Women's Journey Through Misdiagnosis to Empowerment

In this episode "Women's Journey Through Misdiagnosis to Empowerment," sponsored by the Chesapeake Podcast Network, we dive deep into the heartrending yet ultimately inspiring stories of women navigating the complexities of the healthcare system. Host Rich Bennett, along with co-host Kayla Deickman and guest Natalie Corcoran, explore the challenging realities women face when seeking diagnoses for chronic health conditions. Through their personal narratives, we uncover the frustration of being dismissed by medical professionals, the pain of dealing with undiagnosed conditions, and the added layer of grief and loss that complicates their healthcare journeys.

Natalie shares her poignant experience of losing her daughter to
leukemia, a tragedy that brings to light the profound impact of grief on one's
health and interactions with healthcare providers. The conversation also
highlights Kayla's struggle with being misdiagnosed and her eventual diagnosis
of POTS (Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome), shedding light on the
importance of self-advocacy and persistence in seeking accurate medical care.

"Women's Journey Through Misdiagnosis to Empowerment"
not only voices the often-unheard struggles of women in the healthcare system
but also celebrates their strength, resilience, and empowerment as they
advocate for themselves and others. Sponsored by the Chesapeake Podcast
Network, this episode of "Conversations with Rich Bennett" aims to
inspire, educ

Align Rehabilitation's grand opening is Friday, May 3 from 11-2. 

Explore our brand new amputee rehabilitation facility, equipped with the SoloStep overhead track system, and meet President, Michelle Jamin, amputee physical therapy specialist.

Heavy hors d'oeuvres and refreshments will be provided!

While you’re here, stop by our neighbors at Real Life Prosthetics (STE D) and tour the expansion of their lab. You will get to Chesapeake Podcast Network
CPN (Chesapeake Podcast Network) is a collection of podcasts that are somehow tied to the Chesapeake

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.

Transcript

Rich Bennett 0:00
So I am sitting here with actually my newest co-host, Kayla Dykeman, who then she's trying to take over the show because she's already given me a hard time. And she brought in a friend of hers, Natalie Corcoran. And I put the thing out to all my co-hosts, asking them for some ideas and subjects to talk about. And of course, a few of them gave me some and Kayla gave me one. Of course, you know, just like everybody else, if Kayla says Jump, I see how high. So what are we going to be talking about? The Kayla. Why are you laughing at me? 

Kayla Deickman 0:34
Because you're easy to laugh at. 

It's okay. I love you. 

Rich Bennett 0:41
Is it because I'm funny looking or funny or. 

Kayla Deickman 0:43
You're hilarious? 

Rich Bennett 0:44
Funny. Okay, you're. 

Kayla Deickman 0:45
Hilarious. Take that. How you will. But you're hilarious. 

So we're going to talk about 

chronic health issues and how women are oftentimes brushed aside when getting any type of diagnosis. 

Rich Bennett 1:00
So from like the doctor. 

Kayla Deickman 1:02
From the doctor. So this has been an ongoing issue. And I know that it's commonly talked about in social media nowadays. So for all my TikTok friends, I'm sure you've heard of multiple conditions becoming more, quote unquote popular when the conditions have always been out there. They've just been under-diagnosed. These are things like mental health conditions all the way down to physical conditions. I know personally I've dealt with a lot of things involving both areas. However, I know that there's I want to hear my friend here, Natalie, story about how this all kind of happened to her. I know she's been through some stuff recently, so. 

Natalie Corcoran 1:47
Yeah. And I forgot about, like the online stuff, though. I don't know if it's because I'm going through stuff, but you know how when you notice stuff and then you start seeing it everywhere, when you're going through something, there are so many stories online of people that are dying because they they went in and they said all these things were happening to them and nobody was listening to them and they're literally dying. I've seen like two of them recently, like young women. And it shouldn't it shouldn't be happening. And I don't know if it's because of COVID that everyone now, all the doctors and nurses think that people are overreacting. I don't know. Right. So with my situation, I have to go back a little bit. So my daughter passed away when she was three from leukemia. 

Rich Bennett 2:26
And man. 

Natalie Corcoran 2:28
I know and it was really it was really sudden. We only knew about it for three days. And she was pretty much passing, like when they told us that she had leukemia. And given everything that we went through, I think that I was still pretty I don't know, like I handled it well. I feel like, you know, I had another daughter. I got pregnant with her like four months after my daughter passed. And I was not, you know, a hypochondriac with with my daughter. She's nine now. We're not at the doctors all the time. Honestly, we probably don't go enough. I don't know. You know, I just I don't worry about every little thing. 

Rich Bennett 3:01
But you are taking her her vaccinations. 

Natalie Corcoran 3:03
Yes, I do. Yes, we do. All that. 

Rich Bennett 3:06
So, in other words, Natalie is not a bad mother. 

Kayla Deickman 3:10
And you work with kids on a regular. So you're used to seeing like just having, you know, like little things turn things around. 

Natalie Corcoran 3:17
And I think it I mean, I'm kind of proud of the way that I mean, it's been it'll be 11 years next month since my daughter passed. And I feel like I am proud of the way that I handled things. Anybody would have a little bit of maybe a little bit of, if you want to use the word anxiety, I don't even know, you know, I. 

Rich Bennett 3:32
Mean, anxiety or even depression from you. Yeah. Yeah. Because you you're losing it. 

Kayla Deickman 3:37
That's a big. 

Rich Bennett 3:38
Loss, especially losing a child. 

Natalie Corcoran 3:39
Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 3:40
So a lot of people do fall into depression. 

Natalie Corcoran 3:42
And certain things will trigger, you know, your your anxiety or your worry. But overall, I feel like there was never I haven't worried about things with myself or my daughter. So in September, I needed to have a physical. You have to have a physical every two years when you have daycare. So I have a physical. 

Kayla Deickman 3:59
But for you, Yeah. Yep. She runs daycare. Yeah. 

Natalie Corcoran 4:02
Okay. So you have my daycare license? Daycare? I'll see that in my license. But for a couple of weeks, I had been feeling like a weird little spot on the side of my neck. I mentioned it to my mom and you know, she's like, Just get it checked out. So I mentioned it to the doctor, but I was already going there. So she checked that and she's like, Oh, it's just a swollen lymph node. And I was like, okay, well, it doesn't feel like the same kind of swollen lymph node. I had strep throat last year, and I can tell I knew what that was. So but she thoroughly examined my whole neck and I had told her how I was also having like weight issues. I had recently I lost £60, but then I started like gaining and I had worked out a lot in August and it was a September that I worked out a lot. I did the St Jude Challenge and I ran 62 miles and it lose a pound like over the course of a month. 

Rich Bennett 4:55
Yes, we may see you lost £60 in a month. 

Natalie Corcoran 4:58
No. 

Rich Bennett 4:59
Oh, okay. Jesus. Wow. 

Natalie Corcoran 5:01
Yeah. That's not. 

Rich Bennett 5:02
What. See, that's not healthy. 

Natalie Corcoran 5:03
That's not normal. No. In 2021 I started okay, like my, you know, take care of myself. And it was great. So over between 2021 and 2023, actually, I lost it probably in that first year. Maintain that right. But I started gaining weight in the summer and I started working out a lot in August and didn't lose anything. And I worked out more than I ever had and I was drinking a ton of water. I was doing everything right and I just mentioned it. I said, I don't know what's going on. So she put me on Phentermine, which is appetite suppressant. I don't know, you know, if. 

Kayla Deickman 5:36
I. 

Natalie Corcoran 5:36
Had been what, two before. So you know, suppresses your appetite and usually you and. 

Kayla Deickman 5:42
You're familiar with it at this point so you. 

Natalie Corcoran 5:44
Know that was working well with me. I didn't have like blood pressure issues with it or anything, So I left there. The next day I went to swallow actually the phentermine and it and went down funny. And I thought ups where I was like kind of was kind of stuck there. I don't know what's going on. I didn't really think anything of it. I went home, had my mom was at the house of the daycare, kids went home. I was taking a selfie of me and another daycare child. And I noticed in the picture that there was a lump in my neck. And that's that's how people do notice. That's how I heard of, like, what's the guy on on TV? Like not trading space, flip flop or whatever. Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 6:21
Brothers. No, no. The other one. Okay. 

Kayla Deickman 6:24
Yeah. 

Natalie Corcoran 6:25
You don't know. You're just like, No, I do. 

Rich Bennett 6:26
I love watching them houses. 

Natalie Corcoran 6:28
This was like. 

Rich Bennett 6:29
Well, there's a couple of different ones. 

Kayla Deickman 6:30
Too. Yeah, This was a. 

Natalie Corcoran 6:31
Husband and wife, and they're not together anymore. And I think that, I don't know, they might still do the show together. I don't know. But a viewer saw him have like a lump and he went and checked it out and it was like a thyroid thing. So and I've read somebody else that had it like a newscaster. Yeah. So I noticed in this selfie I like saw like a big lump. And I went in the bathroom and I'm checking and I'm like, I'm like, Wow, that's okay. That's weird. That's not normal. And I didn't. It was a Friday. I remember that specifically, and I didn't say anything to anyone, which is not like me. So so I'm brushing off my own stuff at that point. Yeah. So the next day we had a gender reveal party for my brother and his fiancee that we were we were planning. So I didn't want to like, bring it up to anyone at the party. I took my mom to the bathroom and I showed her and the face that she made. I was like, okay, maybe I should take this seriously. She was like, like scared. So it kind of made me just not more scared, but made me realize like, okay, maybe I should go like, get this checked out. Now, Why not? I mean, this is weird. So we go to Upper Chesapeake and they did bloodwork. 

Kayla Deickman 7:37
And the. 

Natalie Corcoran 7:38
Male doctor comes in and he was like, Okay, well, your blood work is good. Like, you know, you can go. And I said, Okay, like, my blood work's good, but I have like this golf ball in my neck. And I said, It's hard to breathe and I have to sleep elevated. I don't really want to go home because I'm worried. 

Rich Bennett 7:54
Yeah. 

Natalie Corcoran 7:55
And then I mentioned my daughter and I mentioned it because my daughter's cancer was so aggressive. It was so fast and it was it was abnormal. It's not the norm. It's not how things go. Well, I'm. 

Kayla Deickman 8:08
There shows familial history on top of it that. 

Natalie Corcoran 8:11
Happened to her. Why couldn't it happen to me? That's not a crazy thought. Like, who would it mention that? Yeah, and I felt when I mentioned it, I don't know. I didn't really get that. I didn't get the vibe there necessarily, but just more so he was like, Oh, okay. Like that's why she's worried kind of thing. Not. He wasn't more worried. It was like, that's why she's worried. I don't know. So he's like, Well, do you want us to do a scan? I was like, Yeah, yeah, I do. That's a yeah, that's exactly how it works. 

Rich Bennett 8:36
Not going to show everything, right? 

Kayla Deickman 8:37
Exactly right. 

Natalie Corcoran 8:39
And I and I know that, like, I have, I don't know more reasons why I think that, but so we do a CT scan and it shows he said it was like a two centimeter nodule and that there were multiple nodules. I couldn't think of the word, I'm looking at you and I'm like, What's the thyroid? Things? Like So but he he was like, you have to, you know, go see, you'll get an ultrasound in a couple of days. And I'm like, Why can't we do an ultrasound? And he said that there wasn't anyone there that could do. And I mean, it's a hassle. You have ultrasound machines. I've been testing before for a fetal ultrasound in the emergency room. I know there's I know they have, but. 

Rich Bennett 9:14
Yeah, but it depends. They have to have somebody there that can run for that. 

Kayla Deickman 9:20
Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 9:20
Because like when you're pregnant, that's different than say, like when I had to get my heart. The sonogram is different. I don't know why. 

Natalie Corcoran 9:28
I know. I thought they were saying. I don't know all of it. If you're okay, I. 

Rich Bennett 9:33
Have no idea. 

It's weird. 

Kayla Deickman 9:37
But so they weren't able to get it done that same day. So how long did you end up having to wait in order to get it done? 

Natalie Corcoran 9:43
So that was Saturday. So on Tuesday I had an ultrasound. 

Rich Bennett 9:46
They got you pretty good. I mean, that's pretty great now. 

Natalie Corcoran 9:49
Yeah. Yeah, there was. Yeah, I got in pretty quick, get advanced radiology and, you know, I can read an ultrasound. You know, they the images are right on the portal. So at that point it was five centimeters. So in my mind, you know, I was sort of in tune and it was now I'm told it's five Yeah, it was three days and it's three centimeters more. 

Kayla Deickman 10:10
Which is rapid growth. Yeah. If you would put it so. 

Natalie Corcoran 10:13
Well they, they they tell me there though that CT scans can be inaccurate. So either way it's five centimeters. So it wasn't two, you know, it's five and five centimeters is the size of a lemon. I was looking at this chart at Upper Chesapeake with my mom of like when they worry, you know, what size is a dangerous thyroid nodule? When do they do surgery? You know, and I this is beyond their like threshold, you know, like when I'll probably remove them after like for C.T. scan did show me my trachea was deviated to the right, which I knew I was having trouble breathing. I had to sleep elevated so that it wasn't compressing it more, you know. So I see that as five centimeters. I think that was the day I think I went to a different hospital that day because, you know, my concern is a little more like heightened at this point. Now. I'm thinking it's rapidly growing. My daughter's tumor at Upper Chesapeake was like dime sized. They flew her to University of Maryland and it was baseball sized within like hours. Right. So this is what I have to go off of. And like I said, if if it happened to her, why? Why couldn't it happen to me? And that's a one in a million thing. So that's why they're like, Oh, well, that's a one in a million thing. And I'm like, okay, well, it happened to me. 

Kayla Deickman 11:27
So now you're having something that seems. 

Natalie Corcoran 11:29
Like just so but I'm not being. 

Kayla Deickman 11:33
That would be a valid concern. 

Natalie Corcoran 11:35
Yeah, I'm not being like, emotional there or like. 

Rich Bennett 11:39
You're keeping your call. 

Natalie Corcoran 11:40
Yeah, I think when I did go to Gbbn that night, I think there was a point where I did start crying, but nothing. 

Kayla Deickman 11:49
You were just. 

Natalie Corcoran 11:49
Like. 

Kayla Deickman 11:50
Overwhelmed with the whole situation at that point. 

Natalie Corcoran 11:52
Yeah. So when we were at BMC that night, so this was like a Tuesday or when it was a Tuesday, the doctor comes in. I think I am crying to my mom, but nothing like crazy, you know, teary eyed, like I'm not like sobbing and he goes, Well, we see you're really upset. Like, we're going to we're going to give you something to, like calm you down. I was like, huh? Like like a sedative of some sort. And I looked at my mom and I was like, I'm afraid to take this because I know, like, what I'm thinking. I know the thoughts I have. I know what I want to talk about. Like, you're going to have to, like, do that for me now. I don't know what he's giving me, and I honestly can't remember right now, but I felt high after that. Kicked in like really high 

and goofy, like. Like drunk, but in a goofy way, I guess. I don't know. 

And he came in and he I think it was that night they kept me overnight. I was really hoping they were going to like, take this thing out. And I think that's why I started crying. I've only been put under once. I was, you know, nervous like all that. But he came in and he specific he said, I feel like this is just anxiety related. And I was like, What do you mean? I mean, there's there's a mass in my throat, Like, I like I'm not making this up. 

Kayla Deickman 13:07
Yeah, it's on. 

Natalie Corcoran 13:08
I'd be related like, this is it like, okay. And then he specifically said, like, I think you have PTSD. And I'm like, Huh, okay, my daughter's been gone for ten years and you've never seen me here before. Like, I don't I don't go to Upper Chesapeake. I don't go to Gbbn. See, I don't hospital hop, doctor, Hop. I've been seeing the same primary care for as long as I can remember. I don't they don't know me. Meaning I don't. I'm not there all the time, you know, I'm not a hypochondriac. I'm not. They're like. 

Rich Bennett 13:37
And he wasn't a therapist. 

Kayla Deickman 13:38
Right? Right. He's not a therapist or a psychologist. Yeah. He is not equipped to diagnose that on the fly. 

Rich Bennett 13:47
And I'm sorry, but you. 

Natalie Corcoran 13:51
The nodule, the mask. 

Rich Bennett 13:52
Yeah. I don't think that's. That's a determination of what I. 

Kayla Deickman 13:56
Was gonna say. That's not that's not psycho symptomatic when there is a full like, you know, in front of your face. 

Natalie Corcoran 14:05
My mom was shocked at it. I think. I think I might have still been high at that point. 

Kayla Deickman 14:10
I don't. 

Natalie Corcoran 14:10
Know. But like. And then he read the reports wrong. So I was I was stalking the the advance radiology report. I wanted to get that report because I. 

Rich Bennett 14:22
Okayed the report. Okay. I'm glad you said that. You said stalking at first. 

Kayla Deickman 14:27
So I had. 

Natalie Corcoran 14:27
The images, but I didn't have a report that was review that was going to tell me, you know, what they saw because. 

Kayla Deickman 14:32
This was in such a tight time frame. Right. 

Natalie Corcoran 14:35
Like I was examining those pictures, I was showing them to people that I know that work in the medical field. And I'm like, okay, so what is what does it being solid mean? What is it being iso echo? It can mean what is, you know, all of those things. So it wasn't looking great. So to me or anybody like this, the things that we could tell that it had were things that. 

Kayla Deickman 14:57
Were concerning. 

Natalie Corcoran 14:57
Thyroid cancer. Like, I mean, it was predominately solid. It was not cystic, it was not fluid filled. Like, you know, my nine year old can tell you that. So like anybody, like being worried about it would be that's this is normal worry. Forget that I like it. Don't forget I lost child. But like that aside anybody would be worried that. 

Kayla Deickman 15:17
That Yeah. 

Natalie Corcoran 15:17
And I was at the primary care remember like the day before I discovered and she didn't feel anything So I'm so thankful that I did have that appointment because I thought that that kind of would help my like case. So to speak, that people would believe me that this came out of nowhere or that it was growing rapidly. But it was. I feel like I'm dragging it out. But it was one doctor after another after another, and another basically like someone like, kind of laughed, you know, at the situation or that I was worried like, Oh, this happens all the time. This is normal. So the GMC doctor read the report wrong. He the report wasn't in yet from advanced radiology. I had gone that day and I went to GMC, like that night. So it wasn't wasn't ready yet. So he comes in and he goes, I think it's anxiety. I think it's PTSD. Like your tumor is only two centimeters. I read the report and I was like my mom and I both at the same time said, what report? It's not it yet. I was refreshing that page constantly. I wanted to know he was looking at the report from the other hospital on Saturday where the CT scan said it was to not add anything from advanced radiology. Where it was measuring is five and an ultrasound is more reliable in this situation like it is five. So we got out of there. The one thing that he did do was set up an appointment with an endocrinologist that same day through GMC. So we went over there after we got discharged and that doctor was equally as dismissive, Oh, it's not cancer, it's what he said. It's, you know, and I get it like statistically. Sure. Most of them are not. But like, I don't know. You still want to get. Yeah. 

Kayla Deickman 16:52
Like don't, don't dismiss a valid concern. 

Natalie Corcoran 16:55
And at one point he he laughed about something I can't remember exactly what now like just, oh, we see it all the time. This is, you know, normal. And I'm like, okay. And I'm trying to explain that this came out of nowhere. That's the part that's really not normal to me. Just came out of nowhere. 

Kayla Deickman 17:11
Oh, the fact that you're concerned, so you're going through multiple doctors and the concerns just aren't being heard. 

Natalie Corcoran 17:16
Yeah, it's sort of at that hosp at that, that appointment I, I honestly I kept my cool because he was going to be doing the FNA like the fine needle aspiration and I am such a I don't know you know me you've known me for like yeah how. 

Kayla Deickman 17:31
Long we've known I've known you for almost almost ten years. 

Natalie Corcoran 17:35
I don't I'm not confrontation. I don't really like speak up. I definitely don't. 

Kayla Deickman 17:41
She really does know. 

Natalie Corcoran 17:43
And at that appointment I looked at my mom like, Oh, I'm going to I feel like I'm going to, like, let my anger out on this guy. Like I'm going to, like, say something. But I didn't because I needed him to do that and I just wanted that done. They want to go like it takes forever to get into an end. So why could I get in that same day? By the way, I was a little weird, you know, like, it takes a long time to get into one. 

Rich Bennett 18:02
The endoscopy. 

Natalie Corcoran 18:03
It was know. And so it takes like moving. 

Kayla Deickman 18:06
It into. 

Natalie Corcoran 18:08
And I'm in the same day with this guy. Why? You know, like, I don't know. But like I do, I just remember him laughing and I just looked at my mom and I was just like, of all the the last couple days built up, I was like, oh, my gosh, Like, this guy's laughing. And and I'm I'm worried and I'm at like, I'm like, hitting a. 

Kayla Deickman 18:26
Wall, isn't it? 

Natalie Corcoran 18:28
Yeah. I'm like, I'm hitting a wall here with all these people, and I feel like I'm not being believed, I'm not being listened to. And I don't know if I was crying or not, but it doesn't matter. Like, I was just like, Oh, my gosh, I'm I'm feeling I'm going to tell this guy to like, I don't know. 

Kayla Deickman 18:42
Take a hike. Yeah. 

Natalie Corcoran 18:43
And just leave. I just want to, like, leave like, walk out. And that's not like me. I'm not. I don't know, I, I don't even speak up enough for myself. 

Kayla Deickman 18:52
She's a perpetual people pleaser. 

Natalie Corcoran 18:53
Yeah, that's what it is. This was just in September. 

Rich Bennett 18:56
Okay? 

Kayla Deickman 18:57
This is this past year. Yeah. 

Natalie Corcoran 18:59
So I went to one surgeon who, again, was right away like, this is, you know, not cancer and hardly ever cancer. I'm like, okay, okay. Like, like I really wasn't if. 

Kayla Deickman 19:10
Even if it wasn't cancer, they should still look at removing the nodule. It's causing you physical pain like it's causing you trouble to breathe. So those cancerous side, it's something that's got a valid concern behind it that needs to be looked into and that needs to be removed. If you can't breathe, you can't breathe. 

Natalie Corcoran 19:29
Right. 

Kayla Deickman 19:32
Go on. 

Natalie Corcoran 19:32
No, it's fine. And then so I went to a second surgeon. There was more about that first one. I actually took a friend with me who works in the medical field because, you know, you want a second person there. You know, when I leave, I want to I want to say, okay, did I not? She took notes, you know, like if you need to hear this. Right. Or also, am I being like, what's the word? I'm not a hypochondriac, but am I too much? Yeah. What? Like that somebody else there that's not directly, emotionally in the situation to let me know. 

Kayla Deickman 20:01
Like, and on top of that, I'm just mentioning this kind of out in the general world. It's always important, especially if you feel like your concerns and any thing, whether it be mental health related or physical health related, make sure your advocating for yourself. And if you can't advocate for yourself, make sure you bring someone with you who can at least validate your information. And also become that advocate for you who's not afraid to tell the doctor, Hey, give him a minute. Yeah, like 

that's important. 

Natalie Corcoran 20:34
And I think, you know, this situation has helped me definitely try to speak up for myself where I should have been all along, you know, just a normal way, because I definitely don't tell people off or anything. But like, I had done a lot of research. I mean, not like WebMD necessarily, but educating myself. I didn't know anything about thyroid, anything before this, but I wanted to learn. I was, you know, studying ultrasound pictures online. I wanted to learn what it all meant. Yeah. 

Kayla Deickman 21:05
And you I remember you were talking to me about it because I have previous experience with thyroid problems because I have a thyroid disease myself. So I remember the concern and all the questions that I was getting. And, you know, they were accurate and valid questions to ask. 

Rich Bennett 21:22
Yeah. 

Kayla Deickman 21:23
Like you want to know these things about yourself when there's something going on. Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 21:29
So how long before they finally did something? 

Natalie Corcoran 21:31
I finally got it out the day before Halloween. I went to a second surgeon. So. 

Rich Bennett 21:35
A month? 

Kayla Deickman 21:36
Yeah, a. 

Natalie Corcoran 21:37
Little. No, it was. I was on. It was about two, four months. September 9th. 

Rich Bennett 21:40
Okay. 

Natalie Corcoran 21:41
September 8th was the day I discovered. 

So I went to a second surgeon. He was okay. He also was kind of dismissive, but I like I stuck with him because I just needed to get it out. 

Rich Bennett 21:51
So during this time, was it getting bigger? 

Natalie Corcoran 21:53
We don't know for sure. Nobody ever actually like, well, was. 

Rich Bennett 21:56
It becoming harder? Was it becoming harder to breathe? 

Natalie Corcoran 22:00
It was always it was just like, boom, hard from the beginning, like from from when I would have said, yeah. So because it was solid, it was hard. 

Kayla Deickman 22:07
And when you went to the second surgeon, it was obviously, even though he may not have taken you as serious as you wish and hoped, it was serious enough that it did have to be removed. 

Natalie Corcoran 22:17
He did say that, yeah, he wanted to. 

Kayla Deickman 22:18
Like it was causing issues with your breathing. Yeah, I remember the pictures. Like that was a mass. It wasn't like today. I showed you the pictures after, right? Yeah. You didn't, did you? Did they ever biopsy? Yeah. Yeah. 

Natalie Corcoran 22:32
So, I mean, it wasn't, it wasn't cancer. 

Kayla Deickman 22:34
But it was a big enough nodule. It was causing problems. 

Natalie Corcoran 22:36
Yeah. With the, the ultrasound they, they score it, there's like a I think it's called a triad when you have a thyroid it's like a was triad four. So it's out of five and it had, it gives you points. So when it's solid you get so many points when it's isoko like you get so many points. What were the other characteristics? Oh, it had micro calcifications. Yeah. So and the only thing I knew about micro calcifications, a good friend of mine recently got diagnosed with brain cancer. Really out of nowhere. I had a seizure in the spring last year and then but the really calcifications and that. So that stuck out to me. I probably wouldn't have even known that. 

Kayla Deickman 23:16
All of these are indicative of there being a bigger issue. And yes, so valid concern for you in the way that you did her something. 

Natalie Corcoran 23:25
Oh, really? Yeah. Okay. I mean, like obviously like I mean. 

Kayla Deickman 23:28
It's not great, but. 

Natalie Corcoran 23:30
This ovarian or uterus, any, you know, they come and go, whatever. But it wasn't it was solid and it you know, it. 

Rich Bennett 23:37
Wasn't going. 

Kayla Deickman 23:37
Anywhere. 

Natalie Corcoran 23:38
And no, and. 

Kayla Deickman 23:38
Solid is always concerning when it comes to any type of like tumor or nodule. And yeah. 

Natalie Corcoran 23:45
When I saw the rating, I think when that report came back, you know, I know it was serious and I wasn't being rational, you know. 

Kayla Deickman 23:52
Column No, I, I think I had all of like three conversations of it and that's good. Yes. I was gonna say they were normal conversations. There was no like hyper emotion about it or anything. 

Natalie Corcoran 24:04
Honestly, I did feel thankful like because I knew that and maybe it's because of my friend, but I knew that that if it were cancer, if you're going to have, you would have this is like the cancer that you, quote unquote, want to have. 

Kayla Deickman 24:17
Because it's it's it's removable. You just take that thing out. 

Natalie Corcoran 24:20
So I really wasn't I sort of worried. 

Rich Bennett 24:23
Like some of your skin cancers. Yeah. 

Natalie Corcoran 24:25
Yeah. Like was it. 

Rich Bennett 24:26
Basal cell I think is. 

Kayla Deickman 24:28
I don't know. I, I. 

Rich Bennett 24:30
Know melanoma can just keep coming back. 

Kayla Deickman 24:32
Yeah, but there are certain ones that, you know, you could you can just remove an organ or you can remove a tissue and that the likelihood of that coming back is slim. And I know that thyroid cancer is one of those because her thyroid you don't have it's not a it's not a it's a necessary organ, but it's not a necessary one that you have to like, permanently have like you have to have your heart to live. You don't have to have your thyroid because there's medications that you can take that will act the same as a thyroid. My personal thyroid issue, I have Hashimoto's disease, so my thyroid does produce the hormones it's supposed to release. However, my thyroid does not release those hormones. It doesn't work correctly. So I have to take medication in order to get those hormones and that will in turn shrink my goiter that I typically have down because then my thyroid says, Oh, you're getting the hormone already. I don't have to produce this as much. So just like when you have your thyroid removed, you still have to have that hormone. So you're typically put on a synthetic version and you're on it. Just your life. 

Rich Bennett 25:44
And the thing that gets me in your case, you had a. 

Kayla Deickman 25:51
Like a physical. 

Rich Bennett 25:53
Something physical. They could see it wasn't like fibromyalgia or lupus, which is hard, or even Lyme disease, which is hard to detect. This is something they could plainly see on the outside, not just from the ultrasound. 

Natalie Corcoran 26:08
Oh, yeah, You could see I mean. 

Kayla Deickman 26:09
You can see I look like it. Look like you said you had another head. 

Rich Bennett 26:12
Yeah, maybe not that. 

Natalie Corcoran 26:14
Big. No, it was. 

Kayla Deickman 26:16
It looked like she could. She swallowed like, a whole golf ball. Like it was. Wow. 

Natalie Corcoran 26:20
Yeah. I mean, it was. Everybody could see it. 

Kayla Deickman 26:22
You know, picture of a snake. That, too. State of mouth. 

Rich Bennett 26:24
Yeah. 

Kayla Deickman 26:25
Yeah. That was your neck in my. 

Rich Bennett 26:28
I don't need the picture. I used to have a snake, so how long before they actually removed it? 

Natalie Corcoran 26:33
So it was the end of October. 

Rich Bennett 26:36
Was Halloween when they day. 

Kayla Deickman 26:37
Okay. Yeah, the day before. 

Natalie Corcoran 26:38
So that second surgeon, like I said, he was a little dismissive in person. I did like him once we had another Zoom conference before the surgery after the FDA came back, the biopsy. So the biopsy came back that that was it was kind of like inconclusive. They couldn't really tell. I don't think that that endocrinologist did a very good, like, biopsy. He was. 

Rich Bennett 26:59
Right. 

Natalie Corcoran 27:00
There was just so many issues. But that the surgeon, the way the surgeon sounded that day on the on the zoom call I like the more he said this can turn into cancer if you don't get this out which I really I honestly didn't know like, I didn't know work like that. 

Kayla Deickman 27:14
I didn't know it work like that. 

Natalie Corcoran 27:16
And he tried to explain how how an FNA works like the needle biopsy. I mean, it was literally right there in the office, the little thing. And I leave my mom, you know, drive home with my mom. I mean, yeah, it didn't feel great. 

Kayla Deickman 27:27
And my dad, he. 

Natalie Corcoran 27:28
Knows the worst. But he said it's like trying to if you have a baseball or if you have a basketball, if a baseball inside of the basketball and you're trying to stab that baseball, the odds are you're not going to. 

Kayla Deickman 27:39
Like, hit it, hit. 

Natalie Corcoran 27:40
The baseball. So it was kind of like that. Like if you have a mass like this, you. 

Rich Bennett 27:44
Really put your ass under when they do. 

Kayla Deickman 27:46
That. No, no, no. Oh, yeah. They that's what it did. 

Natalie Corcoran 27:49
It wasn't like, cut like this. Like, this is like the surgery, but so the, the biopsy wasn't like. 

Kayla Deickman 27:54
Yeah, that's that. Yeah. Unfortunately it's. 

Natalie Corcoran 27:57
Always a great. 

Rich Bennett 27:59
Of that though. 

Natalie Corcoran 27:59
Right. But that, that was the painful. 

Kayla Deickman 28:01
Part than. 

Rich Bennett 28:02
Numbing it. Yeah. 

Kayla Deickman 28:03
Oh because I was like a bee sting. 

Natalie Corcoran 28:05
Yeah. Like a cane. It was not. I didn't like that. 

Kayla Deickman 28:07
No. 

Natalie Corcoran 28:09
But I wanted to get it done. No, my job was already like I was a little fired up. Fired up for me is like, not. But I was already fired. I so I just, I guess, had that, like, adrenaline. Like, I just I wanted to get it done and I want to get out of there. So, yeah, I didn't feel great, but I want to get out of there. Did feel funny for a couple days. I remember it like I didn't like it. I felt scared. Take me back. I can remember for like a second what it felt like. 

Rich Bennett 28:31
Sorry y'all didn't see the faces. You may. Ooh. 

Kayla Deickman 28:35
Sad because I can remember. Was like he was like. 

Natalie Corcoran 28:38
Like, paralyzed and stiff, but it just in that area and I don't know. 

Kayla Deickman 28:42
Did know from this whole experience that you have. Did this change your viewpoint from before when your viewpoint of Doctor is in the way medicine and just the whole system, medical system work from before to now? 

Natalie Corcoran 28:59
I felt like I was I don't know how to compare it like in the Twilight Zone where I know what's going on. My mom knows what's going on, my friends know what's going on. We're all like, I know I'm not being crazy like the quote unquote crazy like I have people in my circle that are like, no, this is this is real. They all sounded luxury. And then you have all these doctors telling you, oh, no, this is normal. This happens all the time. Oh, they also said there's no way that this grew this fast, you know, this big, this fast. This this had all been happening for years. 

Kayla Deickman 29:31
Even though they had scans, they had all the proof in front of them. So it I. 

Natalie Corcoran 29:38
Felt like I was like, I don't know, in another world, like what you guys aren't listening. Like, this is. 

Rich Bennett 29:44
Like you were in a dream. 

Natalie Corcoran 29:46
Yeah. 

Kayla Deickman 29:47
Like, and unfortunately, from what I've seen over the years and people who I've talked to this is a common occurrence where. 

Rich Bennett 29:54
Especially. 

Kayla Deickman 29:55
Now, yeah, especially now we're kind of general or genuine concerns are being brushed aside. I know I've had situations because I was diagnosed with pot syndrome and that's very similar to when someone's diagnosed with lupus. It takes a really long time to develop this diagnosis. And mine was a little different than yours because I didn't initially start having I didn't have a physical bump or a physical bruise or I didn't have this physical aspect that a doctor could look at and be like, Something's wrong, right? So I guess I, I sympathize with you because I can't even imagine having like a physical component and basically being brushed aside. Like, that's that to me is crazy in itself. Just knowing that I spent four years with and I passed out all the time regularly and I was told that I was crazy verbatim. I was crazy and it was anxiety. And mind you, I've been in therapy since I was 12, so and I'm open. I'm big mental health advocate. I believe mental health care is really important. And I but I also do believe that the medical system as a whole is broken. Oh, big time. Yeah. So I went through the whole you know, I had my therapist said, your anxiety is fine, like right now. And at the beginning of the four years I was managing, I was doing really, really well until start Doctors started to brush me aside and say, Oh, this is normal. Oh, your blood works fine. I don't like that. And yeah, and just because something's normal doesn't mean it's normal for you. And I was 24 at the time. I was not. I was six and a half months pregnant with my son. I passed out in the OB-GYNs office when I was taking the Q the glucose test, which I don't like in general, but I have three children and I had never passed out before with this test. It it did always make me really sick, but I never I never passed out. I never even threw up. And a lot of people throw up with that test. I remember standing up in the office six and a half months pregnant and walking to the window and saying, I think I'm going to faint. And I had a nurse grabbed me before I hit the floor. Wow. It was kind of scary. And I the all that they could do for me in that office was say like, wait, try to wait for me to, like, become more coherent and then we'll we're going to have your mom pick you up. And they will they they said in order to not scare the other patients, we're going to take you and we'll go around the other back way. 

Natalie Corcoran 32:49
We should have had an ambulance pick you up. 

Kayla Deickman 32:51
When I was out of hospital. I was at the hospital. I was at Upper Chesapeake. 

Natalie Corcoran 32:55
There could have been so many other issues going on. 

Kayla Deickman 32:57
Right. And nobody wanted a check. And unfortunately, like, they were like, it's normal to pass out with a glucose test. Ladies. It is not normal to pass out with the glucose glucose unless you have diabetes, which is what they are testing for. Right. I did not and I had never, never had gestational diabetes with any of my children prior. 

Natalie Corcoran 33:19
But what is it is better to be safe than sorry. What like what? 

Kayla Deickman 33:22
How well and I didn't I didn't get any checks while I was there. I mean, they did double check the heartbeat, but that was pretty much it at the time. And I was I was a high risk pregnancy due to preterm labor with my oldest. So I was on medication the entire pregnancy. I was in for biweekly and biweekly checks. It was crazy to me. And and these were women these were women doctors who brushed my concern aside, saying it was normal. And I know, you know, you can pass out from exhaustion. You can pass out. But I was sitting down and I passed out upon standing after drinking something sugary. Now, when you have pot syndrome, you are you have to eat and smaller increment meals because of the way your digestive system works. When you're stopped, when you are digesting food, blood rushes to your to to where it needs to be to contract those muscles. And unfortunately, when you have pot, your blood is not doing your blood pressure and all of that is not doing what it's supposed to do. So me digesting a sugary substance, which is a quick digestive product similar to like carbs, are typically quick digesting. It's recommended for people with pot always when you're eating carb, make sure you always have a protein because it slows that process down. And because of this, it did it cause my blood pressure and everything, basically to just my heart rate rose. My blood pressure, I think dropped. And then all of a sudden I was out and but I had been going through that for years before I finally had a doctor. Listen to me the entire time I was pregnant. I brought this up. I think it keeps happening. What am I going to do? And they were like, It's just you're you're pregnant, you're pregnant, you're a woman, you're pregnant. This is what happens. I'm sorry. I'm like, that doesn't happen, like, once, maybe twice, Probably not as many times as it happened to me. Definitely not normal. Yeah. And then from there, you're just. You're breastfeeding. You're breastfeeding. That's. That's the problem. You're breastfeeding. And I was like, I'm breastfeeding, but I'm fainting. Yeah, I shouldn't be fainting. I was going to say I had breastfed my other child for 15 months and prior to this whole passing out, I had lost a lot of weight. I'm a buck 20, soaking wet if I'm lucky, and I have lost £20 after when I was breastfeeding my daughter and I, we got to like really dangerous like things. And what we think is it was probably the onset of the pot syndrome. And I just didn't know when I was got used to feeling like crap all the time. Wow. So now, four years later, it took I went to three cardiologists. Two of them basically laughed and said, You just have anxiety issues. I went to two primary physicians, my my initial primary, who I had since I was 18. She actually stopped practicing and I didn't particularly click with anybody else at the practice. So I did move practices and I tried a practice in Abingdon and it was a family practice and you know, I was I was told it's a great practice. And I went in there and they made me feel so bad. I left and I never looked back. I, I think I still even owe them a bill now that I think about it. But they did an ultrasound of my heart. They did a blood pressure test, and they did do my blood work. But again, it was met I was met with a man that basically was like, you're just psycho symptomatic. And I was like, I'm not crazy. 

Natalie Corcoran 37:10
That's not his area. 

Kayla Deickman 37:11
I was like, I'm not crazy. I was like, I've been treated for anxiety issues since I was young, but I know it's not my anxiety. 

Natalie Corcoran 37:18
That they say that to people because if she does have anxiety or she is seeing a therapist like that, that can be really damaging to say to somebody. 

Kayla Deickman 37:25
Well, and prior to that, I was very confident with my anxiety. And over the course of the years of being constantly told by medical professionals, it was all in my head. I did start to get depressed. I got and I got really depressed and I started not wanting to go to doctors because I was so anxious that they were just going to tell me I was making it up. 

Natalie Corcoran 37:43
Yeah, that's. I started to get anxious, right? I'm like, They're not gonna believe me. 

Kayla Deickman 37:47
Like it right? What is my words saying when I'm telling you how my body feels? But you're not taking me seriously. So like, in the grand scheme of life, like, I did find a doctor that listened, and I found them last April, and, you know, nine months later, I was diagnosed and not even April. I went in, I did do some stuff with my insurance. I had to wear like a halter monitor, which I had been on three times prior with Pat Halter. Not monitors don't typically pick it up because it's not an arrhythmia problem. It's a heart rate issue. 

So I put it on, did my three week stent, did another one for like a week or something. It wasn't anything crazy. Found out I was allergic to the adhesive that they used, so that was great to figure out. And then I had to do a treadmill test, which is basically running on a treadmill stress test. Yeah. The problem with that, though, is I had knee surgery when I was 14, so like, I can't run like point blank, I can't run. So that kind of sucked. But then after that, I filled the insurance quota. 

Natalie Corcoran 38:56
So to make the. 

Rich Bennett 38:56
Treadmill, I. 

Kayla Deickman 38:58
Would yeah. 

Rich Bennett 39:00
On the. 

Natalie Corcoran 39:00
Treadmill, just like general. 

Rich Bennett 39:02
Stress tests, I went and they put me on the treadmill. Yeah. And they were saying something wasn't reading right. So they took me off the treadmill and did the was it the nuclear stress test? 

Kayla Deickman 39:12
Oh, is that the one where you're like, squeezing things? 

Rich Bennett 39:14
Oh, no. They sat me down and injected me shit. Yeah, I don't know. 

Kayla Deickman 39:18
Oh, I don't know. I just. 

Rich Bennett 39:20
Yeah, no idea. It would come to find out it was because I was having heart problems. Yeah. Or I thought it was. And it was the anxiety and I was having panic attacks. 

Kayla Deickman 39:30
And you just didn't know it. 

Rich Bennett 39:32
Yeah, but I had to wear a heart monitor. That's why they put the sonogram on my heart and everything. Because I was. And wear a heart monitor for a week which is not fun. 

Kayla Deickman 39:39
No, no, no, no. 

Rich Bennett 39:41
It's just a pain. 

Kayla Deickman 39:42
It is. It is. I was on I, I've been on three different versions of them and they all suck. But like, so like I did the all the test of ethyl and they put me on a tell table test back in November. 

Rich Bennett 39:56
So what? 

Kayla Deickman 39:57
It's a tool table. So essentially you're laying on a flat table and they slowly incline you into 90 degrees, which is vertical people, that's vertical. 

Rich Bennett 40:07
So where your heads down. 

Kayla Deickman 40:09
Or your head so they rest you so that you're laying flat. Yeah. And they slowly incline you. And I think it's like over the course of like 60 seconds where you have to wear your heads up and your feet are down. 

Rich Bennett 40:23
I know. Yeah. 

Kayla Deickman 40:25
Yeah, right. I wish. But then like, so then my feet when I was upright, within 30 seconds I got delirious like my. 

Rich Bennett 40:36
Your feet weren't on the ground. 

Kayla Deickman 40:37
No, you're your mount. You're essentially, like, strapped to this table. 

Natalie Corcoran 40:41
I mean, that would give me anxiety. 

Kayla Deickman 40:43
It gives me anxiety. And I was anxious out of it. Yeah, but they they did this and they said, you know, if you do have this, it'll be an entertaining test. If you don't have this, you're going to be bored because you have to be strapped for 30 minutes. I don't. 

Natalie Corcoran 40:56
Have it. Couldn't it have still come up as something because you're anxious about being strapped to a table? 

Kayla Deickman 41:01
Not necessarily because they're looking for and they know the difference. Yeah. So like, you're looking for a 30, I think it's a 30 to 40 jump in your heart rate is what's that are. 

Rich Bennett 41:13
Okay. 

Kayla Deickman 41:14
So my heart rate when laying flat which is your baseline was 86 beats per minute that's standard. 

Natalie Corcoran 41:21
Jesus so. 

Rich Bennett 41:22
That your relaxed heart rate was why is usually between 55 and 60. 

Natalie Corcoran 41:27
My relax my relax heart rate is like 110 100. I hold it 110 might be a little much. And that is since I don't want to, I don't want to take it off of you, I'm hit the wrong button. 

Kayla Deickman 41:38
Well, so mine's not So that was my relaxed heart rate was. 

Natalie Corcoran 41:41
99, 4 minutes ago. Okay. We've been sitting here for over an hour. 

Kayla Deickman 41:45
Yeah, Yeah. So, like, so when the baseline was at 86. Yeah. Which is normal range for a woman that's my size and my age. So then when they increase that it went up and I mind you, this is no physical activity. You're not even supposed to talk except to tell how you're feeling. They don't want you to move. They don't want you to nothing to increase your heart rate more than what, Just elevating yourself. So when I they put me up, I was at 140 I think it was 148 or 147. So my heart rate jumped and I, I was like, I'm dizzy. And I didn't fully pass out, but it was I was really close. She lowered me almost right away. I did not last the for 30 minutes that you're supposed to stand that first time around because I just couldn't do it. And I kind of from that point, I get panicky when I know I'm going to pass out. Yeah. And that's just because I'm so used to passing out at this point that it does freak me out. Yeah, I only. So I was like, okay, you know, I recollect myself. They actually then inverted the table. So my head's closer to the floor and my feet are up in the air to get the blood back to my brain. And I immediately started feeling better because with Pat, your blood doesn't circulate appropriately. So people with pots, you might notice that they'll never sit pretty much upright. They'll always have their feet tucked under them. Like I. I am prone to not sitting on a couch, appropriately. 

Rich Bennett 43:14
All right. Explain to the listeners what parts is. 

Kayla Deickman 43:17
So. 

Rich Bennett 43:17
Pretty. I think we're sitting here smoking. Yeah. 

Kayla Deickman 43:20
So POTS is an acronym for postural orthostatic Tachycardia syndrome. Essentially. It was it's it's a mouthful. It was essentially it's just the elevated heart rate upon postural so the way that you're postured orthostatic the increase of your heart rate tachycardia means, you know, tachycardic heart issues. 

So once I did this test to confirm that I do have pot syndrome which isn't, it is a I'm not going to pronounce it right because I can't it's an autonomic nervous system disorder. I don't know if you're pronouncing it an anomaly. It messes with the enamel and it messes with a system in your body that controls a lot of things. And this can be things from stomach issues to digestive problems. This is something that can cause you to, again, faint, lightheadedness, dizziness. It controls pretty much everything about my life from exercise. I can't over exercise, but I can't under exercise because if I do either of those things, my heart xa I can't eat full meals because and this is the way it was explained to me at the hospital. Imagine a normal portion sitting in front of you. Divide that into three. That's what I have to eat. A third of that meal over the course of so long and then I can finish it so long, so my three meals a day might turn into six miniature meals and three snacks, and I'm taking time after each one to sit down and digest so that the increase of the blood in my like to make your stomach work doesn't cause me to accidently pass out the doctor at the hospital also said people with pots tend to have a little bit less blood volume than an average person. So women typically, let's just say they have five liters of blood and someone with pots might only have four and a half. And that's not a problem in and of itself. But the act of you stand up, your blood goes all the way down to your feet and back up, that it's circulating with pot. It goes all the way down and kind of comes up. Now, I might not come up all the way, and that leads to typically called appendages. My hands and feet are constantly freezing. My husband caused me a permanent ice cube 

and you know, it's all this circulatory stuff, but it's hard to prove that that's the problem when your symptoms are. I'm dizzy all the time. My hands and feet are cold. Sometimes my heart feels like it's going to be fast. I pass out 

that it or my stomach hurts and you might have ten different doctors you're going to for these other symptoms and not dealing with the root cause. So like I've seen a gastroenterologist who basically told me, your stomach's just hurting because your stomach just hurts. I did have an endoscopies done that was shown that there was nothing wrong with my stomach. I didn't have ulcers, but she gave me some like I think it was like magnesium or something like that too. Like coke, my stomach. So that, you know, if I did have an ulcer when my. But people with pots tend to not be able to eat, they feel full when they eat. This is also like a sign of like this thing called gastroparesis, which basically means like, I don't want to say like, your stomach's paralyzed, your stomach just doesn't work correctly, which is common in 40% of people who have pads. You typically have this. I remember going to my new cardiologist and being like, Hey, I think I, I think I've got a heart something. And I didn't want to tell him anything that I knew about what I had researched about pads. And I kept my mouth shut because I didn't want him to think that I was doctor shopping for a condition. I didn't want him to think anything less of me. I told him, I've been told that it's nothing. I've been told that I'm just anxious. But I really would want you to look at this. My doctor said something's wrong, and I don't think I've ever met with been met with validation from a medical professional like that. He was like, Something is wrong with you. You're 27, you shouldn't be passing out. And you said, this has been going on for how long? He's like, Why is nobody done anything for you? 

Natalie Corcoran 47:35
And this shouldn't be the rare thing to find somebody who's saying that exact year. 

Kayla Deickman 47:40
And it was very I broke down that office that day and he I basically told him, you're the first person who's ever listened to me. And from there it was, you know, I did the couple tests I'd have you had me run. He called in his specialist. I worked in his office every once in a while. I think he comes in like once or twice a week. But the specialist is a something's. He. He's not an average cardiologist. He handles other things. And he came in that same day, like he said, Wait in the waiting room. He'll be here in an hour. This guy came in, took me out, and he was like, I think you've got this condition. I want you to go to Mount Sinai Hospital. Scheduled me. I was at Sinai within he was like two weeks. And within those two weeks I had my diagnosis of pot syndrome. And since I had that, I now how much salt I need to take in, how much water I have to take because people with pots can drink water like a fish, but it not stick in their body. Well, you don't have the right sodium level. So now I know how to kind of manage it a little better. Am I better now? Is this a lifelong condition? Yeah. But is it something that I now have as an on a medical form that said this has happened? So, you know, other doctor could dismiss my case against it then. Yeah. So now when I go to schedule an appointment with a gastroenterologist, I'm like, this is what I have. Can you look up anything that's related to this to see why my stomach aches, that it? And hopefully I can get some answers. But even just from them and from them confirming that it's pat and doing some like daily changes being put on a medication that helps your heart. I was put on that a pro propranolol, which is a beta blocker. My heart rate very rarely jumps above 120 125 and stays within normal range. When I stand up for the most part, I still get dizzy. I still occasionally feel very present copy kind of feeling, but I haven't actually passed out since I've been put on medication two months at school, which for me was like a rarity for a while. Now I'm okay ish. I have good days and bad days, but now my bad days are taken more seriously. Yeah, and I don't have to constantly tell people. I'm just don't feel good. Well, Kayla, you don't ever feel good. 

Natalie Corcoran 50:06
And that's how I feel. My primary care. Like I'm still kind of on the hunt for the right, the right doctor. It's funny. It's not funny, but in the last six months, the people that I thought were the most caring in the medical field are the people that can't directly help me. I mean, the most helpful people was a new gynecologist that I saw hadn't been in a few years, needed to go. But she took so long and was so genuine about what she was talking to me about. And it was before my surgery. But when we knew like this was going on and she just stood there and was talking to me about hormones and all the things that I felt nurses, I had one nurse at Pbmc say, I'm here to advocate for you, like, what can I do? And I was right before we got dismissed. So I mean, discharged and I just missed that to be discharged. And then I have a family, a doctor that is a family member of mine, family doctor in Michigan who couldn't really help but like was so caring. And I know he's like that with his patients. But yeah, it's hard to come by here. So my primary care, I feel like I'm still advocating for myself. Yeah, I had to do kind of all the the research for all of this. I had to find all the the endocrinologist, like leading up to the surgery. I had to find the surgeon. I would find everybody. And then I would ask her, Hey, can you send a referral here concerning referral, There? Instead of them sort of her saying, okay, we're going to do this bloodwork. She's the only one that actually saw me before he and she's the only one that knew that this wasn't necessarily there or that she didn't feel like, you know, that's the person that should kind of be advocating for me because she has had a regular relationship with me for years. She knows that I'm not a hypochondriac, for lack of a better word. She knew that I'm not in there all the time for every little thing she knows, like the weight fluctuations, all of that. Yeah. And she's not really doing a whole lot. So recently I asked her for bloodwork because I'm still having so many issues. I, you know, had not only the mask removed but half my thyroid removed. So now we have new issues. You know. Yeah. So she's not I had bloodwork done and came back and she said, okay, your bloodwork was normal. Literally your bloodwork is normal. Have a great day. And I said, Okay, but I'm consistently gaining weight and I'm on a medication for something else that that you're not supposed to get anyway. So it's kind of me losing weight. So I don't know why I'm I've been £30 since the summer. I gained £13 since the surgery. There's something that my thyroid, I can tell and it's not just the weight. There's other hormonal things, there's hormonal acne, there's, you know, temperature things. There is just feelings like, you know, emotions that come along with hormones. There's just a lot. And so the bloodwork came back, not normal for me. And then I hadn't. So I had to say that to her. I said, Well, you know, this is h number. My thyroid stimulating hormone is more than double what it always was. 

Kayla Deickman 52:53
So even though it's within normal range, it might not be right. 

Natalie Corcoran 52:58
So she was like, Well, it's normal. Well, I get that it's like in the normal range. But and I didn't know because I just don't know a lot about this. I thought, well, does it matter that it's not my normal Does that, does that make a difference if it's not my normal? Because May 2021 had that bloodwork done just routinely, I guess the number was like 1.2 the other day last week it was like 3.5 or something. Then I looked at my blood work from the hospitals from September when I started going in for the mass, and it was one point something. So even when I had that mass, my thyroid, everything was working correctly. But now, you know, it's not. And sure, maybe it needs more time to regulate, but it's it's producing more of that hormonal hormone to try to stimulate the thyroid to do what it's supposed to do. I'm pretty sure that's what it I'm trying to educate myself online. But if there's just things going on in there, my body is just this doesn't feel normal to me. I know that I shouldn't be gaining weight the way that I am. I know that I shouldn't have all the other things going on. 

Kayla Deickman 54:00
So you know that you now need to advocate to make sure your voice is heard and all of this. 

Natalie Corcoran 54:05
And it just I know it just takes like that one doctor like you had to, like, finally feel like. 

Kayla Deickman 54:11
You're listening to. 

Natalie Corcoran 54:12
Enlist and now you know, you have medication. Because I do feel like I need medication. And it's hard to I don't know. It just obviously takes time to get in, but it's just hard to, you know, prove it. And when you said you couldn't imagine having something physical and not being listened to, I can't imagine having something that you can't see. And yeah, I mean, that's got to be so add aggravating to people like. 

Kayla Deickman 54:37
And yeah it is and I mean and I and I wanted to do this particular podcast because this is obviously something very close to me and close to a lot of my friends. And I don't want this podcast to be something where we're scaring you away from getting help and seeking. 

Rich Bennett 54:51
You're making people. 

Kayla Deickman 54:51
Aware, right? But I do want to make I want to make people aware that you know, you do need to advocate for yourself if you feel like there is something truly wrong or you feel that there is something that the doctors may have missed, it is their job to go over everything with you. And it is. And you need to be able to advocate for yourself. You need to be able to go in there and be like, you know, I feel this way. And if you can't do that for yourself, that's okay too. Then what you need to do is make sure you're bringing someone with you that can do that for you. Because I know had I been had I had the opportunity to bring my husband with me to some of these earlier doctors, I probably would have been listened to. Don't don't. Just because they have the medical degree, don't just let them push your concerns. 

Natalie Corcoran 55:38
I certainly don't go home after that first appointment and be like, okay, it was all in my head. I'm imagining it because you're probably not and it can be so serious. And if you don't, you're not persistent and get tests done like things can happen. It can get worse. 

Kayla Deickman 55:54
Exactly. So and I know this is very, very common for women. I do know that it does happen with men. But as I yeah. 

Natalie Corcoran 56:03
Just going through it like you and I talking, I talk to other people and I do know of a man recently who has gone to so many different doctors because there's there's stuff going on passing out in the shower or like nerve damage and stuff, and he's being dismissed as well. 

Rich Bennett 56:18
Well, and the other thing is, too, with you need to do your research. Yes. Because doctors don't know. 

Kayla Deickman 56:24
And that that doesn't necessarily mean WebMD. WebMD will tell you a thousand ways to die. 

Rich Bennett 56:30
And here's a primary, a prime example. Okay. So my previous doctor, I go once a year. I always get choked up because diabetes runs in my family. I'm always getting checked for that. I told him about Camp Lejeune and the water contamination. He didn't know what I was talking about. He had no idea about it. 

Kayla Deickman 56:50
Okay. 

Rich Bennett 56:51
So I went back to him and I printed out the paperwork that I got. And at the time it was only seven different diseases that which is why he didn't know about it was new. But he right away. He had me get scheduled for a colonoscopy and the endoscopies both at the same time. That was not fun. And I just hope they they used to say that anyways. But he didn't know about this. And now it's up to, I think, like 21 different diseases. 

Kayla Deickman 57:23
Oh, wow. 

Rich Bennett 57:24
Yeah. From that. But you know, now he knows about it. So now you know, and now granted bloodwork is not going to pick up every exam that's. 

Kayla Deickman 57:33
Yeah. Well and that would. 

Rich Bennett 57:35
You know your body better than anybody. 

Kayla Deickman 57:37
Exactly. And yes I agree like you need to be able to also come in and educate your doctor sometimes because I mean medical school is constantly changing. Medical terms are constantly changing. Pot was not something well known. 

Rich Bennett 57:50
Ten year diseases are coming. Well, hell, we saw that with COVID. 

Kayla Deickman 57:54
Yeah, I was. 

Rich Bennett 57:55
Seeing new stuff all the time. 

Kayla Deickman 57:57
Things are changing. And the more again that you know about your body and making sure that you're aware of what's going on with you is important, and then some family history. 

Rich Bennett 58:06
I was just going to say that. And family history, too. 

Kayla Deickman 58:08
Yeah, family history goes a long way. And which is why it's shocking to me that they were brushing your concerns. 

Natalie Corcoran 58:14
Right, that that was I was only mentioning it for familial. My daughter had cancer. You know, it's possible that I could have, you know, eventually have something as well. Yeah. It's and with her having, you know, cancer and passing, a lot of friends said that because of what I went through, you know, when their kids would get sick, it made them kind of advocate for their own kids instead of being dismissed at the hospital or wherever. And they, you know, would order CBC when they normally wouldn't have. So. 

Kayla Deickman 58:42
Well, and I and I I've seen what you've gone through when it's come to that. And I know it's definitely helped me be more cautious when it's come to my kids and definitely take more, you know, have a little bit more concern. We're not super big like I'll take them to the doctors when I feel the need to. But overall, like, that's what we did with the with my oldest daughter and how like, you know, she had some stuff going on and I remember being like, well, my friend went through all of this and I don't want to go through the same thing. Can you please check? Yeah, this. 

Natalie Corcoran 59:17
Was a very rare, aggressive case, but. 

Kayla Deickman 59:21
But you brought up a good point. It does. You sharing your story helps other people tell you. Sharing her story helps other people and and just. 

Natalie Corcoran 59:29
Talking about it with other like you know learning from you all the things that you had to go through and other people when when I'm talking about the survivor thing, I didn't know how many people that I know have issues with their own thyroid or how many people are having issues at doctors offices. So it is really good to talk to people. You know, you're not alone. You know, if people out there are having issues with their own doctors, like don't just go home and suffer like there's somebody that's going to. 

Kayla Deickman 59:52
Talk. 

Natalie Corcoran 59:52
To listen. Yeah. And it just sinks that it's so hard. 

Kayla Deickman 59:56
So and I know that we've got to wrap it up, but if there is one thing that you want, the people who are listening to know and to take away from this, what's something you. 

Natalie Corcoran 1:00:08
Are just not to be afraid to stand up for yourself. I think that just in general I always have been and this has been a huge like wake up learning experience for me. So don't be afraid to stand up for yourself. Like nobody is going to care more about you than you or you know, or your family and friends. Like, talk to them as well and know that, you know, you're not just imagining these things. And like you said, take them with you. Advocate for yourself. Don't be afraid to. This is your life. You know, when I started to like because it would get in my head were these doctors were saying and I thought, I have a nine year old just going to sit here and let something happen to me. Yeah, like I have to go because they got it. Was it But it kind of bad. And, you know, my friend is going through cancer right now and I just didn't want anything to get worse. Yeah, and you have to ask yourself, because who who is going to if you don't? 

Kayla Deickman 1:00:57
Exactly.