WEBVTT - Case #04: Shelby 0:00:01.800 --> 0:00:04.400 He described it as I looked like I looked like 0:00:04.440 --> 0:00:06.920 cookies and cream pudding, Like I was that shade of gray, 0:00:07.760 --> 0:00:11.200 and he's like, I'm taking her straight to the emergency room. 0:00:11.240 --> 0:00:14.239 A lot of doctors either they've never heard of it 0:00:14.720 --> 0:00:18.120 or they don't believe it exists. These patients are just 0:00:18.239 --> 0:00:22.799 ignored because it's very difficult to recognize that there's something 0:00:22.840 --> 0:00:28.159 going on. I just remember praying in the room to 0:00:28.480 --> 0:00:33.239 let me meet my daughter, my God's grace, to let 0:00:33.280 --> 0:00:36.720 me get through this with my wife. I didn't want 0:00:36.760 --> 0:00:38.879 it to all in before it even it all started. 0:00:47.240 --> 0:00:50.880 How terrifying would it be to fight an unknown enemy, 0:00:51.400 --> 0:00:55.240 one you didn't recognize and didn't see coming. What if 0:00:55.280 --> 0:00:59.320 that enemy was coming from within a disease but even 0:00:59.480 --> 0:01:05.160 doctor couldn't identify. Nearly half of all Americans suffer from 0:01:05.240 --> 0:01:09.920 some chronic illness, and many struggle for an accurate diagnosis. 0:01:10.959 --> 0:01:17.360 These are their stories. I'm Lauren Bright, the CHECKO, and 0:01:17.480 --> 0:01:33.160 this is symptomatic. You're immediately hit with a feeling like 0:01:33.200 --> 0:01:36.040 you're talking to a close friend when you meet Shelby Morrison. 0:01:36.600 --> 0:01:39.640 She is very open and genuine, easily getting excited when 0:01:39.640 --> 0:01:43.560 you start talking about cigars, stealer football or her dogs. 0:01:44.120 --> 0:01:45.760 I'd like to tell my friends I have two cats, 0:01:45.760 --> 0:01:48.160 two dogs, two kids in the t J that's my husband. 0:01:48.760 --> 0:01:52.720 I have two little chewin eas. One is huge and 0:01:52.760 --> 0:01:55.200 the other one is tiny, teeny tiny. Wait, you have 0:01:55.320 --> 0:01:58.400 to tell me what is a chewini CHEWENI is a 0:01:58.520 --> 0:02:01.880 Chihuahua and weener dog together. So it's safe to say 0:02:01.920 --> 0:02:04.680 you're an animal lover. I will die petting something that 0:02:04.720 --> 0:02:08.920 I shouldn't. I love all animals. If a brown bear 0:02:09.040 --> 0:02:10.720 was in front of me and it looked like it 0:02:10.720 --> 0:02:14.800 would let me pet it, I'd try. You might lose 0:02:14.800 --> 0:02:17.079 a hand, might lose a hand, might lose an arm. 0:02:17.120 --> 0:02:19.160 But you know what, I have made my peace with God. 0:02:19.200 --> 0:02:22.280 If I am taken out by a giant ball of fluf, 0:02:22.320 --> 0:02:26.600 that's how I go. There is an undeniable strength to 0:02:26.639 --> 0:02:30.400 her positivity. You can sense her perseverance through a long 0:02:30.520 --> 0:02:37.280 struggle just below the surface. I'm proud the most of 0:02:37.480 --> 0:02:44.520 her heart. I think she gives more than anybody that 0:02:44.639 --> 0:02:48.639 I know. She cares about people even when a lot 0:02:48.680 --> 0:02:52.960 of people don't deserve it, and she's always willing to help. 0:02:54.280 --> 0:02:56.440 That was Shelby's husband, T j who has been with 0:02:56.480 --> 0:02:59.080 her for over a decade. Little did he know when 0:02:59.120 --> 0:03:01.919 they first met that they would quickly be thrown into 0:03:01.960 --> 0:03:05.280 a whirlwind journey, pushing Shelby to the brink of a 0:03:05.400 --> 0:03:09.119 life or death situation. The symptoms that would start off 0:03:09.120 --> 0:03:13.160 this roller coaster first started showing up in Shelby during puberty. 0:03:15.000 --> 0:03:19.640 I got through high school pretty normal. I remember my 0:03:19.720 --> 0:03:22.640 high school career just always being really tired all the time. 0:03:22.760 --> 0:03:25.520 But I mean I was doing all the things, and 0:03:26.040 --> 0:03:29.000 you know, I was seventeen years old. I mean I 0:03:29.080 --> 0:03:32.639 never really had an inkling that I was sick. I 0:03:32.639 --> 0:03:35.640 always kind of fell off. Go back, just for a second, 0:03:35.640 --> 0:03:39.560 because you said you're tired, Explain that to me. It's 0:03:39.560 --> 0:03:41.040 really hard to get up out of bed in the morning. 0:03:41.080 --> 0:03:43.520 Like it's not I didn't sleep well kind of feeling. 0:03:43.600 --> 0:03:46.320 It's that I can't move my body, kind of feeling 0:03:46.360 --> 0:03:50.720 like it's almost a complete heaviness of your limbs. The 0:03:50.760 --> 0:03:54.240 word fatigue, I feel like is not an accurate descriptor 0:03:54.640 --> 0:03:58.320 of the tired. So I really didn't think anything about it, because, 0:03:58.320 --> 0:04:00.560 like I said, I was I was an act teenager. 0:04:00.760 --> 0:04:03.120 I was, you know, hanging out with my friends, you know, 0:04:03.720 --> 0:04:07.840 staying up probably way too late. Um, and I didn't 0:04:07.840 --> 0:04:12.160 think anything of it. Shelby always seemed to be tired 0:04:12.280 --> 0:04:14.960 and lethargic. It was difficult for her to have the 0:04:15.120 --> 0:04:18.640 energy she thought came naturally to most kids her age. 0:04:18.960 --> 0:04:21.760 The doctors chalked it up to anemia, which runs in 0:04:21.800 --> 0:04:25.760 her family. I had been told that I was anemic before, 0:04:27.200 --> 0:04:29.120 but I mean it was just, oh, hey, your iron 0:04:29.160 --> 0:04:32.480 slow like eats and broccoli, and that's that kind of 0:04:32.520 --> 0:04:36.760 explained it away. Her symptoms became something easy for her 0:04:36.839 --> 0:04:40.320 doctors and even her family to dismiss as just shall 0:04:40.400 --> 0:04:43.640 be being dramatic, But there was a lot more going 0:04:43.680 --> 0:04:47.160 on here than they initially assumed. Her mom even brushed 0:04:47.160 --> 0:04:50.200 her complaints aside until one day in high school when 0:04:50.240 --> 0:04:53.880 she got really sick in the car. I hit puberty 0:04:53.920 --> 0:04:58.000 at a very young age, and I had very bad periods. 0:04:58.520 --> 0:04:59.960 I would literally be to the point where I was 0:05:00.040 --> 0:05:02.120 throwing up, couldn't be in class because I was in 0:05:02.160 --> 0:05:05.160 the bathroom because I was like, my entire body would hurt. 0:05:06.440 --> 0:05:09.560 And was there any attempt to figure out if that 0:05:09.680 --> 0:05:14.520 was abnormal? No? Not really, I mean mom was like, yeah, 0:05:14.520 --> 0:05:16.480 we all, we all have really bad periods, like it's 0:05:16.520 --> 0:05:19.800 just it's a family thing. And I was angry at 0:05:19.800 --> 0:05:21.599 the time with her because I felt like she was 0:05:21.640 --> 0:05:24.919 dismissive until one day she picked me up from school 0:05:25.520 --> 0:05:26.960 and she got me in the car and we were 0:05:27.040 --> 0:05:28.920 driving home and I literally rolled down the window and 0:05:28.960 --> 0:05:30.480 I puked all down the side of her car going 0:05:30.480 --> 0:05:33.320 down the interstate. And I don't think she realized how 0:05:33.360 --> 0:05:35.560 sick I was until that moment, and I think she 0:05:35.600 --> 0:05:38.760 started to believe me a little bit. Shelby and her 0:05:38.800 --> 0:05:41.599 mother started to realize that her symptoms couldn't just be 0:05:41.720 --> 0:05:45.560 explained by her being anemic or a typically pubescent teenager. 0:05:46.040 --> 0:05:49.640 But Shelby kept her internal battle quiet, fighting off the 0:05:49.680 --> 0:05:53.760 tiredness by herself for years. That was until she landed 0:05:53.760 --> 0:05:57.440 in the emergency room while she was away at college. 0:05:59.120 --> 0:06:02.520 I feel like I am just death warmed over, like 0:06:02.560 --> 0:06:08.279 I can't function. And so one morning I I called 0:06:08.279 --> 0:06:10.880 my boyfriend, who I was dating at the time, not 0:06:11.080 --> 0:06:14.719 my current husband. I was like, I can't breathe, like 0:06:14.920 --> 0:06:19.080 i feel like I'm suffocating, like i've i feel like 0:06:19.120 --> 0:06:21.880 I'm dying, Like I need can you please drive me home? 0:06:23.200 --> 0:06:26.160 What was it about the way you were presenting physically 0:06:26.160 --> 0:06:28.560 that he was like, we're going straight to the hospital. 0:06:29.160 --> 0:06:33.200 His mom was a nurse um and so he looked 0:06:33.240 --> 0:06:37.840 at me and he's like, you're gray, like he described 0:06:37.880 --> 0:06:40.279 it as, I looked like cookies and cream pudding, like 0:06:40.279 --> 0:06:42.880 I was that shade of gray. And he's like, I'm 0:06:42.920 --> 0:06:45.599 taking her straight to the emergency room. And they're like, 0:06:45.680 --> 0:06:50.240 something's all right. And so they admit me and they're like, hey, 0:06:50.279 --> 0:06:53.560 did you know that you have mono? No, but that 0:06:53.640 --> 0:06:55.920 tracks like I had no idea. I didn't know what 0:06:55.960 --> 0:06:59.119 monto was. And they're like, yeah, you you've had mono. 0:06:59.480 --> 0:07:01.760 And my mom's like, well, that explains why your throat 0:07:01.800 --> 0:07:04.720 was really sore and why you felt like crap. But 0:07:05.000 --> 0:07:07.880 this bout of mono wasn't one that she could easily 0:07:07.920 --> 0:07:11.120 get over with some rest and fluids. Shelby was in 0:07:11.160 --> 0:07:14.640 the hospital for nearly three weeks trying to kick this virus. 0:07:15.080 --> 0:07:18.400 Even with her history of anemia, sickness during her periods, 0:07:18.760 --> 0:07:21.760 and then this severe case of mono, there was no 0:07:21.880 --> 0:07:26.960 digging further to see if they all tied together. Yeah, 0:07:27.000 --> 0:07:31.360 it's so interesting how mono is downplayed as just like 0:07:31.400 --> 0:07:34.920 a rite of passage. Yeah, but it sounds like you 0:07:34.960 --> 0:07:38.000 were experiencing even at the time that you thought it 0:07:38.120 --> 0:07:44.640 was just mono, very severe symptoms. Yeah. I mean that's 0:07:44.680 --> 0:07:48.200 the turning point for me. That's when my life completely changed. 0:07:48.840 --> 0:07:53.760 Other than the breathing issues, are there any other things 0:07:53.880 --> 0:07:57.000 looking back that you were dealing with? Were you getting 0:07:57.080 --> 0:08:01.160 lightheaded if you stood up too quickly? Yeah, so I 0:08:02.160 --> 0:08:06.360 would get bouts of you know, lightheadedness infested up too quickly. 0:08:06.400 --> 0:08:10.480 Nothing to alarming at that point. The fatigue was still there, 0:08:11.440 --> 0:08:15.480 the heaviness and my joints and my limbs, and I 0:08:15.600 --> 0:08:20.920 was always out of breath, but you know that brushed 0:08:20.920 --> 0:08:23.520 it off, as you know, it's just complications of mono. 0:08:24.880 --> 0:08:27.320 I mean, I always knew that something wasn't right because 0:08:27.360 --> 0:08:29.960 I know my body. But you get to a point 0:08:30.000 --> 0:08:33.840 where you have these feelings and then you second guess yourself. 0:08:34.080 --> 0:08:36.760 You're like, am I making it up? Am I crazy? 0:08:37.120 --> 0:08:41.000 And it's insane? So, like I said, life went back 0:08:41.040 --> 0:08:46.000 to normal for a couple of years. Not wanting to complain, 0:08:46.559 --> 0:08:50.600 she internalized her health issues until she finally stumbled upon 0:08:50.760 --> 0:08:54.599 someone who truly did hear her and take her symptoms seriously. 0:08:54.920 --> 0:08:57.720 Her husband t J. They met well. T G was 0:08:57.720 --> 0:09:00.680 speaking out of Future Farmers of America, of and where 0:09:00.720 --> 0:09:05.760 Shelby was competing in the Talent pageant. Other than being 0:09:05.840 --> 0:09:09.640 drop dead gorgeous, she has a voice that sounds a 0:09:09.640 --> 0:09:13.160 lot like Martin McBride. And I thought somebody was playing 0:09:13.160 --> 0:09:16.280 a recording of it, and I looked down and it 0:09:16.320 --> 0:09:18.600 wasn't It was her. And it was kind of hard 0:09:18.640 --> 0:09:22.880 to ignore somebody that pretty and and that talented, and 0:09:22.920 --> 0:09:26.280 I was just kind of attracted to her from day one. So, 0:09:26.559 --> 0:09:28.800 having spoken to your wife, I know that her health 0:09:28.840 --> 0:09:33.600 issue started before you two even crossed paths. When was 0:09:33.640 --> 0:09:36.319 the first time that it became apparent to you that 0:09:36.360 --> 0:09:42.920 there was something ongoing. Well, she's always been somebody that 0:09:43.240 --> 0:09:46.400 was always, for lack of a better term, she was 0:09:46.440 --> 0:09:48.720 just always sick. There was always something, and when she 0:09:48.760 --> 0:09:51.480 would get sick, it would it would take her down 0:09:51.480 --> 0:09:56.280 a lot more than me. My husband A joke with 0:09:56.360 --> 0:09:59.400 him all the time that he got the really short 0:09:59.480 --> 0:10:01.280 end of the stick of that whole through sickness and 0:10:01.360 --> 0:10:04.960 health thing, because I mean the entire time he's known me, 0:10:05.000 --> 0:10:09.040 I mean, on our first date, I was sick, twenty 0:10:09.120 --> 0:10:11.959 year old Shelby was still suffering from chronic fatigue and pain, 0:10:12.160 --> 0:10:15.000 as well as lightheadedness when she would stand. But now 0:10:15.000 --> 0:10:17.240 I had a partner by her side and so much 0:10:17.320 --> 0:10:21.440 needed uplifting news a daughter on the way. At the 0:10:21.480 --> 0:10:24.640 time when life should have been about celebration, Shelby and 0:10:24.679 --> 0:10:27.640 t J were struggling to make ends meet, not knowing 0:10:27.920 --> 0:10:31.240 the looming fight with this mysterious illness was about to 0:10:31.240 --> 0:10:36.480 take a turn for the worse. It was terrifying because 0:10:37.080 --> 0:10:40.640 we were so young and we were so poor, and 0:10:40.800 --> 0:10:44.720 we were stretching ourselves then with her working and me 0:10:44.840 --> 0:10:48.560 working and trying to finish my bachelor's degree. She was 0:10:48.720 --> 0:10:51.480 here in Ashland and I was spending most of my 0:10:51.559 --> 0:10:55.160 time in Lexington. It was really really tough. And then 0:10:55.960 --> 0:11:02.200 when we got halfway through the pregnancy, things obviously started 0:11:02.200 --> 0:11:07.640 to going wrong, very wrong. So I'm navigating my first 0:11:07.640 --> 0:11:12.199 pregnancy and I feel like this was completely unrelated to 0:11:12.480 --> 0:11:15.360 the condition that I had at the time. As she 0:11:15.480 --> 0:11:18.280 was growing, she ended up actually pushing my appendix up 0:11:18.360 --> 0:11:22.079 underneath my rib cage in my back, and so I 0:11:23.040 --> 0:11:27.240 went to the hospital for two weeks. That pain must 0:11:27.240 --> 0:11:32.120 have been excruciating, and the thing that came with it 0:11:32.240 --> 0:11:34.839 was the nausea, the throwing up, like and I'm twenty 0:11:34.920 --> 0:11:36.840 years old, I've never had a baby before. I don't 0:11:36.840 --> 0:11:38.560 know what I'm doing. I thought I was dying. I 0:11:38.559 --> 0:11:43.280 thought my baby was in trouble. We'll be right back 0:11:43.320 --> 0:11:55.840 with Symptomatic A Medical Mystery Podcast. Now back to Symptomatic 0:11:56.120 --> 0:12:03.880 A Medical Mystery Podcast. Shelby Morrison was in and out 0:12:03.880 --> 0:12:06.320 of the hospital for two weeks trying to find out 0:12:06.320 --> 0:12:10.520 what was causing her this constant, overwhelming back pain. With 0:12:10.600 --> 0:12:13.719 no headway into finding out the source of the problem, 0:12:13.720 --> 0:12:17.520 it worsened to the point where Shelby started vomiting uncontrollably 0:12:17.800 --> 0:12:21.480 and the pain became unbearable. She rushed to the doctor. 0:12:22.520 --> 0:12:25.520 I screamed, and he was like, I don't know what's 0:12:25.520 --> 0:12:27.199 wrong with you, but we're getting you upstairs right now. 0:12:27.480 --> 0:12:29.640 And by ten o'clock that night, they're like, oh, hey, 0:12:29.679 --> 0:12:34.240 you're having surgery in the morning. I just remember praying 0:12:34.240 --> 0:12:39.000 in the room, you know, to let me meet my daughter, 0:12:39.760 --> 0:12:43.520 to let me get through this with my wife. I 0:12:43.520 --> 0:12:45.360 didn't want it to all in before it even it 0:12:45.440 --> 0:12:48.960 all started. They ended up taking my pandis out and 0:12:48.960 --> 0:12:51.640 apparently if it would have twenty four more hours, it 0:12:51.640 --> 0:12:53.440 would have burst, and it probably would have killed us both. 0:12:54.600 --> 0:12:56.880 I mean, that's how close we were, and it was 0:12:56.920 --> 0:13:02.240 all because of dismissal by medical staff. Then again, I'm 0:13:02.280 --> 0:13:04.520 I don't understand a lot of things in the medical field, 0:13:04.960 --> 0:13:08.240 but to me, it's pretty easy to get an ultrasound ordered, 0:13:08.640 --> 0:13:11.400 the thing that ended up saving her life. We live 0:13:11.440 --> 0:13:13.880 in an area of the country that sees a lot 0:13:13.920 --> 0:13:18.720 of young pregnancies, a lot of unmarried pregnancies. Unfortunately, a 0:13:18.720 --> 0:13:22.640 lot of people who do try to gain the system 0:13:22.679 --> 0:13:25.520 for pain pills, and there's a lot of addiction in 0:13:25.520 --> 0:13:28.280 our area. And I get it. But you know, we 0:13:28.280 --> 0:13:32.560 weren't that, and we tried to convey that, and it 0:13:32.600 --> 0:13:34.880 didn't seem to matter. We were just approached as if 0:13:34.880 --> 0:13:41.120 we were a statistic. A seemingly unconnected emergency appendected me 0:13:41.200 --> 0:13:44.320 that saved Shelby's life and her baby's life with just 0:13:44.520 --> 0:13:47.720 hours to spare. And just as this young couple thought 0:13:47.760 --> 0:13:51.199 things were calming down trying to navigate the usual excited 0:13:51.320 --> 0:13:54.960 nerves of new parents, more complications show up for Shelby 0:13:55.080 --> 0:14:00.200 and their child. I'm only like four weeks post up. 0:14:00.840 --> 0:14:02.360 I started having to go back to the hospital again 0:14:02.400 --> 0:14:05.440 because I just felt I felt like I was having 0:14:05.440 --> 0:14:08.160 a heart attack. Turns out my blood pressure was at 0:14:08.160 --> 0:14:12.000 stroke level and they couldn't figure out why I was 0:14:12.080 --> 0:14:17.880 having preoclampsia, but I didn't look pre acclaimptic. Preclampsia is 0:14:17.920 --> 0:14:22.440 a potentially dangerous complication of pregnancy. With preclampsia, you might 0:14:22.480 --> 0:14:25.800 have high blood pressure, kidney damage, or other signs of 0:14:25.800 --> 0:14:30.600 oregon damage. Left untreated, preclampsia can lead to serious, even 0:14:30.680 --> 0:14:35.880 fatal complications for both mother and baby. I wasn't swollen, 0:14:36.120 --> 0:14:38.680 I wasn't retaining fluid, but you hooked me up to 0:14:38.720 --> 0:14:43.640 a machine and I was one six eight over one. Now, 0:14:44.040 --> 0:14:47.600 explain to me what that feels like. I know what 0:14:47.760 --> 0:14:50.360 that sounds like in terms of the numbers, but what 0:14:50.440 --> 0:14:54.120 does that feel like? It feels like you're running a 0:14:54.160 --> 0:14:58.320 marathon and you're sitting still shelby What is going on 0:14:58.440 --> 0:15:03.400 psychologically at the point than I mean, I'm worried about 0:15:03.440 --> 0:15:08.160 my daughter, Like I'm twenty years old. There's layers of 0:15:08.240 --> 0:15:11.720 things going on right now at this point in my life, 0:15:11.880 --> 0:15:15.560 and I'm just trying to navigate being a new mom 0:15:15.640 --> 0:15:17.320 and trying to do what's best for my baby, and 0:15:17.360 --> 0:15:21.960 trying to trust my doctor. It's rough, man, it may 0:15:22.000 --> 0:15:24.960 have been rough on some levels, but they're beautiful. Baby 0:15:25.000 --> 0:15:28.920 daughter was fully healthy and thriving. That's what mattered most 0:15:29.040 --> 0:15:32.360 to Shelby and t J. She was perfectly healthy. She 0:15:32.440 --> 0:15:39.320 was a great baby. And after I had her, the 0:15:39.400 --> 0:15:44.120 dizziness and the fatigue and everything just kind of skyrocketed. 0:15:44.960 --> 0:15:48.520 My body kind of freaked out after that. But I 0:15:48.600 --> 0:15:50.680 just had a baby. I'm a new mom. I'm not 0:15:50.720 --> 0:15:54.280 sleeping well, you know, I'm I'm trying to breastfeed, and 0:15:54.320 --> 0:15:56.240 I'm trying to do all these things. Of these hormones 0:15:56.240 --> 0:16:00.000 are just rushing through my body. Close to a year later, 0:16:00.200 --> 0:16:04.800 they would welcome another child, a healthy baby boy. And 0:16:04.800 --> 0:16:08.120 then after my son was born, I experienced my first migraine. 0:16:08.800 --> 0:16:11.320 I'm not very sensitive to sound, but I am very, 0:16:11.400 --> 0:16:16.440 very sensitive to light. And my migraines affect my whole body. 0:16:16.960 --> 0:16:21.040 So when I say I have a migraine, my eyes 0:16:21.400 --> 0:16:24.960 they throb and they hurt. It feels like there is 0:16:25.000 --> 0:16:27.440 a headband going from one ear to the other of 0:16:27.480 --> 0:16:31.600 just like ice picks jabbing into my brain. My migraines 0:16:31.960 --> 0:16:35.520 go all the way down through my spine. It literally 0:16:35.600 --> 0:16:37.840 hurts in my entire body to the point where I 0:16:37.840 --> 0:16:42.080 get nauseous, I throw up, like it affects my gas system, 0:16:42.160 --> 0:16:44.200 Like I can't hardly eat, I can't hardly drink, like 0:16:44.280 --> 0:16:46.400 water will make me sick when I have a migraine. 0:16:49.200 --> 0:16:52.800 Add debilitating migraines to the quickly growing list of symptoms, 0:16:53.120 --> 0:16:55.280 all at a time when this young family should have 0:16:55.320 --> 0:17:00.640 been focused on creating foundational memories together. This is that 0:17:00.680 --> 0:17:03.800 should have been the happiest time of your life. In 0:17:03.840 --> 0:17:05.440 some ways it was, but in a lot of ways 0:17:05.480 --> 0:17:09.480 it wasn't. And looking back on it now, I wasn't 0:17:09.480 --> 0:17:11.800 the mom that my kids needed, and I wasn't the 0:17:11.840 --> 0:17:16.119 moment they deserved, and I will, I'll always beat myself 0:17:16.200 --> 0:17:20.680 up for that. But you were sick. You were so sick. 0:17:21.040 --> 0:17:28.440 And now now they're old enough to understand, and in 0:17:28.480 --> 0:17:31.879 some ways, I still feel like I'm robbing them of 0:17:31.960 --> 0:17:36.360 some experiences in their childhood because I physically can't do 0:17:36.440 --> 0:17:40.600 some things that they want to do. But they're old 0:17:40.720 --> 0:17:44.159 enough now to where they're they're able to understand a 0:17:44.200 --> 0:17:48.639 little bit better. And the way that my kids show 0:17:49.000 --> 0:17:56.439 me grace now it's just it's heartbreaking and it's so 0:17:56.560 --> 0:17:58.160 moving all at the same time. Like I don't even 0:17:58.200 --> 0:18:00.080 know how to explain it. Gosh, I'm sit over and 0:18:00.160 --> 0:18:05.400 blubbert sorry. The psychological stress of her body breaking down 0:18:05.800 --> 0:18:07.560 and not allowing her to be the kind of mom 0:18:07.640 --> 0:18:10.720 she wanted to be was taking a major toll on 0:18:10.760 --> 0:18:14.399 her mental health. Shelby's body seemed to be deteriorating at 0:18:14.400 --> 0:18:17.120 a time when she needed it most, at a time 0:18:17.200 --> 0:18:21.760 when her kids needed her most. As irrational as it sounds, 0:18:22.800 --> 0:18:28.760 I was scared to death that it's really even sounds 0:18:28.800 --> 0:18:31.920 stupid trying to say it out loud. I was so 0:18:31.960 --> 0:18:35.199 scared that I was going to die and leave my 0:18:35.240 --> 0:18:38.880 babies because I didn't know what was wrong, or that 0:18:39.840 --> 0:18:44.520 my family was going to get tired of me being 0:18:44.560 --> 0:18:47.879 sick or me not feeling good. And you know, postpartum 0:18:47.920 --> 0:18:49.960 depression is a real thing, So I mean, I would 0:18:50.160 --> 0:18:52.159 I would be lying to you if I didn't think 0:18:53.040 --> 0:18:55.000 a couple of times that you know, my kids were 0:18:55.000 --> 0:18:58.320 better off without me because I wasn't a good enough 0:18:58.359 --> 0:19:00.919 mom for them. My O b g Y and at 0:19:00.960 --> 0:19:04.520 the time he prescribed me my first round of antidepressants 0:19:04.560 --> 0:19:08.840 that had ever taken, and I took them very begrudgingly, 0:19:09.840 --> 0:19:15.520 but I knew I had to do something. Shelby and 0:19:15.560 --> 0:19:18.200 t J were both determined to find a doctor who 0:19:18.280 --> 0:19:21.880 listened to Shelby's symptoms and looked at her full medical 0:19:21.920 --> 0:19:24.000 history to get to the bottom of what had been 0:19:24.000 --> 0:19:27.200 plaguing her for over a decade. After bouncing between a 0:19:27.240 --> 0:19:30.560 few different primary care doctors, they finally found one that 0:19:30.640 --> 0:19:34.560 truly heard her story, her new family physician, Dr Tim Hart. 0:19:35.800 --> 0:19:37.639 Right now, at this point in the story, I'm playing 0:19:37.640 --> 0:19:42.119 a psychological game. I looked at Dr Hart and I said, listen, 0:19:42.920 --> 0:19:48.160 I am either crazy or there's something wrong. And at 0:19:48.160 --> 0:19:49.679 this point I don't care which one it is. I 0:19:49.800 --> 0:19:52.439 just have to know. I told him. I's like, listen, 0:19:53.440 --> 0:19:56.720 I get dizzy when I stand up, and I don't 0:19:56.720 --> 0:19:58.760 even really pass out, and it's not even a real 0:19:58.840 --> 0:20:02.520 dizzy feeling like it's it's almost like the room kind 0:20:02.520 --> 0:20:04.080 of spinds a little bit, but it feels like my 0:20:04.119 --> 0:20:08.000 legs are going to give out on me. I said, Like, 0:20:08.080 --> 0:20:11.959 I'm literally tired all the time, Like I could sleep 0:20:12.080 --> 0:20:16.960 for days and still wake up tired. My joints constantly hurt, 0:20:17.400 --> 0:20:21.439 my body is constantly aching, my hair is falling out, 0:20:22.040 --> 0:20:26.040 and a plethora of other things. Oh and that's what 0:20:26.520 --> 0:20:28.600 I was like. I can't remember anything, like I feel 0:20:28.600 --> 0:20:30.600 like my brain just doesn't work, not even percent of 0:20:30.600 --> 0:20:34.320 the time. Doctor Hart talks to Shelby about all the 0:20:34.359 --> 0:20:38.560 pieces of her medical past, her childhood riddled with chronic fatigue, 0:20:38.960 --> 0:20:44.040 getting extremely sick and nearly passing out during her periods, PRECLAMPSI, 0:20:44.080 --> 0:20:47.359 of the migraines, the brain fog, all of it. Doctor 0:20:47.440 --> 0:20:50.879 Hart realizes it's not all into her head, It's all 0:20:51.000 --> 0:20:54.760 very real. He first targets the brain fog symptoms with 0:20:54.840 --> 0:20:58.000 some a d h D medication. Shelby sees a big 0:20:58.080 --> 0:21:00.800 difference being able to keep up with her life mentally, 0:21:01.240 --> 0:21:07.919 but her body is still stuck. What for you was 0:21:07.960 --> 0:21:11.520 the moment where you are like, I'm not dealing with 0:21:11.560 --> 0:21:16.399 this anymore. I need answers. Well. Actually, so fast forward 0:21:16.440 --> 0:21:21.200 to and my husband and I were outside hanging Christmas 0:21:21.280 --> 0:21:25.439 lights in November and it's like ten o'clock at night 0:21:26.119 --> 0:21:30.720 and we are painstakingly hot gluing light clips onto the 0:21:30.720 --> 0:21:33.200 brick veneer of our house. Because I'm married to Clark 0:21:33.200 --> 0:21:35.520 Griswold and we're crazy Christmas people and that's just what 0:21:35.560 --> 0:21:40.480 we do. So I'm coughing up along. I can't hardly stand. 0:21:40.680 --> 0:21:44.960 I'm getting dizzy. When I stand up, it's freezing cold, 0:21:45.040 --> 0:21:47.080 Like I'm so cold to the point where like my 0:21:47.160 --> 0:21:51.160 joints hurt. And my husband's like, oh great, you've probably 0:21:51.200 --> 0:21:54.240 got COVID again. He's like, you need to go get tested. 0:21:54.280 --> 0:21:56.280 So I drive myself to the urgent care that's just 0:21:56.800 --> 0:21:59.879 right next to our house almost. So they take me 0:22:00.000 --> 0:22:02.200 ac and they hook up the machines and they're checking 0:22:02.200 --> 0:22:05.600 my vitals and I'm sitting there and I'm out of breath. 0:22:05.880 --> 0:22:08.560 I'm heavy breathing because I've walked from the waiting room 0:22:08.600 --> 0:22:13.639 to the room and they're like, girl, you're in tachycardia. 0:22:15.960 --> 0:22:19.720 Tachycardia is the medical term for a resting heart rate 0:22:19.960 --> 0:22:23.760 over a hundred beats per minute. Something's wrong, some something 0:22:23.920 --> 0:22:28.919 is is bad wrong, And honestly, at first, you know, 0:22:28.960 --> 0:22:32.639 I was terrified there was an actual heart issue, that 0:22:32.880 --> 0:22:35.520 something was going to happen, you know, like a heart 0:22:35.560 --> 0:22:39.640 attack or an aneurysm, or there was a blockage, whatever 0:22:39.680 --> 0:22:46.240 it was, and it was just terrifying. Shelby's body was 0:22:46.320 --> 0:22:49.520 struggling to regulate her blood pressure and heart rate. Her 0:22:49.560 --> 0:22:52.840 tachycardia quickly got worse right when t J had to 0:22:52.880 --> 0:22:55.560 go out of town for work, so shall be called 0:22:55.600 --> 0:22:57.960 two of her best friends who happened to be a 0:22:58.040 --> 0:23:00.800 nurse and a doctor. I'm sitting on the edge of 0:23:00.840 --> 0:23:03.080 the ottoman and he's trying to listen to my chest 0:23:03.160 --> 0:23:05.840 and ever, you know, do the whole basic workup. And 0:23:06.600 --> 0:23:08.760 the lights go out and I go to fall forward, 0:23:11.920 --> 0:23:17.199 look up and he's got ahold of me, and he's like, 0:23:17.760 --> 0:23:21.400 your heart rates out of control, you're hyperventilating. You can't 0:23:21.400 --> 0:23:24.920 get out of what oxygen like shell. You've got to 0:23:24.920 --> 0:23:29.359 go to the emergency room. I didn't know it then 0:23:29.560 --> 0:23:32.920 at that moment, but the next three hours we're going 0:23:32.960 --> 0:23:37.840 to be some of the most traumatic experiences of my life. 0:23:39.400 --> 0:23:42.679 Shelby rushes to the e er with her heart racing 0:23:42.720 --> 0:23:45.800 and her body freaking out, hoping to get her condition 0:23:45.920 --> 0:23:50.320 under control before anything tragic happens. But the attempting doctor 0:23:50.640 --> 0:23:55.360 isn't exactly concerned. I feel like my heart is going 0:23:55.400 --> 0:23:59.320 to explode at this point, and he's like, well, you 0:23:59.400 --> 0:24:01.680 look fine. He's like, you don't look like you're sick. 0:24:02.560 --> 0:24:04.800 He's like, your vitals like normal. He's like, I'll take 0:24:04.840 --> 0:24:06.720 you back and I'll do an ultrasound just to make 0:24:06.720 --> 0:24:10.399 you feel better, Like he's doing me a favor, just 0:24:10.480 --> 0:24:14.359 to make me feel better. The doctor just completely blew 0:24:14.400 --> 0:24:17.800 her off as if it was stress or anxiety, and 0:24:17.880 --> 0:24:21.680 it was just completely dismissive. And you know, it was 0:24:21.720 --> 0:24:24.800 everything that I had not to to march into the 0:24:25.000 --> 0:24:27.439 e er and give the guy a piece of my mind. 0:24:28.040 --> 0:24:29.199 But I knew at the end of the day that 0:24:29.240 --> 0:24:33.520 was only gonna hurt shelby situation more than anything, you know. 0:24:33.600 --> 0:24:36.239 But it also helped the fact that we had one 0:24:36.280 --> 0:24:38.720 of my best friends, Chris, who is an mp D 0:24:39.119 --> 0:24:43.240 and is explaining that this isn't normal, this isn't anxiety, 0:24:43.359 --> 0:24:46.080 this isn't you know. They're not running the panels they 0:24:46.119 --> 0:24:48.679 need to run that kind of thing, which led us 0:24:48.680 --> 0:24:51.800 into going to the right family care providers that did 0:24:51.880 --> 0:24:54.560 listen to us and got her some testing and got 0:24:54.600 --> 0:24:59.120 her to the right people. Doctor Hart was the health 0:24:59.160 --> 0:25:02.879 provider who listened and did more testing. Shelby went to 0:25:02.960 --> 0:25:06.120 him the next day, knowing anxiety didn't explain away her 0:25:06.119 --> 0:25:10.320