WEBVTT - Case #11: Jerad 0:00:04.320 --> 0:00:09.080 They did a CT scan, and my doctor he was like, 0:00:09.200 --> 0:00:12.320 this is maybe a fifty to fifty percent chance of survival. 0:00:13.200 --> 0:00:16.360 They finally like allowed me to let the kids in 0:00:16.520 --> 0:00:20.239 for one afternoon, and I just remember being like, I've 0:00:20.280 --> 0:00:23.080 got to take a bunch of pictures because I'm not 0:00:23.160 --> 0:00:24.600 sure if they're ever. 0:00:24.480 --> 0:00:25.680 Going to be able to see them again. 0:00:26.239 --> 0:00:30.400 If we don't get people the necessary treatment early on, 0:00:31.000 --> 0:00:34.520 it can impair your physical and mental health. 0:00:35.120 --> 0:00:37.680 I was in shock. Can I fight this? Can I 0:00:37.720 --> 0:00:40.840 beat this? Is this something that's going to just change 0:00:40.840 --> 0:00:45.720 my life completely? Like? Are these my last days? 0:00:48.320 --> 0:00:51.920 How terrifying would it be to fight an unknown enemy, 0:00:52.440 --> 0:00:56.280 one you didn't recognize and didn't see coming. What if 0:00:56.320 --> 0:01:00.400 that enemy was coming from within a disease but even 0:01:00.520 --> 0:01:06.160 doctors couldn't identify. Nearly half of all Americans suffer from 0:01:06.240 --> 0:01:10.920 some chronic illness, and many struggle for an accurate diagnosis. 0:01:12.000 --> 0:01:18.679 These are their stories. I'm Lauren Bribe Pacheco, and this 0:01:19.080 --> 0:01:35.759 is symptomatic. So tell me a little bit about you 0:01:35.880 --> 0:01:38.640 as a person beyond a husband and a dad. What 0:01:38.760 --> 0:01:41.240 are your favorite hobbies? What are your passions? What do 0:01:41.280 --> 0:01:41.840 you love to do? 0:01:42.520 --> 0:01:42.600 So? 0:01:42.680 --> 0:01:44.720 I love to sing, I love to dance. 0:01:45.400 --> 0:01:49.200 I used to play the cello and have on occasion 0:01:49.240 --> 0:01:50.400 brought out my cello. 0:01:50.160 --> 0:01:51.400 To practice a little bit. 0:01:52.280 --> 0:01:55.880 I love sports, particularly basketball, so I love to play 0:01:55.920 --> 0:01:59.120 basketball when I regular chance, as well as watch the 0:01:59.200 --> 0:02:01.280 NBAWA College basketball. 0:02:02.080 --> 0:02:05.640 Jerrod Green also loves sharing his passions for basketball and 0:02:05.720 --> 0:02:08.080 music with his four year old daughter and six year 0:02:08.080 --> 0:02:11.240 old son. What's your go to karaoke song? 0:02:11.840 --> 0:02:14.839 Oh my gosh, I've been trying to figure this out. 0:02:15.240 --> 0:02:17.440 I'm pretty down with anything R and B. You know, 0:02:17.480 --> 0:02:20.359 my favorite group of all time is voiced him In, 0:02:20.520 --> 0:02:24.760 so I often lean into them for music inspiration. 0:02:25.320 --> 0:02:26.400 I also love us here. 0:02:26.840 --> 0:02:29.360 A quintessential dad striving to be in the moment with 0:02:29.400 --> 0:02:32.400 his kids as much as possible. And even though he's 0:02:32.440 --> 0:02:35.640 now only thirty one years old, he has the calm 0:02:35.639 --> 0:02:39.919 and coolness of someone much older. Just ask his wife Courtney. 0:02:40.400 --> 0:02:43.919 Yeah, Jerrod is like the king of chill, Like he 0:02:44.360 --> 0:02:49.280 is so relaxed, Like he's pretty much like an unshakable person. 0:02:49.840 --> 0:02:53.800 In college, everybody's like, oh yeah, he's definitely a pot 0:02:53.840 --> 0:02:57.320 and Girod is actually like stone cold, sober, straight edge 0:02:57.320 --> 0:03:02.600 by choice. He just brings that like ultra calm presence 0:03:03.600 --> 0:03:08.120 to anything that he does, but also like the most compassionate, 0:03:08.320 --> 0:03:12.639 caring person, so he got a social work degree, has 0:03:12.680 --> 0:03:16.079 worked in higher ed, cares so much about his students 0:03:16.120 --> 0:03:18.560 and the people that he's served in the past, and 0:03:18.600 --> 0:03:21.720 now does like diversity work for children and family services. 0:03:21.760 --> 0:03:23.320 So like everything that he. 0:03:23.360 --> 0:03:26.519 Does is just like with that servant heart. 0:03:27.000 --> 0:03:29.959 Courtney and Girod have been together since high school, both 0:03:30.000 --> 0:03:33.360 growing up in Minnesota. They first noticed each other at 0:03:33.360 --> 0:03:37.920 a Crosstown football game and instantly became friends. That friendship 0:03:38.080 --> 0:03:41.600 quickly turned into dating and prom and eventually into a 0:03:41.640 --> 0:03:42.840 lifelong partnership. 0:03:43.240 --> 0:03:45.920 She's my best friend. I feel like I can talk 0:03:46.000 --> 0:03:48.880 to her about anything, go through with anything which is 0:03:48.920 --> 0:03:52.080 really meaningful, and I'm glad that our relationship is built 0:03:52.120 --> 0:03:52.560 on that. 0:03:53.960 --> 0:03:58.000 And Grod would undoubtedly need that support as a mysterious 0:03:58.040 --> 0:04:01.360 disease turns his life upside down in the span of 0:04:01.600 --> 0:04:05.320 just a couple of months. By the middle of twenty twenty, 0:04:05.600 --> 0:04:09.160 at the height of the COVID pandemic, Drod started feeling 0:04:09.240 --> 0:04:12.840 new sensations that he'd never recognized in his body before. 0:04:13.520 --> 0:04:17.159 All of his instincts warned him that something was wrong. 0:04:18.440 --> 0:04:23.000 Will you tell me the first time that you realized 0:04:23.040 --> 0:04:25.480 you had something that you would have categorized as a symptom. 0:04:25.680 --> 0:04:27.760 Yeah, so it was gradual. 0:04:28.160 --> 0:04:34.640 I would say that my experience with symptoms is very hindsight. 0:04:35.240 --> 0:04:37.640 In the moment, it wasn't like, oh, there's something really 0:04:37.680 --> 0:04:40.279 wrong with me. At least at the beginning stages. I 0:04:40.360 --> 0:04:45.520 had allergies, or what presented as allergies, you know, stuffy, 0:04:45.640 --> 0:04:49.039 I was coughing a lot, my throat was itchy, and 0:04:49.920 --> 0:04:52.640 so I just took allergy medications hoping that it would 0:04:52.680 --> 0:04:53.080 go away. 0:04:53.720 --> 0:04:56.960 At the time, Drod did live in South Carolina, where 0:04:57.080 --> 0:05:00.360 allergies were a pretty regular thing for him. I tried 0:05:00.440 --> 0:05:03.360 brushing it off that the symptoms would linger. 0:05:04.760 --> 0:05:07.599 After a few weeks, things hadn't really improved, and so 0:05:07.680 --> 0:05:11.080 that's when I started thinking, you know, there's something going 0:05:11.080 --> 0:05:13.800 on here. I don't know what it is, but usually 0:05:13.800 --> 0:05:16.840 when I have allergies, they're gone after about a week. 0:05:17.160 --> 0:05:20.400 So now that it's been several weeks, I tried switching 0:05:20.440 --> 0:05:23.480 allergy medication to see if that would help. It didn't, 0:05:23.839 --> 0:05:26.680 and actually things started to get worse. My appetite was 0:05:26.720 --> 0:05:30.360 starting to wane a little bit. That's when I was like, 0:05:30.400 --> 0:05:32.360 you know what, I need to probably talk to someone 0:05:32.600 --> 0:05:33.440 about what's going on. 0:05:34.200 --> 0:05:38.600 Amidst the consistent coughing and congestion. Girod was also juggling 0:05:38.680 --> 0:05:42.200 being a father of two young kids, studying for his doctorate, 0:05:42.520 --> 0:05:46.440 and working a strenuous full time job. You're in school, 0:05:47.040 --> 0:05:51.640 you are working incredibly long hours to provide for the 0:05:51.680 --> 0:05:55.200 growing family that you have. There was a lot on 0:05:55.240 --> 0:06:00.600 your plate. And how does that impact the time you 0:06:00.680 --> 0:06:04.120 take for yourself and your health? 0:06:04.560 --> 0:06:05.080 What time? 0:06:05.960 --> 0:06:08.560 I guess that's how I answer that question is there 0:06:08.640 --> 0:06:12.000 wasn't time. I wasn't taking care of myself. I wasn't 0:06:12.040 --> 0:06:16.040 taking care of my health. I was really just in 0:06:16.160 --> 0:06:20.840 autopilot's survival mode. I did the basic minimum to stay 0:06:20.839 --> 0:06:24.160 afloat and stay alive, and that was my main focus 0:06:24.320 --> 0:06:27.839 was I'm going to eat lunch because it's something I 0:06:27.880 --> 0:06:28.360 need to do. 0:06:30.920 --> 0:06:33.120 Just shortly before he got sick, he was like up 0:06:33.160 --> 0:06:36.039 in the morning, leaving for work at work, would finish work, 0:06:36.160 --> 0:06:39.719 was doing a student activity or something until seven, and 0:06:39.760 --> 0:06:41.560 then needs to go to class and doesn't get home 0:06:41.640 --> 0:06:44.680 until ten thirty and all throughout that time, like I'm 0:06:44.680 --> 0:06:47.960 trying to text him, like, hey, don't forget to eat something. Hey, 0:06:48.080 --> 0:06:50.440 are you like drinking any water? You know, just like 0:06:50.480 --> 0:06:51.200 the self. 0:06:50.960 --> 0:06:53.960 Care was just not present because he was so so busy. 0:06:54.960 --> 0:06:59.839 What's going on in terms of your personal, professional, and world? 0:07:00.760 --> 0:07:03.400 Yeah at the time that your symptoms are getting worse. 0:07:03.800 --> 0:07:05.680 Yeah, so personal. 0:07:05.800 --> 0:07:11.320 I think it's the culmination of work, stress, being in 0:07:11.360 --> 0:07:15.440 a PhD program, family, and really trying to balance all 0:07:15.440 --> 0:07:20.680 of those things. Another piece is the diagnosis of type 0:07:20.720 --> 0:07:25.640 two diabetes and having that weird sensation of slurring of 0:07:25.800 --> 0:07:29.559 words and feeling unwell. And then in February of twenty 0:07:29.560 --> 0:07:34.080 twenty one, my dad was also diagnosed with type two diabetes. 0:07:34.720 --> 0:07:37.320 And he found this out because he got COVID and 0:07:37.640 --> 0:07:40.280 was admitted into the ICU for about two and a 0:07:40.280 --> 0:07:44.880 half weeks, and he got really sick in the ICU, 0:07:45.200 --> 0:07:49.240 and they were thinking that they would have to put 0:07:49.320 --> 0:07:51.920 him in a medically induced coma. And I know that 0:07:52.000 --> 0:07:53.320 so many people don't wake up from. 0:07:53.160 --> 0:07:56.040 Those things, and so. 0:07:55.040 --> 0:07:57.560 I think the stress of my dad having in near 0:07:57.600 --> 0:07:59.920 death experience was also taking its toll. 0:08:01.520 --> 0:08:04.120 It was really difficult for everyone. And then I'm at 0:08:04.160 --> 0:08:07.240 home with two small kids, trying to support my in 0:08:07.360 --> 0:08:11.440 laws who are going through this giant health issue as well, 0:08:11.800 --> 0:08:14.520 and it's just like layers, layers, layers, layers, layers, and 0:08:14.560 --> 0:08:16.640 on top of that, were like trying to ever eat 0:08:16.640 --> 0:08:19.680 a meal as a family in a calm way, or 0:08:19.760 --> 0:08:22.240 like trying to ever just get time together he and 0:08:22.280 --> 0:08:26.320 I and remember where we come from, right, Like, this 0:08:26.360 --> 0:08:30.680 is such a cool, beautiful love story. But when you're 0:08:30.720 --> 0:08:33.880 like in the thick of all this weird stuff, it's 0:08:33.880 --> 0:08:34.920 hard to remember that. 0:08:37.679 --> 0:08:41.080 His dad would recover from this life threatening battle with COVID, 0:08:41.600 --> 0:08:44.080 but it was a harsh reminder of how little time 0:08:44.120 --> 0:08:47.080 there can be left with the ones you love. The 0:08:47.120 --> 0:08:51.840 stress triggers continued to pile on Girad. At this point, 0:08:51.880 --> 0:08:55.440 he was working vigorously in the Department of Diversity, Equity 0:08:55.480 --> 0:09:01.520 and Inclusion for the Minnesota Court Systems. 0:09:00.040 --> 0:09:00.600 At the time. 0:09:00.960 --> 0:09:06.560 With my job, they were overseeing a very high profile 0:09:06.760 --> 0:09:10.000 trial related to the murder of George Floyd, and up 0:09:10.080 --> 0:09:14.040 until that point, I hadn't seen any videos, I hadn't 0:09:14.040 --> 0:09:18.560 seen any surrounding information. I tried to keep some distance 0:09:19.240 --> 0:09:24.880 because that imagery of black people being brutally murdered or 0:09:25.480 --> 0:09:29.560 experiencing violence is one that I tried to avoid and 0:09:30.559 --> 0:09:35.400 working for that organization. It was hard, and instead of 0:09:35.440 --> 0:09:39.800 processing my own feelings, emotions and pain around it, I 0:09:39.880 --> 0:09:42.679 was helping other people do that for themselves. 0:09:43.200 --> 0:09:47.440 He couldn't get away from work because his work was 0:09:47.559 --> 0:09:49.920 front page, headline news. 0:09:49.760 --> 0:09:51.760 Every single day. Every single day. 0:09:51.880 --> 0:09:53.880 We had like a small bedroom that he had a 0:09:53.960 --> 0:09:57.680 desk shoved in the corner, so like court TV was 0:09:57.760 --> 0:10:01.520 just on in our bedroom all day long. And then 0:10:01.600 --> 0:10:03.760 trying to just like be a person on the planet 0:10:03.800 --> 0:10:07.000 still where this is all that anybody's talking about, between 0:10:07.000 --> 0:10:09.640 this trial and COVID and everything else. 0:10:10.320 --> 0:10:15.240 Under the suffocating stressors, drawed symptoms would quickly begin to escalate. 0:10:15.760 --> 0:10:18.079 In addition to the shortness of breath and sore throat, 0:10:18.640 --> 0:10:22.240 he was now having trouble keeping food down, and he 0:10:22.280 --> 0:10:24.520 would wake up in the middle of the night struggling 0:10:24.640 --> 0:10:30.439 to catch his breath. When did you decide this isn't normal, 0:10:30.440 --> 0:10:31.880 I'm going to the doctor exactly. 0:10:32.640 --> 0:10:36.000 I actually did doctor and Demand a couple of times 0:10:36.080 --> 0:10:39.400 and consulted with them, and at that time, they would 0:10:39.440 --> 0:10:43.040 often prescribe steroids or antibiotics to see if that would help, 0:10:43.080 --> 0:10:46.000 because they're thinking, you know, something's wrong, maybe I have 0:10:46.000 --> 0:10:49.160 post nasal drip. I also got an inhaler with them 0:10:49.160 --> 0:10:51.400 because this is about the time where I was having 0:10:51.440 --> 0:10:54.600 some issues with breathing and having a lot of shortness 0:10:54.600 --> 0:10:57.720 of breath, especially at night. So then I called them again. 0:10:57.960 --> 0:11:02.160 They prescribed another round of steroids and antibiotics, and then 0:11:02.200 --> 0:11:04.760 we're like, you should follow up with your primary care doctor. 0:11:05.559 --> 0:11:08.800 And when I did, they gave me more steroids and 0:11:09.160 --> 0:11:10.679 we're like, we don't really know what's going on. 0:11:11.400 --> 0:11:14.240 I should imagine that it was just masking. 0:11:14.520 --> 0:11:18.760 Yeah, the real issue, absolutely and probably worsting the issue 0:11:18.760 --> 0:11:22.720 as well. You know, it was a few weeks after 0:11:22.800 --> 0:11:25.880 that where I had to just leave work. 0:11:26.400 --> 0:11:28.040 You know, I couldn't really eat anything. 0:11:28.679 --> 0:11:32.120 My head was hurting, and I was just down in 0:11:32.160 --> 0:11:34.520 that moment, and so that's when my wife was like, 0:11:34.960 --> 0:11:39.840 something's wrong, Like you need to go to the emergency room. 0:11:40.240 --> 0:11:43.320 I think in that moment, I was just thinking, what's happening? 0:11:44.360 --> 0:11:46.960 Am I going to feel this way forever? What does 0:11:46.960 --> 0:11:49.600 this even mean? Like what is this coming from? And 0:11:49.640 --> 0:11:52.400 so there's just a lot of questions about my physical health. 0:11:52.880 --> 0:11:56.080 So what happened once you got to the er. 0:11:57.080 --> 0:12:00.400 They did a basic metabolic panel, saw that my members 0:12:00.440 --> 0:12:05.360 weren't astronomically in the the yellow or the red, and 0:12:06.240 --> 0:12:09.400 we're pretty much just like, we don't really know what's 0:12:09.440 --> 0:12:13.000 happening with you. So I guess follow up with your 0:12:13.000 --> 0:12:15.920 primary care, but you know, there's not really much we 0:12:15.960 --> 0:12:16.520 can do for you. 0:12:17.080 --> 0:12:18.360 So I went back home. 0:12:23.960 --> 0:12:26.400 And so I think that it was just a combination 0:12:26.800 --> 0:12:30.000 of acute situations that were happening in that moment and 0:12:30.040 --> 0:12:35.520 then just a lifetime of you know, trauma, stress, racism, poverty, 0:12:36.840 --> 0:12:41.880 and other factors that I think really created this perfect storm. 0:12:42.679 --> 0:12:45.360 And that's just how my body reacted. 0:12:46.800 --> 0:12:50.320 Jerrad couldn't keep up with the symptoms, which kept piling up. 0:12:50.840 --> 0:12:55.040 He had very little appetite. Normal everyday activities like playing 0:12:55.080 --> 0:13:00.440 basketball with his son were now becoming nearly impossible. Time 0:13:00.920 --> 0:13:04.360 his breathing problems worsened to the point where he could 0:13:04.400 --> 0:13:10.200 barely sleep, if at all. So what wound you back 0:13:10.320 --> 0:13:14.120 up in the er again? A few weeks later? What's 0:13:14.160 --> 0:13:14.600 going on? 0:13:15.520 --> 0:13:18.080 We're living in an apartment at that time, and my 0:13:18.160 --> 0:13:23.240 parents were coming by to have a cookout with us, 0:13:23.720 --> 0:13:27.520 and so I was still not feeling great, but I 0:13:27.559 --> 0:13:31.000 felt a little bit better that day, so I was 0:13:31.120 --> 0:13:35.120 able to go down to the area by the pool 0:13:35.120 --> 0:13:41.280 where our shared grill space was and sat in one 0:13:41.280 --> 0:13:42.720 of the chairs with my family. 0:13:43.360 --> 0:13:44.920 And then by the time he got there, he was 0:13:44.960 --> 0:13:47.480 just like slumped over and just like could not catch 0:13:47.520 --> 0:13:48.000 his breath. 0:13:48.880 --> 0:13:52.319 That walk felt very tenuous, like I struggled a lot, 0:13:52.360 --> 0:13:54.600 and it wasn't that far of a walk, like strew me. 0:13:54.600 --> 0:13:56.320 Out of breath. I didn't feel well. 0:13:57.160 --> 0:14:00.320 We had some Beyond burgers and I think I ate 0:14:00.400 --> 0:14:02.440 half of one of those burgers and maybe a couple 0:14:02.480 --> 0:14:06.040 of chips, and I was able to get it all down. 0:14:06.120 --> 0:14:08.720 So I thought that things were improving and going better. 0:14:10.320 --> 0:14:14.800 And then I remember, maybe thirty minutes later, feeling horribly, 0:14:14.960 --> 0:14:16.200 so I went and laid down. 0:14:16.800 --> 0:14:19.520 I had to drive him like the half of block 0:14:19.680 --> 0:14:22.080 it was from the barbecue pit area back home. 0:14:22.600 --> 0:14:25.160 It didn't get better, and then I ended up throwing 0:14:25.240 --> 0:14:25.800 up the food. 0:14:26.400 --> 0:14:29.160 Gerad was like the persistent optimist. 0:14:29.840 --> 0:14:32.520 So for him to be saying like I don't know, 0:14:32.600 --> 0:14:35.280 I just don't think it's going to get better, worried 0:14:35.320 --> 0:14:36.480 it's going to be like this forever. 0:14:37.800 --> 0:14:40.240 This is just not typical. 0:14:40.640 --> 0:14:44.000 He has like a nickname that he's the quixotic one, 0:14:44.120 --> 0:14:48.360 like the one that's just painfully optimistic, almost to the 0:14:48.400 --> 0:14:49.760 point that it's nonsensical. 0:14:51.080 --> 0:14:54.240 That's when my wife and my parents were like, all right, 0:14:54.560 --> 0:14:55.600 I think you need to go back. 0:14:55.440 --> 0:14:55.920 To the er. 0:14:56.680 --> 0:14:59.560 Rush to an er. The fearful couple was at the 0:14:59.680 --> 0:15:04.320 end of their rope managing Jirod's symptoms without a proper diagnosis. 0:15:05.160 --> 0:15:11.680 His blood oxygen started to decrease, his heart rate was increasing. 0:15:12.240 --> 0:15:13.920 We were not seeing any improvements. 0:15:14.160 --> 0:15:14.280 Now. 0:15:14.320 --> 0:15:17.320 Thing was getting better. It was only getting worse. I 0:15:17.400 --> 0:15:20.320 just came with like an agenda of things that I 0:15:20.360 --> 0:15:23.800 wanted tested for. I was like, is this an autoimmune issue? 0:15:23.840 --> 0:15:27.520 Are we talking about lupus? What's going on with why 0:15:27.720 --> 0:15:31.320 he feels like he can't get a good breath? Is 0:15:31.360 --> 0:15:34.120 there something going on with his lungs? Can we do 0:15:34.160 --> 0:15:35.760 a scan of his lungs? 0:15:36.160 --> 0:15:39.680 Courtney was prepared to advocate for Jirod, something he was 0:15:39.720 --> 0:15:43.920 in no condition to do himself. But even as they 0:15:43.960 --> 0:15:47.680 scrambled to make an action plan, which was complicated by 0:15:47.720 --> 0:15:49.600 the fact that they were in the middle of the pandemic, 0:15:50.160 --> 0:15:53.120 the doctors felt like there may not be much time 0:15:53.240 --> 0:15:54.560 left for him. 0:15:55.040 --> 0:15:58.160 They finally like, allowed me to let the kids in 0:15:58.400 --> 0:16:02.160 for one afternoon, and I just like remember being like, 0:16:02.200 --> 0:16:04.840 I've got to take a bunch of pictures of this 0:16:05.240 --> 0:16:08.320 because I'm not sure if we're ever like if they're 0:16:08.320 --> 0:16:09.920 ever going to be able to see him again because 0:16:09.920 --> 0:16:12.960 it's COVID, so like they're making a one time exception 0:16:13.840 --> 0:16:16.200 for them to come in and see him. 0:16:16.640 --> 0:16:20.040 But how are you keeping a brave face with him? 0:16:20.200 --> 0:16:20.800 How are you? 0:16:22.560 --> 0:16:26.360 I just left the room a lot, like I would 0:16:26.400 --> 0:16:30.080 just be like, Okay, I'm gonna grab some snacks, weir bit, 0:16:30.880 --> 0:16:32.960 you know, And what would you do in the hallway 0:16:33.240 --> 0:16:36.920 just sobbing. I would go to the little chapel that 0:16:36.960 --> 0:16:40.480 they had there. We have a Christian faith, and I 0:16:40.480 --> 0:16:43.560 would just sit there and be like, what's going on? 0:16:44.520 --> 0:16:47.280 Like, we've answered your call. 0:16:47.760 --> 0:16:50.320 We are taking care of this family just as we 0:16:50.360 --> 0:16:51.760 feel we've been called to do. 0:16:51.920 --> 0:16:53.120 And now now what. 0:16:54.040 --> 0:16:58.840 With Courtney's fierce advocacy, the doctors finally do a CT scan, 0:16:59.400 --> 0:17:02.240 which would hold the necessary clues as to what was 0:17:02.280 --> 0:17:04.920 causing Drod's rapid health decline. 0:17:05.680 --> 0:17:10.040 So when I finally got the CT scan, I mean 0:17:10.080 --> 0:17:13.760 nothing could have prepared me for what information would come 0:17:13.800 --> 0:17:14.320 back from that. 0:17:16.560 --> 0:17:22.120 We'll be right back with Symptomatic a medical mystery podcast. 0:17:25.359 --> 0:17:29.000 Hi I'm Cindi lauper My scalp was covered with psoriasis, 0:17:29.040 --> 0:17:33.520 which could lead to soiatic arthritis, but Cocentics treats both. 0:17:33.920 --> 0:17:36.320 Cocentics at U canyon Mab is prescribed for adults with 0:17:36.359 --> 0:17:38.800 moderate to severe black soris as three hundred milligram dose 0:17:38.840 --> 0:17:41.920 and adults with active sooriatic arthritis one hundred fifty milligram dose. 0:17:41.960 --> 0:17:44.360 Don't use if you're allergic to cocentics. Before starting, get 0:17:44.400 --> 0:17:47.679 checked for TB, serious allergic reactions, severe skin reactions that 0:17:47.720 --> 0:17:50.040 look like exima, and an increased risk of infections. Some 0:17:50.160 --> 0:17:53.400 fatal have occurred. Cocentics may lower ability to fight infections, 0:17:53.440 --> 0:17:55.280 so tell your doctor if you have an infection or 0:17:55.320 --> 0:17:58.560 symptoms like fevers, sweats, chills, muscle leggs or cough out 0:17:58.600 --> 0:18:01.600 a vaccine or plant to or if IBD symptoms developer wors. 0:18:01.920 --> 0:18:04.000 Learn more at cothentics dot com or one eight four 0:18:04.040 --> 0:18:04.879 to four concentics. 0:18:05.240 --> 0:18:06.679 Couthentics works for me. 0:18:07.240 --> 0:18:08.959 Ask your doctor about concentics. 0:18:11.400 --> 0:18:19.280 Now back to Symptomatic, a medical mystery podcast. Jerrod Green 0:18:19.440 --> 0:18:21.840 approached most of what life through at him with a 0:18:21.880 --> 0:18:25.040 smile juggling a full life at work and his PhD 0:18:25.119 --> 0:18:28.119 studies and at home as a proud husband and father, 0:18:28.840 --> 0:18:33.080 but rapidly the symptoms of a perplexing condition landed him 0:18:33.080 --> 0:18:36.679 in the emergency room, hoping to find answers before it 0:18:36.760 --> 0:18:47.600 was too late. What were your biggest fears in those moments? 0:18:49.040 --> 0:18:52.120 There are so many fears that are so layered. It's 0:18:52.160 --> 0:18:54.600 like what are we doing here right? Like is he 0:18:54.640 --> 0:18:57.760 going to have to stop working? And my persistent fear 0:18:57.920 --> 0:18:59.600 is like what are we going to do to get 0:18:59.680 --> 0:19:01.360 him the care that he needs? 0:19:02.080 --> 0:19:05.040 Through fear and confusion of her own, Courtney continued to 0:19:05.080 --> 0:19:08.479 show up for Girod when he needed it most, pushing 0:19:08.520 --> 0:19:11.280 for answers until the doctors found the clue they were 0:19:11.320 --> 0:19:14.800 looking for. On a CT scan, they found that part 0:19:14.840 --> 0:19:18.280 of Grod's spleen had died off because of a blood clot. 0:19:18.600 --> 0:19:20.959 Seeing the blood clot led the doctors to order an 0:19:21.000 --> 0:19:23.880 echo cardiogram to get a better picture of the. 0:19:23.880 --> 0:19:27.639 Heart, and that's when they found that I had not 0:19:27.720 --> 0:19:31.560 only a reduced objection fraction, but also enlargement within my 0:19:31.640 --> 0:19:37.080 heart as well. And that's when the doctor later came 0:19:37.119 --> 0:19:39.520 in and diagnosed me. 0:19:39.480 --> 0:19:40.760 With congestive heart failure. 0:19:42.920 --> 0:19:47.120 I didn't know anyone with heart failure or even heart disease. 0:19:47.720 --> 0:19:49.760 I didn't really know what heart failure meant to me. 0:19:50.320 --> 0:19:54.480 It's such a dooming term to call it heart failure, 0:19:54.480 --> 0:19:57.479 like my heart has failed, and that means maybe I'm 0:19:57.520 --> 0:19:58.359 not going to make it out of this. 0:19:59.119 --> 0:20:03.679 As doctor said, you have heart failure. It's very significant, 0:20:03.840 --> 0:20:07.640 it's very severe. Your heart is almost non functional, and 0:20:08.760 --> 0:20:12.399 it's really bad. So we think we should transfer you 0:20:12.600 --> 0:20:16.160 to Greenville, which is like the next biggest town. I'm 0:20:16.200 --> 0:20:20.920 just sitting there, silent, crying, trying to ask questions about 0:20:20.960 --> 0:20:24.520 like the practical reality about what that means. Because you're 0:20:24.560 --> 0:20:26.879 saying heart failure, I don't know what that means. That 0:20:26.920 --> 0:20:28.080 doesn't mean anything to me. 0:20:29.440 --> 0:20:31.520 You know, my doctor at the time, who's not a 0:20:31.520 --> 0:20:34.879 heart failure specialist, he's like, this is maybe a fifty 0:20:34.880 --> 0:20:39.080 to fifty percent chance of survival and that you probably 0:20:39.080 --> 0:20:42.480 should start looking into long term disability and maybe look 0:20:42.520 --> 0:20:45.000 to stop working because this is going to be a 0:20:45.040 --> 0:20:45.840 long road for you. 0:20:50.040 --> 0:20:53.880 I can't imagine how frightening and difficult that must have been. 0:20:54.280 --> 0:20:58.840 It must have been like waking up into a nightmare. 0:20:59.280 --> 0:21:02.959 Yeah, and so at the time I was in the 0:21:02.960 --> 0:21:05.439 hospital thinking, you know, is this going to get better? 0:21:05.920 --> 0:21:07.480 Can I fight this? Can I beat this? 0:21:08.359 --> 0:21:11.080 Is this something that's going to just change my life completely? 0:21:11.480 --> 0:21:13.280 Am I not going to make it out of the hospital? 0:21:13.960 --> 0:21:16.800 Like are these my last days? And so it was 0:21:16.920 --> 0:21:21.120 really tough and stressful time, and part of me was 0:21:21.280 --> 0:21:25.200 in shock, and part of me, I feel, couldn't even 0:21:25.240 --> 0:21:28.040 bring myself to process that information. 0:21:28.880 --> 0:21:31.399 And I was like, how how are you feeling? And 0:21:31.440 --> 0:21:33.639 he was like, I just don't even really know. And 0:21:33.680 --> 0:21:35.440 that was like the first time I saw him cry 0:21:35.520 --> 0:21:38.680 in the whole process. And I just don't think there's 0:21:38.760 --> 0:21:42.239 anything worse that could have been said to Jerrod, like 0:21:42.400 --> 0:21:46.600 this devoted husband and father than like fifty fifty chicks. 0:21:48.000 --> 0:21:52.600 After terrifying months of uncertainty, Jerrod and Courtney finally had 0:21:52.600 --> 0:21:55.280 a name for the disease that had flipped their lives 0:21:55.400 --> 0:22:00.000 upside down, congestive heart failure, But they were still left 0:22:00.160 --> 0:22:06.440 with many unanswered questions For people who don't know, Can 0:22:06.480 --> 0:22:11.000 you just break down, by definition exactly what congestive heart 0:22:11.000 --> 0:22:14.960 failure is? Yeah, so our heart has many different things 0:22:15.000 --> 0:22:18.000 it does. I often talk about it as plumbing which 0:22:18.040 --> 0:22:20.360 is the artery is that's where we have heart attacks. 0:22:20.840 --> 0:22:23.320 And then we have electricity, which is the way our 0:22:23.320 --> 0:22:26.960 heart beats, and then we have the structure of our heart, 0:22:27.119 --> 0:22:31.000 and that's where congestive heart failure comes in. That's doctor 0:22:31.080 --> 0:22:34.520 Courtney Jordan Beckler, the medical director of Health Equity and 0:22:34.600 --> 0:22:38.000 health Promotion at the Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation. 0:22:38.880 --> 0:22:42.200 So, when the blood goes into the heart and then 0:22:42.320 --> 0:22:46.520 comes out, the percentage of blood that goes in versus 0:22:46.560 --> 0:22:50.280 going out, that's called our ejection fraction, and that's really 0:22:50.320 --> 0:22:53.719 the pump of the heart. Fifty five percent of that 0:22:53.800 --> 0:22:56.119 blood volume is what we consider normal. 0:22:56.200 --> 0:22:58.480 That's a normal functioning heart. 0:22:58.680 --> 0:23:01.400 So it's something you don't want less and you don't 0:23:01.440 --> 0:23:05.600 want more, and so there's all sorts of definitions, but 0:23:05.720 --> 0:23:09.000 for sure, less than forty five percent is when we 0:23:09.080 --> 0:23:13.000 start to classify mild heart failure. It's more severe at 0:23:13.080 --> 0:23:17.679 thirty five percent, and then very severe at twenty five percent, 0:23:17.800 --> 0:23:20.120 and under is more advanced heart failure. 0:23:20.880 --> 0:23:25.280 How can can just a heart failure impact people's lives? 0:23:25.960 --> 0:23:29.160