Disclaimer: This thread is for the sole purpose of sharing my work encounters. This is not to shame, degrade, or discourage people from getting tested for fear of getting unsolicited judgment.
I had been thinking of making this post for a while, and decided today is the day to get started. Some of these are unbelievable, and believe me, I wasn’t expecting them until I experienced it firsthand. And yes, these stories are something even my crazy mind can’t make up. So here it goes.
#1: That’s Not What We Meant by a Sweet Sample
I was working a sideline job for a hospital inside the clinical microscopy section (the laboratory is divided into many sections, and clinical microscopy is the section that handles most stools and urine). The laboratory scientist duty for that day is on-leave and I worked as a temporary replacement for that section. My job is to process many urine and stool samples for annual physical examination of different company employees. When I say many, I was talking about hundred of samples for that day.
Our laboratory aide, who receives the tray of stool samples came in, while I was busy processing the samples with a look in her face that screams, “you won’t believe what just happened.” Sure enough, it was something crazy. She said that a walk-in patient submitted his stool sample as part of annual physical exam and she looked at it and was doubtful because the color and consistency is off. When she asked when did he collected it, he shrug and said “just this moment.” She stared at him and said, “Sir, we’ll process this one but, if what you submitted is a fake sample when we looked at it under microscope, we’ll be reporting an incident report. My time and yours will be wasted. So, tell me. Is this truly your stool sample?” She said he insisted that it was truly his stool sample and get angry at her for speaking to him that way and left. She did not spoke and just delivered the samples to me.
Bewildered at what I just heard, I immediately processed that sample and sure enough, it was nutella. I shared the reports with her and we laugh our stomachs out. From that day on, a friendly reminder is posted near the receiving area that says, “We don’t accept nutella or any other foods for a stool sample. Thank you.”
#2: Untitled
It’s been a while, folks. I nearly forgot I posted something like this in this forum. So, this story goes back to when I was an intern. You should also heard some haunted/creepy experiences in the hospital narrated by others, right? Well, I’m no exception. And this story is by far the weirdest and most chilling experience I had.
That night, I was assigned on histopathology section (this is the section where most surgical parts are being transferred to and examined by a pathologist, i.e., amputated legs, pieces of tissue, etc.). Our duty mostly revolved around recording the anatomical parts being received in this section, sometimes, processing the tissues in the laboratory. That time, it was height of the pandemic, I was asked to do a swab test (RT-PCR) for a deceased patient in the E.R. My co-intern that time was busy, so I was the only one who was tasked to do that part. When I went to the E.R, I asked the nurse where the deceased patient and she told they already transferred the body to the morgue.
One of the protocols we need to abide is to wait for the relatives of the deceased for the verification before we do the swabbing. I decided to wait for a while but, they haven’t come yet and I did the stupidest thing I could ever do. I went alone to the morgue and decided not to wait for the relatives and do the swabbing asap. It’s not the first time I went to the morgue but, its the first time I went alone. Walking down the lit hallway without any people is definitely creepy especially around midnight. The deafening silence is what bothered me the most, not until I saw a woman crying in front of the morgue.
I let her cry for a moment and asked her if she was one of the relatives of the bodies inside. She didn’t say anything and continued crying. She’s wearing a printed shirt and pants, and her hands cover her face entirely. I asked her again, thinking she didn’t hear me and this time, she nodded. We entered the morgue together and I was gonna asked the staff there, but, during that time, he wasn’t there.
Then, I saw the woman crying besides the body covered with a white blanket. It was the only body around that time and thinking she’s the relative of the patient I’m gonna do the swabbing, I asked her for verification. I was startled when she cried loudly but, she still nodded. Usually, the relatives will unveil the blanket covering the body, but when few minutes passed, and she still show no sign of doing that, I politely asked for permission, and unveil the cover. I only unveil the body up to her neck and gently swab both nasal passages.
I noticed the body is unusually yellowish unlike the usual purplish color and her eyes is still open. Her body is beginning to stiffen, but, her cheeks aren’t. Her mouth is pale and her eyes began to sunk. When I was done, I thank the woman and say my sincere condolences. When I was on my way back to the histopath section, I met the staff together with two people crying and accompanying them towards the basement where the morgue was. I greeted him and he asked me if I’m there to do the swab. I told him I’m already done and was on my way back. I also told him there’s a relative of the deceased inside and I apologized for not informing him. He gave me a confused look and told me, the relatives just only arrived and he’s accompanying them since he’s also on his way there. I was silent after that.
I went back and still cannot process my thoughts. I had my doubts but ignored them. I had chills remembering I encountered something I thought only happen in stories. From then on, I never ever went to the morgue alone.