S2 E1: She Had the Medical Mind

[0] Wondry Plus subscribers can listen to something was wrong early and ad -free right now.

[1] Join Wondry Plus in the Wondry app or on Apple Podcasts.

[2] I'm Dan Tversky.

[3] In 2011, something strange began to happen at a high school in upstate New York.

[4] A mystery illness, bizarre symptoms, and spreading fast.

[5] What's the answer?

[6] And what do you do if they tell you it's all in your head?

[7] Hysterical.

[8] A new podcast from Wondry and Pineapple Street Studios.

[9] binge all episodes of hysterical early and ad -free on Wondery Plus.

[10] This podcast is intended for mature audiences and could be triggering to some.

[11] Please use discretion when listening.

[12] I first started messaging with tea during season one of this podcast, and I was instantly intrigued and horrified by her story.

[13] There are so many unique facets to the story that still perplex me even months later.

[14] This story is hard to believe that it's even real, and yet it is.

[15] While very different than Sarah's experience from season one, at times there are many of the same emotions.

[16] The deception that T, her family, and co -workers experienced is traumatizing, baffling, and disturbing.

[17] I'm Tiffany Reese, and this is, something was wrong.

[18] By a strange you know me, you don't know me well at home.

[19] Thinking of me, you don't know me well.

[20] By a strange twist of fate, T also lives close to me, so I was able to meet and interview her in person.

[21] She welcomed me inside her home with open arms this past July, and I was immediately blown away by how cool her house is.

[22] It's filled with eclectic artwork and antiques, and most importantly, lots of animals.

[23] In fact, throughout this season, you will hear some adorable light background sounds of set animals, panting, barking, you know, you get the gist.

[24] That's just Beaumont and Lily.

[25] T's two giant, great Pyrenees dogs and her daughter's cat, Jorge.

[26] They also have 35 coy fish.

[27] My name is T. I live in northern California.

[28] I work at a veterinary hospital for 18 years now, And I'm originally from Oklahoma.

[29] So I met my husband when I was in high school, 16 years old, and got married at 19.

[30] I ran away to California.

[31] And that's how I ended up in California.

[32] And then we got married.

[33] And then, yeah, been in here ever since.

[34] And I love California.

[35] I absolutely love it compared to Oklahoma City.

[36] It's hot and flat.

[37] And I find that people aren't quite as hippie -dippy and open.

[38] And I'm a hippie at heart.

[39] So I really like the live and let live, and people love who they want to love and be who you are.

[40] And I'm a little eclectic myself.

[41] So I like that in people, and I like being in Northern California is really accepting of everybody I feel like.

[42] So I love it here.

[43] T lives with her husband Kurt, whom she fell in love with back in high school.

[44] Together they made Sarah, which they both agree is the best thing that they've ever done.

[45] done together as a couple.

[46] In order to better understand who Tee is, I asked her friends and family to describe her as a person.

[47] Please note some of the names in this story have been changed for anonymity purposes.

[48] She's my favorite person in the whole world.

[49] She just lights up a room.

[50] That's Jen, T's friend and coworker of many years.

[51] Super bubbly and happy and positive.

[52] She's the type of person that strangers just kind of gravitate towards two and just want to talk to her and tell them their story.

[53] You know, she's just a random person, but strangers just love her.

[54] Here's T's daughter, Sarah.

[55] I would always say if you met one of us, you've met both of us, very eccentric and outgoing and confident, caring.

[56] She's very caring and motherly.

[57] That's why she's got her nickname.

[58] This is Kurt, T's husband.

[59] It's mama bear.

[60] If you, I mean, you know, Mama's in your past.

[61] She come across these people and they gather everyone around.

[62] I mean, when we were together early in our relationship, she's out here with no family.

[63] My family is all out here.

[64] She arranged all the family gatherings.

[65] The camping trips, she would make the reservations, all that stuff.

[66] So she's not there.

[67] She's got everything together.

[68] She did that more than anybody.

[69] Very caring, and she has always attracted people who will steal her soul.

[70] So I have an awesome job.

[71] I actually still love my job.

[72] I've been there 18 years.

[73] My boss is the doctor.

[74] He owns the practice there.

[75] He is my best friend.

[76] I stood up for him at his wedding.

[77] I was made a bonner for his wife.

[78] And he is a very interesting person.

[79] He is very zen.

[80] He is very positive.

[81] He's never negative.

[82] He always listens.

[83] And, you know, I can be a little much.

[84] sometimes and he will walk me off the wall, which is interesting to have that as your boss.

[85] He is my boss, but he's also my family.

[86] I did have a rough relationship with my family and my parents.

[87] And so I made my own family when I came out here and he is definitely my family.

[88] And his wife is definitely my family.

[89] And so he's always been there for me. We had children that are the same age and teenagers and they go through a lot.

[90] And so we really, you know, he would help me talk it out if I was having a problem.

[91] But it was a small animal hospital.

[92] And it was busy.

[93] He was my doctor before I started working there.

[94] I would take my animals there.

[95] And one day I walked in the door to get some medication for my dog.

[96] And he's like, hey, I was just thinking about you.

[97] And I go, what were you thinking?

[98] He goes, oh, my receptionist is leaving.

[99] you want a job?

[100] And I was like, no, not really.

[101] I'm really enjoying what I'm doing now.

[102] And he goes, oh, come on.

[103] And I was like, are you looking for full time, part time?

[104] And he's like, full time.

[105] And I go, well, I could give you maybe part time.

[106] He goes, all right, call the practice manager tomorrow and set up your training.

[107] Never happens like that.

[108] How weird is that?

[109] And then I call the practice manager the next day.

[110] And she was like, huh?

[111] What?

[112] He did what?

[113] Oh, okay.

[114] Well, let's, uh, I guess you can start after the 4th of July.

[115] And so I did.

[116] I had no experience.

[117] I just, which is unheard of.

[118] I mean, I ended up becoming the human resources director there and doing all the hiring and firing.

[119] And I would never hire someone who had zero.

[120] Like, I don't, it just worked out.

[121] It was just a really weird thing.

[122] And it worked out.

[123] And I was really good at my job.

[124] And the hospital is super cool.

[125] It was already established when he bought it.

[126] It was small.

[127] We had two exam rooms.

[128] We're always busy.

[129] He's a scientist, too.

[130] So he's, he likes, uh, explaining and teaching.

[131] And so I was very fascinated with like surgeries.

[132] And he is, he's a very good teacher like, talked to you and tell you, okay, so I'm doing this.

[133] I'm doing that.

[134] And my family, my husband's like, you're never going to be able to do that.

[135] That's going to, you're, that's going to gross you out.

[136] You pass out when you get blood.

[137] But nope, turns out I really dig all that.

[138] And it's really a great job.

[139] So fun.

[140] We either are bad days.

[141] Definitely when you have to lose an animal or put an animal down.

[142] Sometimes I'll lock myself in the bathroom and cry.

[143] Sometimes I'll lock myself in the bathroom and I'll call my husband and he'll go, oh, did you lose a patient?

[144] And sometimes it really rips your heart out.

[145] The veterinary field is very hard.

[146] It has one of the highest suicide rates of any profession.

[147] But it's also very rewarding and I feel like I have a gift to comfort people at that time, which I did not think I had that gift, but I do.

[148] At the time of this story, the clinic was fairly small and very close -knit, much more like a work family than a group of co -workers.

[149] At this veterinary office, T first met Sylvia.

[150] Where we are located, there's a pet store right down the street and a reptile store right down the street, and he met her at one of those places.

[151] We did well checks for the animals at those places, so he would go to those pet stores and check off their puppies and kittens, make sure they were healthy enough for sale, or if they had somebody sick.

[152] So we did.

[153] business with those places.

[154] He met her there.

[155] He said, hey, you know, I need an animal care attendant.

[156] Would you be interested?

[157] And she was like, yeah.

[158] And he goes, well, come on down for an interview sometime.

[159] So she came down.

[160] This is like 2002.

[161] She did an interview.

[162] Very beautiful, vibrant, bright, brilliant young woman, very full of life and educated, although she's only very young.

[163] She was not that educated.

[164] She was 22.

[165] You can't be that educated.

[166] 22.

[167] But she came on board and she started as an animal care tenant, which is cleaning the kennels out of veterinary hospital, walking the dogs, changing litter boxes, keeping the lab area, the back of the hospital clean.

[168] She was very good at it, very energetic.

[169] She had a good work ethic, very hard worker.

[170] And I didn't immediately, like, she was just a co -worker.

[171] And she worked in the back half of the hospital and I work in the front half of the hospital.

[172] So I would see her, but I didn't, like, I didn't work side by side right then.

[173] I remember going out to my car one day, and she was going out to her car.

[174] That was the first time I really talked to her, and I'm like, hey, I'm just curious.

[175] Like, you know, are you married?

[176] Do you have kids?

[177] Like, you know, and she goes, actually, I have five children.

[178] And I was like, what?

[179] What are you?

[180] Like, 18 years old?

[181] Like, she looked even younger than she was.

[182] She was, no, I can't remember if she said she was 21 or 22.

[183] But she said, yeah, I married and I married someone who has three kids and then I have two kids.

[184] I go, you have two kids.

[185] She goes, yeah, I was a teen mom.

[186] I had my daughter at like 16 and then I had my son at like 18, 19.

[187] So she had two children fairly close together.

[188] And she said, yeah, when I had my daughter, I got my own place and I was, you know, emancipated.

[189] I just, you know, I did my own thing.

[190] And then I was intrigued by her.

[191] So when I first met Sylvia, she was just really seemed kind.

[192] That's Jen, T's friend and coworker.

[193] And caring and compassionate.

[194] She really kind of took me under her wing and wanted me to learn the job well.

[195] She always had a smile on her face and she was kind and caring and people always opened up to her.

[196] First real memory I have of sitting down and having conversation.

[197] This is Kurt T's husband.

[198] was we met at a restaurant it was one of the functions it was a work function okay so we sat at the bar and she was there and she was dressed in black and she had a look about her you know which was interesting you could have conversation but not didn't exude anything one way or the other nothing negative so no I just thought she was cool cool chick shortly after she started working there I would say within like three months I believe it was her husband that called us and said she was super sick, she got West Nile virus.

[199] What?

[200] That's crazy.

[201] And her mom lived in Canada.

[202] And I remember her mom was going to fly out and help take care of her.

[203] And she was gone for several weeks with this, and it was very odd.

[204] According to the CDC, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, West Nile virus is the leading cause of mosquito -borne disease in the continental United States.

[205] It is most commonly spread to people by the bite of an infected mosquito.

[206] About one in five people who are infected develop a fever and other symptoms.

[207] About one out of 150 people infected develop a serious, sometimes fatal illness.

[208] And then after that, she came to work and a few months maybe went by and she came in with a black eye.

[209] I was like, hey, you know, dude, what's going on?

[210] Why do you have black eye?

[211] And she's like, yeah, my husband threw something at me, we're in a fight, we're not getting the longwell.

[212] And I was like, well, that's not okay.

[213] And she's like, I know.

[214] And then she was coming to work and you could tell that something was wrong.

[215] She was arguing with her husband a lot.

[216] She wasn't getting along with her husband.

[217] She struck him with her motor vehicle.

[218] She had been under the influence and she left him there.

[219] In January 2022, local woman Karen Reed was implicated in the mysterious death of her boyfriend, Boston police officer John O 'Keefe.

[220] It was alleged that after an innocent night out for drinks with friends, Karen and John got into a lover's quarrel en route to the next location.

[221] What happens next?

[222] Depends on who you ask.

[223] Was it a crime of passion?

[224] If you believe the prosecution, it's because the evidence was so compelling.

[225] This was clearly an intentional act.

[226] And his cause of death was blunt force trauma with hypothermia.

[227] Or a corrupt police cover -up.

[228] If you believe the defense theory, however, this was all a cover -up to prevent one of their own from going down.

[229] Everyone had an opinion.

[230] And after the 10 -week trial, the jury could not come to a unanimous decision.

[231] To end in a mistrial, it's just a confirmation of just how complicated this case is.

[232] Law and crime presents the most in -depth analysis to date of the sensational case in Karen.

[233] You can listen to Karen exclusively with Wondery Plus.

[234] Join Wondery Plus in the Wondry app, Apple Podcast, or Spotify.

[235] Scammers are best known for living the high life until they're forced to trade it all in for handcuffs and an orange jumpsuit once they're finally caught.

[236] I'm Sachi Cole.

[237] And I'm Sarah Haggy.

[238] And we're the host of scam influencers, a weekly podcast from Wondery that takes you along the twists and turns of some of the most infamous scams of all time the impact on victims and what's left once the facade falls away.

[239] We've covered stories like a Shark Tank certified entrepreneur who left the show with an investment but soon faced mounting bills an active lawsuit followed by Larry King and no real product to push.

[240] He then began to prey on vulnerable women instead, selling the idea of a future together while stealing from them behind their backs.

[241] To the infamous scams of Real Housewives stars like Teresa Judice, what should have proven to be a major downfall only seemed to solidify her place in the Real Housewives Hall of Fame.

[242] Follow Scamfluencers on the Wondry app or wherever you get your podcasts.

[243] You can listen to Scamfluencers early and ad -free right now on Wondry Plus.

[244] And then she came to work, and this was within six months of her starting there.

[245] And she said, I went to the doctor.

[246] I found out I have cancer.

[247] I remember her pulling me into one of the exam rooms to tell me personally and privately.

[248] I'm the mama bear at the hospital.

[249] I take care of everybody.

[250] And I had already established that kind of relationship with her as well.

[251] Although at that time, we weren't like having dinner together or hanging out.

[252] But she pulled me into an exam room, and she said, I have cancer and it's bad.

[253] It's ovarian cancer.

[254] And at the time, I'd only known one other person that had ovarian cancer and it was actually a co -worker of ours mom had ovarian cancer and her belly swelled up really big and she died within four months being diagnosed with ovarian cancer.

[255] So when she said ovarian cancer, instantly my heart went to my stomach and I was just sick to my stomach.

[256] And I remember not processing it right then.

[257] I just couldn't process that.

[258] That was too much for me. I was just like, oh.

[259] So then, you know, you research it.

[260] You go home and you research it a little ovarian cancer.

[261] What does that look like?

[262] Like what does that mean?

[263] Like I don't even know what that means.

[264] And the research I did on it said that one and four women live four years.

[265] So four women that have ovarian cancer, only one make it to four years.

[266] The other three have died.

[267] It's not a good survival rate, especially in 2002.

[268] The statistics may be different.

[269] right now.

[270] I don't know.

[271] I hope I never have to find out what the statistics are anymore.

[272] But back then, that was the actual statistics.

[273] One and four women will make it to four years, and nobody makes it past four years, pretty much.

[274] Very rare.

[275] According to the National Cancer Institute, there are over 22 ,000 cases of ovarian cancer and over 14 ,000 deaths from the condition each year.

[276] The vast majority of cases are found at stage 3 or later, meaning the cancer has spread beyond the pelvis or to the lymph nodes.

[277] About 1 .3 % of women will be diagnosed with cancer of the ovary at some point in life.

[278] Thus, it is relatively rare.

[279] The median age of diagnosis is 63.

[280] However, approximately 25 % of cases are diagnosed between the ages of 35 and 54.

[281] I am a very empathic, caring person to a fault, to my detriment.

[282] And, I am a very empathic, caring person to a fault, to my detriment.

[283] immediately I went into that mode.

[284] I asked her to lunch.

[285] I can still remember where we went.

[286] I can remember sitting there and I can remember her saying, what made you decide to ask me to lunch?

[287] And I'm like, I feel like I need to help you.

[288] I feel like I'm supposed to help you through this.

[289] And she was like, that's so awesome.

[290] You know, that's so kind of you.

[291] Thank you so much.

[292] And I felt the need.

[293] I felt like I, this is what I'm, I am supposed to help this person.

[294] Like I felt it inside of my being.

[295] and you instantly have love for someone that you know it's dying.

[296] With children.

[297] Yeah.

[298] Yeah.

[299] So right after she's diagnosed, she leaves her husband.

[300] He's abusive.

[301] He's not supportive of the cancer.

[302] He's not treating me well.

[303] I'm like, what do you mean?

[304] Is he not helping you?

[305] I don't understand.

[306] You have cancer.

[307] You're sick.

[308] No. Well, and he gave you a black guy.

[309] Get out.

[310] You know.

[311] And she did.

[312] She got her own place, actually not far from where I live.

[313] And it was a cute little tiny, like little granny house that had like two bedrooms.

[314] It was super small.

[315] She lived there with her daughter and her son.

[316] They were, I want to say the son was like in kindergarten, first grade.

[317] And then the little girl was grade school, though, grade school, very little children.

[318] Her son did not talk a lot.

[319] But the little girl was chatty Kathy, so it was so fun.

[320] It became very close with the family.

[321] And I try to document this in my head.

[322] and for you by places that she lived, that'll be the easiest for me. So I probably will refer to that a lot.

[323] That's easier to tell the story.

[324] We're such a tight -knit community at the veterinary hospital.

[325] There was just a few receptionists there at the time.

[326] And I can remember her calling my coworker and myself one day crying, very upset.

[327] I took a shower.

[328] I was running my hand through my hair and all my hair started falling out.

[329] That's horrible, trying to talk her off the ledge.

[330] And then she's like, so I just got out of the shower and I just took a razor and I shaved the rest off.

[331] So that day, talked to my coworker, we are support system of one another because this is happening.

[332] It's terrible.

[333] That day, my daughter and I went out.

[334] We bought a beautiful chest box thing and we went and bought tons of hats, like probably 30 hats, like different scarves, hats, different things.

[335] And we put them all in the box.

[336] And then I am an artist, a painter.

[337] Occasionally, things turned out okay.

[338] and I had an original painting watercolor of a beautiful purple iris, and it was already professionally framed.

[339] And so I was like running through my house, like trying to get a little like care package, right?

[340] So I pulled that painting off my wall and my daughter and I drove to her house and we left that on her front step.

[341] And she was grateful and, you know, I saw her wearing the scarves and the hats and she would come to work and she would be bald and pale and she was still coming to work pretty regularly.

[342] she always had dogs, cats, what have you.

[343] She goes to the dog park, and she says, she comes to work and she says, I met somebody.

[344] Well, oh, that's exciting.

[345] And she goes, he's a cop.

[346] And I'm like, huh, okay.

[347] And he has like a Rottweiler.

[348] He's really handsome.

[349] He has a Rottweiler.

[350] And he invited me to go out.

[351] And I go, good, good for you.

[352] At this point, you have to remember, too, that she has, like, the shaved, like, it's grown back a little bit at this point.

[353] so she has some little hair, but not, you can definitely tell that, like, her head had been shaped.

[354] I remember not too long after talking to her about this.

[355] And, you know, I was kind of excited for her.

[356] That's nice.

[357] Hot cop.

[358] I'm good for you, girl.

[359] And then I can remember she brought him to the hospital for some reason.

[360] I think his dog needed a shot or something like this.

[361] So he came through and he had a mastiff and a Rottweiler.

[362] And he was handsome.

[363] And I met him.

[364] They just like started dating.

[365] And I'm like, wow, what a great guy that would date somebody with cancer.

[366] And I remember asking her, does he know you have cancer?

[367] And she's like, yeah, and he just, he thinks I'm amazing and beautiful and wonderful.

[368] And I was like, wow, what a godsend.

[369] How awesome, right?

[370] So they date and then they, he wants me to move in with him.

[371] And this is really where our relationship goes to the next level.

[372] As friends, caretaker, this is a big step.

[373] And like this progression.

[374] So she moved to a little, she moved into his house.

[375] He had a house.

[376] It was in Orangeville, Jason.

[377] She with her two kids, moved in to this police officer's house.

[378] He had no children.

[379] And I went over there and I was like, oh, this is what a great guy, you know, and I'm like, let me paint the kids rooms for you.

[380] You know, let me do something fun for the kids' rooms.

[381] And so I went over there and I painted the little girl's room with clouds all over.

[382] It's been a whole day putting clouds and stuff.

[383] And I can remember.

[384] she sat in there and talked to me the whole time I did it.

[385] And, you know, this is one of our bonding, getting closer relationships.

[386] And she's like, I don't understand why you're doing this for me. Like, why are you being so nice to me?

[387] And why are you doing this for me?

[388] And what made you decide to offer to do this?

[389] And I go, I really feel like I'm supposed to help you through this.

[390] That was my mantra.

[391] Like, I felt it in the core of my being.

[392] I'm supposed to help this young woman.

[393] And she's like, well, I'm just so grateful for you and for all you've done.

[394] And, you know, you're supposed to.

[395] Because I was calling her regularly talking, you know, how are you?

[396] How are you feeling?

[397] Like I said, this was like a new step, like a new, this was like when it all released the progression of me really like giving up myself, you know, I'm giving and then trying to organize.

[398] And I can remember the practice manager, she's a very known nonsense kind of person.

[399] She actually is the female version of my husband.

[400] So they're very much alike.

[401] So I know how to treat them both because they are the same person.

[402] But one and is one.

[403] Yeah.

[404] They're not that.

[405] I'm very squishy.

[406] Like, I love you.

[407] Like, hippie -dippy.

[408] And they're very logical.

[409] Never thinks with her heart, thinks with her brain.

[410] My husband's the same way.

[411] So it's kind of funny.

[412] And I can remember her saying to me, what about the guy she's living?

[413] Like, why do I have to make a meal?

[414] Like, and I'm like, but he's a police officer and he's working nights.

[415] And she's working care during the day.

[416] And she has cancer.

[417] And she's dying.

[418] And like, we have to do a meal train like we knew about cancer ovarian cancer this is kurt t's husband and basically from what everything we know everything i know that's death sentence and um she was helping me start it out really slowly she took on that motherly thing again where she was organizing things as uh sylvia got sicker and take her to treatments because usually it'd be someone to drive and drop her off and then somebody would pick her up And we'd go see her at her house, people to bring meals when she was going through her chemo treatments.

[419] So when she was getting really sick and help with the kids.

[420] You know, coordinating meal train.

[421] So, okay, like, you know, here's T's daughter, Sarah.

[422] We had treatment today.

[423] You know, she's not going to be able to cook dinner.

[424] So how about somebody bringing, you know, dinner for the kids?

[425] So the kids have a meal.

[426] Go sit with the kids and hang out because she's going to be in bed, that type of stuff.

[427] And like, we'd help take care of the animals, clean the house.

[428] At this point, she's starting to get sicker.

[429] And all of a sudden, she decides I want to be a nurse.

[430] I'm going to nursing school.

[431] I'm like, how are you going to go to nursing school?

[432] You have cancer.

[433] You work here.

[434] You have two children.

[435] Like, I'm going to do it.

[436] I'm going to get into nursing school.

[437] She had our doctor write a letter to get her into Sac State.

[438] She had me write a letter.

[439] And so, you know, I write, this young woman has cancer.

[440] This is her dream.

[441] Like, I write this beautiful, heartfelt letter.

[442] And somehow miraculously, she got into the nursing program and she starts school.

[443] So she's not getting as much treatment.

[444] She's definitely not getting better because you don't get better.

[445] She's still working for us and going to school.

[446] I'm telling you this woman was extremely intelligent, very bright, very smart.

[447] you showed her something one time and she had it.

[448] And at the hospital, this is where she progresses at our hospital as well, because you could show her something and she got it.

[449] So then she became the doctor assistant.

[450] So she moved from the back of the hospital to the front of the hospital for a more important role, getting to help with patients, helping the doctor do procedures, because you could, like I said, show her once she got it, she was doing it.

[451] Um, anywhere from spay and neuter to a leg amputation, to dogs get stones in the bladder.

[452] It's called a cystotomy.

[453] You have to take the stones out of the bladder.

[454] So the doctor does everything, but suction, drain, wash, hand me this, do this.

[455] And everything has to be sterile.

[456] So you have to pop it open, pop it on the surgical tray, may need stuff.

[457] And like I said, she went good, good.

[458] With animals, you have to draw blood.

[459] You know, people are squirmy, but can you imagine trying to get a blood from a dog or a cat?

[460] Hello, not easy.

[461] I can't even get my dog in a sweater, to be honest.

[462] Yeah, right?

[463] She could pull blood, no problem.

[464] Showed her once.

[465] She got it.

[466] And I think part of it too is, not only was she brilliant and smart, but she had the medical mind.

[467] In other words, going to nursing school was easy for her.

[468] She got it.

[469] She understood surgery.

[470] She understood anatomy.

[471] She understood what medications did.

[472] It was pretty actually shocking that someone can.

[473] know as much as she did with such little education on it.

[474] So she's going to nursing school, doing very well in school, and then she gets sicker.

[475] And she's going to the doctors more.

[476] At this point, she tells me she's pregnant.

[477] And I'm like, wow.

[478] Okay.

[479] So what do you do with that?

[480] You're in chemotherapy.

[481] You're pregnant.

[482] That baby has no chance.

[483] What do you do?

[484] Well, I want to have this baby.

[485] I understand that, but what does that look like?

[486] I remember telling our doctor, we were telling, you know, the veterinarian, and he was like, oh, God, you know, would you like to go talk to a counselor?

[487] I'll pay for it.

[488] Like, you know, you go have someone to talk to, and she did do that.

[489] And then I remember her stopping by the hospital after a doctor's appointment and saying, so cool, all my doctors were sitting around a table, like my oncologist, my GP, my OB, they're all sitting there.

[490] We're all trying to figure out, was there any way for me to have this baby?

[491] And, you know, it's gut -wrenching.

[492] All of it, all the way around is gut -wrenching.

[493] And then several days later, she's like, I lost the baby.

[494] And at this point, she takes a downward spiral health -wise.

[495] I remember her doctor's appointments would be in the downtown area, so on her way home, she might stop by.

[496] I remember her coming by, and then she was standing in the hallway at the hospital, and she just flat out starts passing out, laying on the floor passed out.

[497] I remember our doctor coming over, talking to her.

[498] She just syncope, just dropped me in a, she didn't hurt herself when we helped her down.

[499] She was very pale, her hands were shaking.

[500] She said she had been vomiting a lot from the treatment, so she was probably dehydrated.

[501] And she has cancer, and she's dying, and she's in chemo.

[502] So pretty expected.

[503] I remember calling Jason and saying, hey, Sylvia passed out at the hospital.

[504] I'm going to take her home.

[505] So took her home, made dinner for the children again.

[506] I can't tell you how emotional it was and how my heart hurt.

[507] And again, how felt like I was supposed to do this.

[508] I got to help her.

[509] At this point, right before she moves again, her son becomes very sick.

[510] Next time If you know me You don't know me well at all You think you know me you don't know me where If you haven't purchased your ticket to Something Was Wrong Live Sacramento You still have time Get $4 off your ticket now with code SWW At something was wrong .com slash events Something Was Wrong Live Sacramento will take place Saturday, August 24th, 2019 at the Sophia at B Street Theater in Midtown, Sacramento.

[511] Sarah, Alyssa, myself, and a panel of experts will discuss all things something was wrong and answer your burning questions.

[512] After the show, hang out so we can hug, not hug, take pictures with a gram, have a cocktail, what -evs.

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[514] Something Was Wrong is written, recorded, edited, and produced by me, Tiffany Reese.

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[532] Before you go, tell us about yourself by filling out a short survey at Wondery .com slash survey.

[533] I'm Dan Tiberski.

[534] In 2011, something strange began to happen at the high school in Leroy, New York.

[535] I was like at my locker and she came up to me and she was like stuttering super bad.

[536] I'm like, stop fucking around.

[537] She's like, I can't.

[538] A mystery illness.

[539] bizarre symptoms, and spreading fast.

[540] It's like doubling and tripling, and it's all these girls.

[541] With a diagnosis, the state tried to keep on the down low.

[542] Everybody thought I was holding something back.

[543] Well, you were holding something back.

[544] Intentionally.

[545] Yeah, well, yeah.

[546] No, it's hysteria.

[547] It's all in your head.

[548] It's not physical.

[549] Oh, my gosh, you're exaggerating.

[550] Is this the largest mass hysteria since the witches of Salem?

[551] Or is it something else entirely?

[552] Something's wrong here.

[553] Something's not right.

[554] Leroy was the new date line and everyone was trying to solve the murder.

[555] A new limited series from Wondery and Pineapple Street Studios, Hysterical.

[556] Follow Hysterical on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts.

[557] You can binge all episodes of Histerical early and ad -free right now by joining Wondry Plus.