Show Notes
Grace Sullivan was only 17 when she was hit by unexplained bouts of uncontrollable vomiting that would last for days, even weeks. Countless trips to the ER, tests with no conclusive results, and no clear indicator for the root cause. After 19 hospitalizations in the span of two years - Grace believed she may never get better…especially when it became clear that the thing causing these episodes was something she had become completely reliant on.
We want to hear from you! Share your own medical mystery or tell us about the episode you connected with the most at [email protected].
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You can learn more about Dr. Andrew Meltzer's work on CHS here: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39985554/. If you or a loved one are struggling with addiction, you can find resources at usa.gov/substance-abuse. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
More from Symptomatic: A Medical Mystery Podcast
Travis Bolt was a charismatic kid with an old soul…and a natural talent for music. When Travis turns eight years old, he begins to experience uncontrollable muscle movements that continue to escalate in intensity. He starts getting in trouble in school, injuring himself inadvertently, and faces years of medical trial treatments that create new health problems. All the while, Travis endures relentless bullying at school—not only from fellow students, but from teachers as well, the result of ignorance and a lack of understanding about his condition—until he stumbles upon an unconventional treatment that changes everything.
Let's revisit one of our favorite episodes from Season 1. Zach was your average 11-year-old who loved pizza, sports, and going fishing with his Dad until an incident at a baseball game changed his life forever. As an illness quickly takes hold and wreaks havoc on his body, it’s a race against the clock to figure out what’s happening and save Zach’s life. All new medical mysteries are back next week! * * * * * * ****** SPOILER ALERT BELOW ****** To find out more information on Sepsis, visit Sepsis.org. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
This is part two of Len Geiger’s story. The last we heard from Len, he was flying over the handlebars of his mountain bike only three months after receiving a miraculous lung transplant that had saved his life.
Len Geiger was a perfectly healthy, athletic young man with no signs of illness…but when Len enters his late twenties he starts falling ill with chronic chest infections. By age thirty - Len begins to experience breathlessness so debilitating he can barely walk across a parking lot. 10 years after the onset of symptoms, Len is dying from lungs that can no longer function due to a disease often overlooked in testing.
Brendon Paradis began to lose his vision out of nowhere. Doctors spend decades trying to stop the unexplained hemorrhaging in his retina with no success. Brendon has attempted to come to terms with his fate but when his son Keegan begins to show a more rapidly advancing version of this mystery condition, they reignite the search in a race against the clock to save Keegan’s vision.