00:00:00
Speaker 1: I said to my coworker, I need to go to the hospital immediately.
00:00:04
Speaker 2: Imagine your body being hijacked from within.
00:00:07
Speaker 3: He took one look into my eyes and we're like, something's off here.
00:00:12
Speaker 2: There was nothing I could do to stop it. By an unseen assailant on a ruthless mission to inflict pain. I couldn't catch my breath. It's like your lungs being on fire. Strip away your independence.
00:00:24
Speaker 1: I remember driving home, parking my car and saying to my wife, I'll never drive again.
00:00:30
Speaker 2: And slowly dismantle your quality of life.
00:00:33
Speaker 3: The worst part was the sense of loss, the agony of losing things and continuing to lose things.
00:00:40
Speaker 2: Now, imagine that even your doctors can't tell you why. Is this an issue with the brain? Is this an issue with an eye? They had no idea.
00:00:47
Speaker 3: Nobody could have predicted all of these pieces fit under the one umbrella.
00:00:52
Speaker 2: You're trapped in a diagnostic maze. desperately searching for answers.
00:00:56
Speaker 1: I can remember a doctor telling me, there's nothing more I can do for you.
00:01:00
Speaker 2: And the stakes couldn't be higher. It dawned on us that he might really die. I didn't have a choice. I really didn't want to die. I'm Lauren Bright Pacheco, and this is Symptomatic. a medical mystery podcast where patients become investigators.
00:01:16
Speaker 1: He's our son, and this is what we have to do, and we're just going to tackle it.
00:01:20
Speaker 2: Survivors become advocates. I felt like if he was going to find help, it was going to be us. You never really know how many people you've impacted around the world. You just have to believe you've saved some.
00:01:32
Speaker 1: And that's enough.
00:01:33
Speaker 2: Exceptional doctors become heroes.
00:01:35
Speaker 1: I am so grateful for those people who are fighting for him when we couldn't.
00:01:41
Speaker 2: It was a death sentence.
00:01:43
Speaker 3: And then science came along, and now it's just a chronic disease that people can live with.
00:01:48
Speaker 2: I'm going to tell you a little secret about physicians. We all want to be heroes. And every story has the power. to help someone else find answers.
00:01:58
Speaker 3: You look at this family and you see that actually individual people can make such a difference. I went through hell and I didn't know what was going on.
00:02:07
Speaker 2: Now I'm traveling around the world playing music. So don't let anyone ever tell you this is going to defeat you. Season 5 launches September 22nd. Get it on the iHeart app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get the stories that matter to you.
Speaker 1: I said to my coworker, I need to go to the hospital immediately.
00:00:04
Speaker 2: Imagine your body being hijacked from within.
00:00:07
Speaker 3: He took one look into my eyes and we're like, something's off here.
00:00:12
Speaker 2: There was nothing I could do to stop it. By an unseen assailant on a ruthless mission to inflict pain. I couldn't catch my breath. It's like your lungs being on fire. Strip away your independence.
00:00:24
Speaker 1: I remember driving home, parking my car and saying to my wife, I'll never drive again.
00:00:30
Speaker 2: And slowly dismantle your quality of life.
00:00:33
Speaker 3: The worst part was the sense of loss, the agony of losing things and continuing to lose things.
00:00:40
Speaker 2: Now, imagine that even your doctors can't tell you why. Is this an issue with the brain? Is this an issue with an eye? They had no idea.
00:00:47
Speaker 3: Nobody could have predicted all of these pieces fit under the one umbrella.
00:00:52
Speaker 2: You're trapped in a diagnostic maze. desperately searching for answers.
00:00:56
Speaker 1: I can remember a doctor telling me, there's nothing more I can do for you.
00:01:00
Speaker 2: And the stakes couldn't be higher. It dawned on us that he might really die. I didn't have a choice. I really didn't want to die. I'm Lauren Bright Pacheco, and this is Symptomatic. a medical mystery podcast where patients become investigators.
00:01:16
Speaker 1: He's our son, and this is what we have to do, and we're just going to tackle it.
00:01:20
Speaker 2: Survivors become advocates. I felt like if he was going to find help, it was going to be us. You never really know how many people you've impacted around the world. You just have to believe you've saved some.
00:01:32
Speaker 1: And that's enough.
00:01:33
Speaker 2: Exceptional doctors become heroes.
00:01:35
Speaker 1: I am so grateful for those people who are fighting for him when we couldn't.
00:01:41
Speaker 2: It was a death sentence.
00:01:43
Speaker 3: And then science came along, and now it's just a chronic disease that people can live with.
00:01:48
Speaker 2: I'm going to tell you a little secret about physicians. We all want to be heroes. And every story has the power. to help someone else find answers.
00:01:58
Speaker 3: You look at this family and you see that actually individual people can make such a difference. I went through hell and I didn't know what was going on.
00:02:07
Speaker 2: Now I'm traveling around the world playing music. So don't let anyone ever tell you this is going to defeat you. Season 5 launches September 22nd. Get it on the iHeart app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get the stories that matter to you.
