Rube.

I wasn't willing to risk being held back in boot camp, so I just kept pushing through.

The pain got so bad within an instant, it just kind of went black.

In this letter, she wrote, when I woke up and I woke up to a crime scene and physically dying.

Only now that we're certain to have these conversations and talk about how a lot of women face dismissal and having their complaints ignored.

She had like turned the screen away from me, the energy and the room shifted.

The radiology department, they all turned their head and looked at me.

I walked out of that ultra sound thinking I had cancer.

I was terrified of the unknown.

How terrifying would it be to fight an unknown enemy, one you didn't recognize and didn't see coming.

What if that enemy was coming from within a disease that even doctors couldn't identify.

Nearly half of americ can suffer from some chronic illness, and many struggle for an accurate diagnosis.

These are their stories.

I'm Lauren Bray Pacheco, and this is symptomatic.

I grew up in southern California, the High Desert area.

Specifically, it's just me and my mom my brothers.

We have a really, really good relationship.

That's Haley Griffith.

Hally radiates quiet positivity and genuine warmth.

She is deeply creative, authentic, and a naturally born mentor.

This quality showed up early in life when she harnessed her passion for dance into teaching.

I grew up doing competitive dance for basically my entire life.

I went into teaching when I was around fifteen.

That was my first job, actually.

And you spent a lot of time in the dance studio.

I could explain the fact that you actually got your period while in dance class, correct, I did.

Yes, that was a crazy time.

I was about eleven years old.

I was in ballet class and I had started my cycle and it was unexpected, and my friend had given me a tampon, and I had no idea how to use a tampon, so I was just using what I thought was common sense because I inserted the tampon the way that you should.

However, immediately I started noticing that I was still bleeding, and so I tried my best to get through that situation and kind of just wrote off tampons for a few years and I didn't use them anymore, and that was actually the first time that I can recollect recognizing that there was an issue regarding my reproductive health before I even knew what reproductive health was.

It wasn't until a couple of years later that I was talking to some girlfriends at school regarding just our period, just girl talk, and they had brought up the topic of tampons, and I went into detail regarding I thought there's something wrong with me because I couldn't use them, and they told me, like, hey, that's not normal to be bleeding.

Still, that is kind of what pequed my curiosity, and that I was as young as like thirteen years old.

I can't imagine.

First of all, eleven is young to get your cycle and to have to kind of navigate that in an environment where it's really obvious if you're using something that's bulkier than a tampon, right, that must have been difficult to process at that age.

It was really hard because for the longest time, I really just thought that there was something wrong with me.

Already trying to navigate health challenges starting at only eleven years old, Hally was also carrying the momentous weight of having a terminally ill parent.

My first question was going to be didn't you go to your mother and did you discuss your period with your mom?

But your mom had her hands full with something else.

Can you talk to me about what was happening with your father around that same time?

My dad he had a rare form of cancer called paraganglioma.

He discovered that he had cancer when he was a teenager.

He beat it, and it resurfaced when I was really young.

I was like maybe seven eight years old, and the cancer had spread to his brain and unfortunately it just fantastasized and just took over his entire body.

Around this time, I was really diving headfirst into dance.

That was my outlet.

That's what I used to cope with a lot of the trauma of what was happening at home.

And I could have gone to my mom a course, and I think I I did in many instances, but I didn't want to burden her.

I didn't want to bring this up and ad extra stress to her.

And again I thought that I'm a girl, I'm a woman, you know, developing.

So I just kept it to myself for the longest time that there was something occurring.

Because it wasn't just a question of tampons not working.

Your cramps were exceptionally painful.

Oh, for sure, it was debilitating.

But I thought that I was dramatic.

I thought that I was just a baby with a low pain tolerance, and talking to friends and peers and people in dance class, people at school, they would complain about cramps.

But the way I was feeling is that it was it was unbearable.

I couldn't get through my everyday life of school and dance and normal things that my friends were able to do, no problem.

I was not able to do.

And it was quite embarrassing because I didn't know how to ask for help and I didn't know how to get through the situation.

So you internalized all that I ignored it.

So how are you handling the pain during those teenage years in late high school?

Are you just taking over the counter pain meds?

Yes, a lot of thailand all and ibuprofen, heating pads, the works.

I think that during this time in my life, I was trying to figure out what was working best for my body because I didn't know.

And most people are able to just take tilanol and keep going about their day, and I didn't understand why I felt the need to sit in the shower for five hours a day.

I was chronically fatigued.

I couldn't keep up in my dance classes.

I was falling asleep in school.

I really didn't understand, but I was being told this is normal, this is what you have to do.

I didn't know any better.

I can't imagine how that impacted you physically and emotionally at that age, at a time when you were also experiencing the trauma of watching your father fight that way.

My with dealing with it was just pushing it down and ignoring it until it just bubbled over and it got to a point where I couldn't take it anymore.

And it took many years of coming to a realization that I needed help.

I know that before you got to that point, your father eventually went into hospice.

He did.

And how old were you at that point, I was fourteen.

That must have been so painful on so many different levels.

It was really hard, and looking back, I didn't know how to understand the situation as a life or death.

I mean, what kid can't like how do you explain death to a child?

Your dad is going to pass away and you'll never be able to talk to him again.

And he's not going to be here for your wedding.

He's not going to be here for Bigie Bentz.

So I did my best with that, and I feel like it made me and my family closer.

You were incredibly impacted by your interaction with the nurses who treated your dad and house best.

Oh yeah, that's realistically what has led me to wanting to continue my education in the healthcare field.

The way that they cared for my dad and the impact that they had on me and my siblings and my mom.

They were really incredible.

I just wanted to go into a field in which I felt that I was making an impact on other people as well.

So you have a clear vision of your future goals.

Now, becoming a nurse takes years and the expense of medical schooling.

How did you approach that?

So I actually joined the military, and that kind of came out of left field in that moment.

It was what was right for me because I was knocking two birds of one stone.

I was getting an education at the same time as continuing to have an amazing job, and college was expensive.

I wasn't sure how I was going to pay for it.

I had a single mom.

I was between a rock and a hard place, and so I joined the military.

And it was one of the best decisions that I've made to continue my education in healthcare, and that is kind of put me where I am now.

Around that same time, you had already crossed paths with the dashing man who would ultimately become your husband.

Tell me how you and Nick Mett.

So, me and Nick met at the gym.

I was training to leave for boot camp.

I was not looking for a relationship whatsoever.

There were a couple instances in which he tried to talk to me, and I wasn't having it.

I was just worried about how many push ups I can do.

And eventually we had a really good conversation and I knew, like, this guy's gonna change my life.

And he did.

And like many lasting love stories, Haley and Nick find out that they have the same dreams for their future, including their professional goals.

And you you also are a nurse, I am yes.

When did you realize that you guys had so much in common?

Honestly, right off the bat, everything was just amazing from the get go.

You know, we just had great conversations, had similar morals, ideas of what we wanted to do in life, and just everything was, you know, kind of almost perfect.

She's one of the most warm, loving, intelligent, she's focused, so she's just an overall an amazing person.

And you fell fast and furiously in love, very very fast.

We only dated for a few months before we got married, and I know that's very controversial, and we got a lot of pushback from family and friends who thought that we were crazy, but truly, when you.

Know, you know, and no they did.

Freshly wed, Haley leaves her life behind.

Tell me about your first night at boot camp.

I think everybody's first night is really hard.

It's very emotional.

You don't know what's happening.

You're scared, and you're thrown into this completely new situation and have no idea what to expect.

It was a bay of like thirty other women and we all just got in our little beds and we cried the first night.

And I think anybody who goes through boot camp can relate to that, because you kind of regret what you sign up for the first few weeks because it's a lot.

It's a lot to take in.

Tell me about how you navigated your cycle and your pain during boot camp.

Up until this point, I had gotten a really good self care during my cycles, and I really knew what to expect it.

I knew how to prepare for it.

I used to prep my body the day before I was supposed to start my cycle, or a few days before I would start my cycle, I would be taking I'd be profen around.

The clock, because that would help you get ahead of the pain.

Exactly.

I had to get ahead of the pain to be able to even function.

I had sat down with my recruiter a few weeks before leaving, and I remember he had stated that I couldn't take any over the counterramification with me, that anything I needed or wanted would have to be prescribed by a medical professional when I get there.

So when I had got my first cycle, I was brought to my knees in pain.

It was horrible.

It was awful.

It was one of the heaviest cycles I've ever had.

I was at a loss because I didn't want to speak up, because when you're in boot camp, you don't bring up your medical issues because you get looked at like you can't hang.

You're trying to be a part of the military if you're crying about mental crops, like, what are you going to do during war?

So what did you do?

How did you manage?

I was trying to get through the pain by rationing my protein bars, and I was trading them with other girls to try and get their doses of tailanol.

I had a friend who had twisted her ankle a couple weeks prior, and she had tailan al just in her locker.

But we're not allowed to share things, like you could get a really big trouble for giving your medication to other people.

So I was slipping her my protein bars and she would give me doses of thailand all.

My biggest fear was being sent home, especially over something that I learned to manage.

But I was put in a position that all my resources were taken away from me and I couldn't manage.

Unable to rely on the pain medication she so desperately needed to function, Hallie is suffering more than ever and under the scrutinizing eyes of her superiors and peers alike.

She writes to Nick every day while away at boot camp, detailing her daily struggles.

In this letter, she wrote this May thirtieth of twenty twenty.

It states that when I woke up and I woke up to a crime scene and physically dying, You see me dying with Thailand hall, lots and lots of tile hall right at four forty five.

When NTI came in, I immediately asked for a medical appointment to get some pain medicine.

They said I would have to go to the emergency room an ambulance and they probably am making to spend the night in the yar.

Trust me, I'm dying a slow death right now.

I've been debating on just going because they didn't sleep at all last night.

I'm an exhausted them in so much pains.

So when she said she woke up to a crime scene, that meant that she had led all over typically.

Yeah, what was it like to be on the receiving end of that though?

You know, getting the letter and reading it afterwards, it makes you really like think and wonder, like, Wow, she was going through hell during those time periods and she just had to push through it.

And I thought that she's a strong and amazing woman, and honestly, I'm.

Very proud of her.

Haley, like many young women, was operating without a manual when it comes to their own reproductive health, a far too common phenomenon.

Doctor Lucky Sekhan, fertility expert and intochronologist, sees it all the time.

It's just been ingrained in the fabric of our society.

Women just needing to grin and bear it.

That's what was happening to Haley at boot camp.

She knew something was wrong, but her doctors kept prescribing pain medications or telling her to soldier through it.

Does that surprise you And why do you think in general women are used to having their pain dismissed.

I think it's only now that we're certain to have these conversations and talk about how a lot of women face dismissal and having their complaints ignored, and they themselves are dismissing their own complaints.

Sometimes people when I speak to them, I'm like, tell me about your periods, And a lot of women are like, yeah, it's fine.

What do you mean you miss school?

What do you mean you've missed days of work?

Because you're a period that's not normal?

And so I think it starts with early education.

I think there's been a lack of proper education there's just this focus on avoiding teen pregnancy, and that's really what health class is all about.

I don't remember anyone really telling me an irregular cycle, a really painful cycle, a very heavy period, what is normal?

What is abnormal?

And what is a red flag?

And why is it important?

There was none of that education.

Having dealt with immobilizing menstrual pain since she was eleven, Haley had normalized this as part of her life.

Now, eight years into this chronic battle, Halee is forced to suffer through symptoms at boot camp without access to the pain medication she's become reliant on to make it through her cycles.

That must have been psychologically grueling.

Yeah, my options were to speak up and look weak or to get the help that I needed in that moment, and it was hard.

I wasn't willing to risk being held back in boot camp, so I just kept pushing through.

The pain got so bad.

We were running in the morning and I felt so fatigued, so I knew just that cycle was just going to be really bad.

I remember we were standing in line getting ready to leave the dorm and the cramps were getting unbearable.

I remember I was sweating, I was shaking.

My vision started to get very blurry, and I felt my knees were going to give out.

I pressed up against the wall and just kind of slid down, and I remember within an instant, it just kind of went black.

We'll be right back with Symptomatic, a Medical Mystery Podcast.

Now back to Symptomatic, a Medical Mystery Podcast.

Halle is fighting every day of boot camp with near incapacitating menstrual cycle symptoms, heavy bleeding, intense fatigue, and indescribable pain, all without access to pain medication.

After weeks of discomfort, pile up, Halle's body gives out.

Take me to the moment you passed out and when you came to.

I just kept pushing my body and I knew eventually it was just going to give out.

I remember we were standing in line getting ready to leave the dorm and the cramps were getting unbearable.

I was sweating, I was shaking, and my vision started to get very blurry, and I felt like my knees were going to give out.

I pressed up against the wall and just kind of slid down.

Within an instant, it just kind of went black.

I lost consciousness for a few seconds.

I remember looking up and the dorm chief was there.

She was really concerned.

She was just trying to, you know, give me some space and getting everybody away from me.

And she eventually told the MTI Military Training instructor that something was wrong, and they were already pushing me through to go to the emergency room.

And what advice were you given?

They just kept passing the buck and I was there temporarily, and I had started to open up about the painful periods and how heavy that they are.

Right away, they always just say, oh, painful periods, It's normal.

But once I tried to open up more and express this is getting to be a little bit too much, like it just passed out because I had period cramps.

Was it a male doctor or a doctor?

He had told me, wait until you get to your next duty station, which for me would have been tech school, because I was going to be there just a little bit longer.

So his only advice was just to wait until I saw somebody more permanent.

And I think he was looking out for me because he didn't want me to get held back for medical reasons.

So I can look back and think this doctor, But at the same time, it just reinforced the idea that nobody's taking me seriously.

It is a different level of pain to be told by a male doctor that being incredible pain is just normal.

Yeah for a woman.

Yeah.

The entire time I was in was if you cannot push through, then you shouldn't be in the middle terry.

And as much as I would agree with that to a certain extent, it's agonizing to have to live through it constantly and constantly being dismissed.

It just scared me, and it scared me into staying silent for a long time.

Silently suffering, but feeling sure at this point something was truly a miss.

Haley took it upon herself to try to get to the bottom of her symptoms.

For many years, I started to put puddlesle pieces together, and I started to, I guess, like doctor Google.

I was googling my symptoms, googling some of the manifestations that I had found dealing with my heavy periods.

It kind of pointed me into the direction of this really rare condition.

But it is so rare that anytime I brought it up, I was immediately dismissed.

Although Hally feels certain that doctors should be looking into this rare condition she believes that she might have.

She is dismissed.

People have hunches about their bodies, but they are lay people and they're trusting the doctors and the experts.

And I think our healthcare system is set up to have doctors fail.

It's not necessarily of doctor's faults.

It's the system that they're in that they only have fifteen minutes with each patient, and that does not lend itself to these complex discussions and the education that is really needed, especially when people are coming in completely blind and naive.

What are some of the clear symptoms that would show up in someone with a reproductive anomaly.

If someone says something along the lines of I've always had a hard time with sex or with using tampons.

If someone says they have really severe, painful periods that don't respond well to medication, I mean that could mean a lot of things.

But a lot of these anomalies can lead to a higher incidence of abnormal pain with MENSIS, because you can have obstruction of the outflow that leads to back pressure.

And that could be really extremely painful.

And I would say it's just anything unusual that doesn't sound like a normal menstrual outflow pattern where you normally like, okay, I have a period for five to seven days each month, but if someone's like, no, I'm kind of bleeding all over the place, I think that could be much more problematic.

All of these symptoms that doctor Lucky describes, Halle had been living with now for almost a decade without any answers or support.

After a harrowing couple of months in boot camp, Halle completes her training.

So where were you stationed Las Vegas?

Just explain the stress of that position and what a typical day looked like that you had to get through even when your symptoms were in full flare.

The unit that I worked on was an impatient unit, so we were a combined unit of ICU, Medsarge and Labor and Delivery, and so it was very stressful.

I'm currently I primarily worked in the Medsarge section of this unit.

I was working twelve to fourteen hour shifts like it was insane work.

That's the hardest I've ever worked in my entire life.

I was mentally exhausted, I was physically exhausted.

So the days that I had my e mentional cycle on top of it, I couldn't do it.

There was multiple instances where I felt like I was being targeted because I needed time off.

I got the worst assignments.

I was getting looked at differently, I was getting treated differently, and so I did my best to push it down and to push it aside and to deal with it.

But I broke.

There was many times I would have to just lock myself in this ply room and just cry because going to the emergency room, they're not going to do anything for me.

I have period cramps, like I've done that before.

I've gone to seek help and I'm just pushed aside.

And to have all of that while you feel like people are rolling their eyes, yeah, every single time you reach out for help.

Yeah, it was heartbreaking and it really made me question myself, especially because I didn't have full access just to take the day off and call off work and take care of myself.

Like I had to learn how to push through and learn how to suppress these feelings and emotions and not complain and just do whatever I could.

You take care of yourself, then you sacrifice your job.

You take care of yourself, and there's consequences.

How did this pressure to always act like you were, okay, make you feel.

That really caused me to have anxiety for a lot of my time in service, and especially because I didn't have the answer yet.

I was terrified of the unknown.

Right, And that anxiety comes from a really a very real place, because you had already passed out while at boot camp, which must have always been on the back of your mind, and then one day you were in so much visible agony that a colleague of yours was really worried.

Take me to that day.

So me and the specific coworker, she's a registered nurse, she was one of our element leaders in the unit.

Me and her were working on a project together for Nurse Tech Week.

She saw I was like sweating and trembling.

She didn't know what was wrong.

I just told her cramps, and she asked a lot of follow up questions because I think that she had struggled with bad mentional cramps as well, asking what a my cycles look like.

And once I divulge him the information, she was like, yeah, that's not normal.

What did you think when she said that?

I think having somebody just like validate that it's not normal kind of was like, Okay, no, it's not normal.

You're right, and how old are you?

At this time?

I was twenty two, so I've been dealing with this for over ten years at this point.

Just trial and error of trying to figure out what works and what doesn't work can led me there.

And for the first time since she started experiencing debilitating period cramps, heavy bleeding, and all around crippling menstrual cycles, Hally was able to convince a doctor to agree to an ultrasound.

That's a medical imaging technique that uses high frequency sound weaves to create detailed images of internal body structures.

What was it like getting that ultrasound?

The ultrasound texts, I knew we're making small talk, chit chat, talking about work, talking about life, and I noticed that she had turned the screen away from me.

I felt that the energy in the room shifted.

She got just quiet and told me we're done.

You can get dressed.

So as I was leaving, the radiology department had one big room with a bunch of computer screens where all the radiologists in rad tech sit to like review.

All of them were all surrounding like one computer, and as I walked out the room, they all turned their head and looked at me.

I walked out of that ultrasound thinking I had cancer because the family history with my dad.

I was convinced, did you think you were dying?

I did.

I thought I was dying.

Every possible scenario went through my head during this moment.

Hailey's father passed from cancer.

And I think that was a really great concern.

There's clearly something wrong occurring.

Could it be linked?

And I think it was scary.

I think that's the biggest thing to say.

It was a scary conversation to have.

And yeah, it was a Friday, so I was not expecting to get my results and I was terrified that I would have to sit with that during the weekend.

Another primary care doctor, another doctor actually worked as She ended up calling me at like eight thirty at night to give me the result on a Friday, on a Friday, because I don't think anybody was expecting what they found.

Tell me exactly what she told you over the phone.

When I picked up the phone, she was like, I wanted to tell you that we found that you have uterust idelphis.

I remember just sinking in my chair.

I knew it.

I knew that that's what it was.

That's the only thing that made sense.

Uterist idelphus is a rare congenital condition where a person is born with two uteruses, a condition so rare that it's estimated to affect only zero point three percent of women, so uncommon that many obstetrician gynecologists may never encounter a case in their careers.

She had told me that on the ultrasound they had saw that I have two complete sets of reproductive parts, that I had two uteruses, two cervixes, and two vaginal openings, and then each uterus each had their own ovary.

My next question was where do we go from here?

And what did they say?

She was really concerned about my kidneys because a lot of people with malarium duct anomalies have issues with their kidneys, So that was our next step.

But other than that, I don't think they knew enough to be able to walk me through what this was going to look like the rest of my life or moving forward trying to start a family.

And even though I got this diagnosis, it just opened so many other questions up can I have kids?

Like is there a cure for this?

Is there a treatment for this?

After over a decade, Hallie finally has a name for the condition that has made her life so painful at times, but the condition is so rare that she'll need to seek out a specialist in the field, someone like doctor Lucky Scon.

When we form as embryos and as a fetus, we don't just magically appear in a uterus overnight.

There's a very specific way that we go from a ball of one hundred to two hundred cells into a fetus and eventually a human being, a live born being with all of our organs.

And the way that our uterus forms, it actually forms from two ducts that kind of come together in fuse, and when that process is interrupted, which can happen anywhere from late first trimester to mid second trimester, your uterus may end up forming in a way where there's an anomaly.

It doesn't form a single cavity, and so there's a very wide spectrum.

There's like incomplete fusion is having a uterine didelphus.

You end up with two separate uteruses and two separate cervixes, and you may even have almost two separate vaginal canals because you can have like a septim a wall of tissue dividing the vaginal canal in half.

Even armed with an explanation, the rarity of the condition presented new challenges for Haley and Mark, especially as a young couple hoping to start a family.

There wasn't a lot of research.

That was the scary part, because it's so rare.

We won't have exact answers.

What changed for you, guys once you had the diagnosis Several things.

I think mindset.

I think that's been the biggest thing is that now it's like, Okay, now we have a diety, we know where we're going towards, we have direction.

Were you tempted to call every single doctor who dismissed you?

I was angry for sure, because it went from you have painful periods and I'm sorry, that's part of being a girl, get over it, to more, Wow, this is so rare, this is so crazy.

Can I bring in the students.

Can we do a pelvic exam?

They actually want to know my experience versus trying to dismiss it and minimize my experience.

I feel like, especially regarding my fertility and what I know now, I feel like if I had these answers years earlier, I could have planned our future differently and so of course I was angry, but I was more upset I was treated so poorly the entire time based off of the research that I found.

It's really hard to have kids because it's so high risk.

Luckily, I've been working with some really good doctors.

They're fully on board with helping us conceive and getting us to our goals, but they're not beating around the bush with the fact that it's going to come with its own challenges, and it has.

We've had four miscarriages, so that's where we're at right now.

Sorry, Yeah, it's hard.

It's really hard.

Infertility is something that a lot of women don't talk about enough.

It's more common than you think.

Yeah, it's terrible.

It's like it's one of the artist pains to go through, especially when you are trying for a family, and that's the biggest thing.

It's it's difficult, and we want to make sure that you know that other people understand that it's okay to talk about it occurring, and I think it brings together a sense of community.

At the same time, you can find groups of people that you know, you're able to communicate the same situation and grief with one another.

Women often describe the experience of infertility as isolating.

Do you feel that way.

It's hard because people want to understand and they want to support you, but until you've been through it, like you just don't understand.

It makes me feel like less than a woman that I have trouble conceiving, feeling like not enough in the way that society is built, in the way that society looks at women as mothers, and they paint this label that being a mother is one of the most rewarding things that you can do as a woman.

It's devastating to know that that's going to be a challenge for me.

How did things change for you once you finally had a diagnosis.

I think it definitely gave me more of a voice to stand on and to advocate for myself, saying, no, there's something wrong, Please do your job, and please do it well, because this is my life and this is something I've been struggling with for for too long, and I don't put up with it anymore.

I'm not afraid to stand up for myself.

As an expert on navigating infertility, doctor ccon offers this advice to women struggling with reproductive health issues.

I think it's always helpful to write things down.

I think a menstrual diary, which is probably a term that a lot of you have not heard of, is a brilliant thing to have, whether you're dealing with a didelphus uterus or endometriosis or irregular cycles.

Having objective tracked data, no one can dispute that this is right in front of you.

Now here's a pattern, and this is not normal.

I think you have to be willing to get second opinions.

If something sounds like you're getting a BS answer, go see someone that isn't going to make you feel insecure about their answers, and that's going to make you feel like this person knows what they're doing.

Knowledge is power, regardless of what your goals are.

I think understanding your body is going to bring you a sense of relief and validation, and it can help you plan the future.

It can help change the trajectory of what you might have done otherwise.

This is a shared experience of many many women, and we have to help each other.

And we should also pay it forward and welcome conversations with our friends and our family members and speak openly about our bodies and the things we're experiencing because you never know who it's going to help.

How do you feel when you were able to give a patient who has clearly been shuffled through the system without answers some kind of clarity or direction.

When someone walks through my door and you can just see it on their face, they're confused.

They're not entirely convinced they're going to walk out with answers like they are jaded.

I used to think fertility treatment is so complicated.

There's all these fancy tools and treatments.

It's actually pretty simple.

This is why this issue exists.

Here are the potential problems and here are the solutions and strategies as we move forward.

And when you keep it simple and you lay it out like that, and someone walks out with tangible tools and they feel so in control after feeling so out of control for so long, that is, by and large the most important thing that I.

Love about my career.

That I will never get tired of doing what I'm doing.

Now, Haley has access to better pain treatment, personalized fertility planning, and a health plan made just for her.

A specialist might even recommend surgery to help her conceive and carry a child for the first time.

She's looking ahead with hope and plans to use her experience to help others.

And are you still pursuing nursing.

I am.

I graduate next year with my bachelor's in nursing.

I am so excited to be done with school, but I am so excited for my future as a registered nurse.

I hope to make an impact in the woman's health world.

My education, my background, my diagnosis, everything combined has made me more compassionate.

My relationship with my patients is far to different than the relationships between other healthcare providers and their patients because I feel like I take the time to really sit down and validate their feelings.

First and foremost, Nick, what.

Do you hope that people take away from your shared story?

Yeah, I want them to really look out and identify that they may not be the only ones who are going through something, and if they do have a health condition, that they should try and seek out.

Further answers to.

That nobody should ever get comfortable with being dismissed in terms of health concerns under person.

I agree.

And finally, what do you want people to take away from your story?

I want people to know that it's okay to advocate for yourself.

Sometimes you are your only advocate, and when you know something is wrong, something could be wrong.

Don't take no for an answer, and don't let them tell you your symptoms are normal and minimize it and minimize your experience, especially if you are a woman, because I've seen how hard it is to fight the fight trying to get the care that you need and that you deserve.

My name is Haley Griffith, and for twenty two years I struggled with being diagnosed with uterist idelphis.

You can find Haley on TikTok at Haley Underscore Griffith.

You can follow doctor Luckysecon at Lucky dot c con and look out for her new book, The Lucky Egg, coming out January thirteenth, twenty twenty six.

Coming up on next week's Symptomatic Ian Steadman suffered thirty two years through whole body rashes, debilitating migrains, joint pain, and hearing loss without a clear diagnosis.

His mother, Barb, had gone over sixty years with the same symptoms.

After nearly two hundred doctors' visits and decades of frustrations, they had resigned to believe there were no answers, that is until Ian's daughter Leah was born, covered in that all too recognizable rash.

One in three people untreated just don't wake up.

My mom's over thirty six, so she seems to have bucked the trend.

I'm running up against it and now I've got a kid, so there's three of us.

If it wasn't for Leah being sick, I may be the one in three.

Ian reignited his search for answers and saved his family.

As always, we would love to hear from you.

Send us your thoughts on this episode, or share a medical mystery of your own at Symptomatic at iHeartMedia dot com, and please rate and review Symptomatic wherever you get your podcasts.

We'll see you next time, and until then, be well.

Symptomatic a medical mystery podcast, is a production of iHeartMedia's Ruby Studio.

Our show is hosted by me Lauren Bright Pacheco.

Our executive producers are James Foster, Matt Romano, and myself.

Our supervising producers are Ryan Ovadia, Haley Aliah Ericsson, and Daniel Ainsworth.

This episode was written by Haley Aliah Erickson and edited by Daniel Ainsworth,