-ounce coke before work monday through friday, but never on saturday or sunday. I had to practically force her to drink a cup of coffee at dinner one night before she would believe it was caffeine withdrawal. Her headache was gone within 10 minutes.

Another friend asked me why she always had big red zits on the right side of her chin. I told her telephones were the culprit, and that she needed to start cleaning any phone she used with alcohol on a regular basis. She suffered more red big zits for a year before she tried my suggestion, and then after a few zit-free months, she thanked me. LOL

VampyrSlayer, CNA · Nov 9, 2014

I'm an LNA a prenursing student. Somehow that means one of my best friends thinks I'm a doctor. Uhhh, no I don't know why your head suddenly hurts and I don't know what's wrong with your cat!