November 11, 2025 • 42 mins
From the moment Hailey got her period, she could tell that something was different about her. Suffering debilitating menstrual cramps and a flow so heavy she would pass out from blood loss…Hailey spent half of every month fighting to stand up. When she joined the Air Force as a medic, Hailey did not predict how agonizing her symptoms would become… and how harrowing her journey to a diagnosis would be as a woman in a male dominated field.
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****** SPOILER ALERT BELOW ******
You can find Hailey on tik tok @Hailey_griffith
You can follow Dr. Lucky Sekhon @lucky.sekhon and look out for her new book, “The Lucky Egg”, releasing on January 13th, 2026.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
Rube.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
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.
Speaker 1 (00:18):
In this letter, she wrote, when I woke up and
I woke up to a crime scene and physically dying.
Speaker 3 (00:25):
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.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
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.
Speaker 4 (00:52):
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.
(01:14):
These are their stories. I'm Lauren Bray Pacheco, and this
is symptomatic.
Speaker 2 (01:24):
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.
Speaker 4 (01:35):
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.
Speaker 2 (01:51):
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.
Speaker 4 (02:02):
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.
Speaker 2 (02:13):
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
(02:36):
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
(02:56):
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,
(03:20):
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.
Speaker 4 (03:29):
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.
Speaker 2 (03:52):
It was really hard because for the longest time, I
really just thought that there was something wrong with me.
Speaker 4 (03:59):
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
(04:20):
to me about what was happening with your father around
that same time?
Speaker 2 (04:25):
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,
(04:48):
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.
(05:09):
So I just kept it to myself for the longest
time that there was something occurring.
Speaker 4 (05:15):
Because it wasn't just a question of tampons not working.
Your cramps were exceptionally painful.
Speaker 2 (05:21):
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
(05:42):
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.
Speaker 4 (06:01):
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?
Speaker 2 (06:13):
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.
(06:36):
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.
Speaker 4 (06:48):
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.
Speaker 2 (07:03):
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.
Speaker 4 (07:20):
I know that before you got to that point, your
father eventually went into hospice.
Speaker 2 (07:24):
He did.
Speaker 4 (07:25):
And how old were you at that point, I was fourteen.
That must have been so painful on so many different levels.
Speaker 2 (07:37):
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.
(07:57):
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.
Speaker 4 (08:10):
You were incredibly impacted by your interaction with the nurses
who treated your dad and house best.
Speaker 2 (08:16):
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.
Speaker 4 (08:38):
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?
Speaker 2 (08:49):
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.
(09:10):
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.
Speaker 4 (09:22):
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.
Speaker 2 (09:31):
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
(09:55):
my life. And he did.
Speaker 4 (09:57):
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?
Speaker 1 (10:14):
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.
Speaker 4 (10:37):
And you fell fast and furiously in love, very very fast.
Speaker 2 (10:42):
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.
Speaker 4 (10:52):
Know, you know, and no they did. Freshly wed, Haley
leaves her life behind. Tell me about your first night
at boot camp.
Speaker 2 (11:07):
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
(11:29):
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.
Speaker 4 (11:45):
Tell me about how you navigated your cycle and your
pain during boot camp.
Speaker 2 (11:56):
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.
Speaker 4 (12:12):
The clock, because that would help you get ahead of
the pain.
Speaker 2 (12:14):
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,
(12:38):
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
(13:00):
a part of the military if you're crying about mental crops, like,
what are you going to do during war?
Speaker 4 (13:08):
So what did you do? How did you manage?
Speaker 2 (13:12):
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
(13:33):
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.
Speaker 4 (13:52):
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.
Speaker 1 (14:11):
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.
(14:35):
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.
Speaker 4 (14:53):
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?
Speaker 1 (15:04):
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.
Speaker 2 (15:19):
Very proud of her.
Speaker 4 (15:23):
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.
Speaker 3 (15:38):
It's just been ingrained in the fabric of our society.
Speaker 5 (15:42):
Women just needing to grin and bear it.
Speaker 4 (15:46):
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.
Speaker 3 (16:03):
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.
Speaker 5 (16:24):
What do you mean you miss school? What do you
mean you've missed days of work?
Speaker 3 (16:28):
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,
(16:50):
what is normal? What is abnormal? And what is a
red flag? And why is it important? There was none
of that education.
Speaker 4 (16:57):
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.
Speaker 2 (17:21):
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
(17:42):
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
(18:06):
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.
Speaker 4 (18:20):
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
(18:41):
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.
Speaker 2 (18:54):
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.
(19:18):
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
(19:39):
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.
Speaker 4 (19:52):
And what advice were you given?
Speaker 2 (19:57):
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.
Speaker 4 (20:18):
Was it a male doctor or a doctor?
Speaker 2 (20:20):
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.
Speaker 4 (20:42):
It is a different level of pain to be told
by a male doctor that being incredible pain is just normal.
Speaker 2 (20:51):
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
(21:13):
silent for a long time.
Speaker 4 (21:15):
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.
Speaker 2 (21:24):
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,
(21:46):
I was immediately dismissed.
Speaker 4 (21:49):
Although Hally feels certain that doctors should be looking into
this rare condition she believes that she might have. She
is dismissed.
Speaker 3 (21:58):
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.
Speaker 5 (22:09):
It's not necessarily of doctor's faults.
Speaker 3 (22:11):
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.
Speaker 4 (22:24):
What are some of the clear symptoms that would show
up in someone with a reproductive anomaly.
Speaker 3 (22:30):
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
(22:54):
to back pressure.
Speaker 5 (22:55):
And that could be really extremely painful.
Speaker 3 (22:59):
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.
Speaker 4 (23:16):
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
(23:37):
and what a typical day looked like that you had
to get through even when your symptoms were in full flare.
Speaker 2 (23:43):
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
(24:04):
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,
(24:25):
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
(24:46):
I've done that before. I've gone to seek help and
I'm just pushed aside.
Speaker 4 (24:52):
And to have all of that while you feel like
people are rolling their eyes, yeah, every single time you
reach out for help.
Speaker 2 (25:02):
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
(25:24):
take care of yourself, then you sacrifice your job. You
take care of yourself, and there's consequences.
Speaker 4 (25:31):
How did this pressure to always act like you were, okay,
make you feel.
Speaker 2 (25:37):
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.
Speaker 4 (25:48):
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.
Speaker 2 (26:09):
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
(26:31):
as well, asking what a my cycles look like. And
once I divulge him the information, she was like, yeah,
that's not normal.
Speaker 4 (26:40):
What did you think when she said that?
Speaker 2 (26:43):
I think having somebody just like validate that it's not
normal kind of was like, Okay, no, it's not normal.
Speaker 4 (26:48):
You're right, and how old are you? At this time?
Speaker 2 (26:51):
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.
Speaker 4 (27:03):
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.
(27:26):
What was it like getting that ultrasound?
Speaker 2 (27:29):
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.
(27:50):
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.
(28:16):
I was convinced, did you think you were dying?
Speaker 4 (28:19):
I did.
Speaker 2 (28:19):
I thought I was dying. Every possible scenario went through
my head during this moment.
Speaker 1 (28:26):
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.
Speaker 2 (28:45):
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.
Speaker 4 (29:06):
Tell me exactly what she told you over the phone.
Speaker 2 (29:09):
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.
Speaker 4 (29:26):
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.
Speaker 2 (29:48):
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
(30:08):
next question was where do we go from here?
Speaker 4 (30:11):
And what did they say?
Speaker 2 (30:14):
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,
(30:37):
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?
Speaker 4 (30:47):
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.
Speaker 3 (31:03):
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,
(31:25):
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
(31:47):
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.
Speaker 4 (32:08):
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.
Speaker 1 (32:18):
There wasn't a lot of research. That was the scary part,
because it's so rare. We won't have exact answers.
Speaker 4 (32:26):
What changed for you, guys once you had the diagnosis
Several things.
Speaker 1 (32:35):
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.
Speaker 4 (32:47):
Were you tempted to call every single doctor who dismissed you?
Speaker 2 (32:50):
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
(33:13):
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.
(33:34):
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
(33:58):
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.
Speaker 1 (34:17):
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,
(34:41):
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.
Speaker 4 (34:53):
Women often describe the experience of infertility as isolating. Do
you feel that way.
Speaker 2 (35:00):
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
(35:21):
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.
Speaker 4 (35:38):
How did things change for you once you finally had
a diagnosis.
Speaker 2 (35:44):
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.
Speaker 4 (36:03):
As an expert on navigating infertility, doctor ccon offers this
advice to women struggling with reproductive health issues.
Speaker 3 (36:12):
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
(36:33):
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
(36:55):
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
(37:16):
our bodies and the things we're experiencing because you never
know who it's going to help.
Speaker 4 (37:20):
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.
Speaker 3 (37:30):
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
(37:50):
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.
Speaker 5 (38:07):
Love about my career.
Speaker 3 (38:08):
That I will never get tired of doing what I'm doing.
Speaker 4 (38:13):
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.
Speaker 2 (38:33):
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
(38:55):
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.
Speaker 4 (39:13):
Do you hope that people take away from your shared story?
Speaker 1 (39:16):
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.
Speaker 4 (39:34):
That nobody should ever get comfortable with being dismissed in
terms of health concerns under person.
Speaker 1 (39:42):
I agree.
Speaker 4 (39:44):
And finally, what do you want people to take away
from your story?
Speaker 2 (39:50):
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
(40:10):
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.
Speaker 4 (40:30):
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
(40:50):
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
(41:13):
was born, covered in that all too recognizable rash.
Speaker 6 (41:17):
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.
Speaker 4 (41:35):
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.
(41:56):
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
(42:21):
Daniel Ainsworth. This episode was written by Haley Aliah Erickson
and edited by Daniel Ainsworth,
Rube.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
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.
Speaker 1 (00:18):
In this letter, she wrote, when I woke up and
I woke up to a crime scene and physically dying.
Speaker 3 (00:25):
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.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
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.
Speaker 4 (00:52):
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.
(01:14):
These are their stories. I'm Lauren Bray Pacheco, and this
is symptomatic.
Speaker 2 (01:24):
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.
Speaker 4 (01:35):
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.
Speaker 2 (01:51):
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.
Speaker 4 (02:02):
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.
Speaker 2 (02:13):
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
(02:36):
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
(02:56):
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,
(03:20):
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.
Speaker 4 (03:29):
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.
Speaker 2 (03:52):
It was really hard because for the longest time, I
really just thought that there was something wrong with me.
Speaker 4 (03:59):
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
(04:20):
to me about what was happening with your father around
that same time?
Speaker 2 (04:25):
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,
(04:48):
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.
(05:09):
So I just kept it to myself for the longest
time that there was something occurring.
Speaker 4 (05:15):
Because it wasn't just a question of tampons not working.
Your cramps were exceptionally painful.
Speaker 2 (05:21):
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
(05:42):
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.
Speaker 4 (06:01):
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?
Speaker 2 (06:13):
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.
(06:36):
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.
Speaker 4 (06:48):
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.
Speaker 2 (07:03):
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.
Speaker 4 (07:20):
I know that before you got to that point, your
father eventually went into hospice.
Speaker 2 (07:24):
He did.
Speaker 4 (07:25):
And how old were you at that point, I was fourteen.
That must have been so painful on so many different levels.
Speaker 2 (07:37):
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.
(07:57):
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.
Speaker 4 (08:10):
You were incredibly impacted by your interaction with the nurses
who treated your dad and house best.
Speaker 2 (08:16):
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.
Speaker 4 (08:38):
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?
Speaker 2 (08:49):
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.
(09:10):
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.
Speaker 4 (09:22):
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.
Speaker 2 (09:31):
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
(09:55):
my life. And he did.
Speaker 4 (09:57):
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?
Speaker 1 (10:14):
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.
Speaker 4 (10:37):
And you fell fast and furiously in love, very very fast.
Speaker 2 (10:42):
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.
Speaker 4 (10:52):
Know, you know, and no they did. Freshly wed, Haley
leaves her life behind. Tell me about your first night
at boot camp.
Speaker 2 (11:07):
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
(11:29):
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.
Speaker 4 (11:45):
Tell me about how you navigated your cycle and your
pain during boot camp.
Speaker 2 (11:56):
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.
Speaker 4 (12:12):
The clock, because that would help you get ahead of
the pain.
Speaker 2 (12:14):
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,
(12:38):
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
(13:00):
a part of the military if you're crying about mental crops, like,
what are you going to do during war?
Speaker 4 (13:08):
So what did you do? How did you manage?
Speaker 2 (13:12):
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
(13:33):
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.
Speaker 4 (13:52):
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.
Speaker 1 (14:11):
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.
(14:35):
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.
Speaker 4 (14:53):
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?
Speaker 1 (15:04):
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.
Speaker 2 (15:19):
Very proud of her.
Speaker 4 (15:23):
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.
Speaker 3 (15:38):
It's just been ingrained in the fabric of our society.
Speaker 5 (15:42):
Women just needing to grin and bear it.
Speaker 4 (15:46):
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.
Speaker 3 (16:03):
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.
Speaker 5 (16:24):
What do you mean you miss school? What do you
mean you've missed days of work?
Speaker 3 (16:28):
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,
(16:50):
what is normal? What is abnormal? And what is a
red flag? And why is it important? There was none
of that education.
Speaker 4 (16:57):
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.
Speaker 2 (17:21):
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
(17:42):
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
(18:06):
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.
Speaker 4 (18:20):
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
(18:41):
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.
Speaker 2 (18:54):
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.
(19:18):
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
(19:39):
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.
Speaker 4 (19:52):
And what advice were you given?
Speaker 2 (19:57):
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.
Speaker 4 (20:18):
Was it a male doctor or a doctor?
Speaker 2 (20:20):
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.
Speaker 4 (20:42):
It is a different level of pain to be told
by a male doctor that being incredible pain is just normal.
Speaker 2 (20:51):
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
(21:13):
silent for a long time.
Speaker 4 (21:15):
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.
Speaker 2 (21:24):
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,
(21:46):
I was immediately dismissed.
Speaker 4 (21:49):
Although Hally feels certain that doctors should be looking into
this rare condition she believes that she might have. She
is dismissed.
Speaker 3 (21:58):
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.
Speaker 5 (22:09):
It's not necessarily of doctor's faults.
Speaker 3 (22:11):
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.
Speaker 4 (22:24):
What are some of the clear symptoms that would show
up in someone with a reproductive anomaly.
Speaker 3 (22:30):
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
(22:54):
to back pressure.
Speaker 5 (22:55):
And that could be really extremely painful.
Speaker 3 (22:59):
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.
Speaker 4 (23:16):
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
(23:37):
and what a typical day looked like that you had
to get through even when your symptoms were in full flare.
Speaker 2 (23:43):
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
(24:04):
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,
(24:25):
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
(24:46):
I've done that before. I've gone to seek help and
I'm just pushed aside.
Speaker 4 (24:52):
And to have all of that while you feel like
people are rolling their eyes, yeah, every single time you
reach out for help.
Speaker 2 (25:02):
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
(25:24):
take care of yourself, then you sacrifice your job. You
take care of yourself, and there's consequences.
Speaker 4 (25:31):
How did this pressure to always act like you were, okay,
make you feel.
Speaker 2 (25:37):
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.
Speaker 4 (25:48):
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.
Speaker 2 (26:09):
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
(26:31):
as well, asking what a my cycles look like. And
once I divulge him the information, she was like, yeah,
that's not normal.
Speaker 4 (26:40):
What did you think when she said that?
Speaker 2 (26:43):
I think having somebody just like validate that it's not
normal kind of was like, Okay, no, it's not normal.
Speaker 4 (26:48):
You're right, and how old are you? At this time?
Speaker 2 (26:51):
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.
Speaker 4 (27:03):
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.
(27:26):
What was it like getting that ultrasound?
Speaker 2 (27:29):
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.
(27:50):
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.
(28:16):
I was convinced, did you think you were dying?
Speaker 4 (28:19):
I did.
Speaker 2 (28:19):
I thought I was dying. Every possible scenario went through
my head during this moment.
Speaker 1 (28:26):
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.
Speaker 2 (28:45):
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.
Speaker 4 (29:06):
Tell me exactly what she told you over the phone.
Speaker 2 (29:09):
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.
Speaker 4 (29:26):
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.
Speaker 2 (29:48):
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
(30:08):
next question was where do we go from here?
Speaker 4 (30:11):
And what did they say?
Speaker 2 (30:14):
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,
(30:37):
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?
Speaker 4 (30:47):
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.
Speaker 3 (31:03):
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,
(31:25):
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
(31:47):
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.
Speaker 4 (32:08):
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.
Speaker 1 (32:18):
There wasn't a lot of research. That was the scary part,
because it's so rare. We won't have exact answers.
Speaker 4 (32:26):
What changed for you, guys once you had the diagnosis
Several things.
Speaker 1 (32:35):
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.
Speaker 4 (32:47):
Were you tempted to call every single doctor who dismissed you?
Speaker 2 (32:50):
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
(33:13):
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.
(33:34):
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
(33:58):
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.
Speaker 1 (34:17):
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,
(34:41):
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.
Speaker 4 (34:53):
Women often describe the experience of infertility as isolating. Do
you feel that way.
Speaker 2 (35:00):
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
(35:21):
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.
Speaker 4 (35:38):
How did things change for you once you finally had
a diagnosis.
Speaker 2 (35:44):
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.
Speaker 4 (36:03):
As an expert on navigating infertility, doctor ccon offers this
advice to women struggling with reproductive health issues.
Speaker 3 (36:12):
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
(36:33):
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
(36:55):
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
(37:16):
our bodies and the things we're experiencing because you never
know who it's going to help.
Speaker 4 (37:20):
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.
Speaker 3 (37:30):
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
(37:50):
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.
Speaker 5 (38:07):
Love about my career.
Speaker 3 (38:08):
That I will never get tired of doing what I'm doing.
Speaker 4 (38:13):
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.
Speaker 2 (38:33):
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
(38:55):
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.
Speaker 4 (39:13):
Do you hope that people take away from your shared story?
Speaker 1 (39:16):
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.
Speaker 4 (39:34):
That nobody should ever get comfortable with being dismissed in
terms of health concerns under person.
Speaker 1 (39:42):
I agree.
Speaker 4 (39:44):
And finally, what do you want people to take away
from your story?
Speaker 2 (39:50):
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
(40:10):
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.
Speaker 4 (40:30):
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
(40:50):
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
(41:13):
was born, covered in that all too recognizable rash.
Speaker 6 (41:17):
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.
Speaker 4 (41:35):
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.
(41:56):
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
(42:21):
Daniel Ainsworth. This episode was written by Haley Aliah Erickson
and edited by Daniel Ainsworth,
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