Rita's Story: All in Her Head

The Medical Detectives

Soft Skills Media

Society & Culture, True Crime

3.6 • 711 Ratings

🗓️ 9 April 2025

⏱️ 111 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In this deeply emotional and eye-opening episode of Medical Detectives, we sit down with Rita, whose medical mystery spanned nearly a decade of pain, misdiagnosis, and dismissal. From being a young mother and nurse with a sudden onset of terrifying symptoms to being told she just needed candy or mental health care, Rita’s story highlights the devastating impact of medical gaslighting, sexism in healthcare, and systemic failures—particularly within the military medical system. Through years of relentless symptoms and self-doubt, Rita finally receives a diagnosis that validates everything she’s endured.

Have a medical mystery or story of your own? Send it to [email protected].

***The information provided on the medical detectives is for informational and entertainment purposes only and should not be considered medical advice. While we may feature licensed medical professionals, including doctors, we are not your personal doctors and no doctor patient relationship is established by listening to this podcast or interacting with our content.

All discussions are general in nature and may not apply to your specific health situation. Always seek the advice of a qualified healthcare professional before making any medical decisions or taking any action based on the content of this podcast. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay seeking treatment because of something you have heard on this show

If you are experiencing a medical emergency, please contact emergency services immediately or consult a qualified healthcare pro***

Transcript

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0:00.0	Wow.
0:10.7	I cried like three times in this episode.
0:15.1	Like full tears.
0:18.2	Well, you may not have able to tell because it took almost four hours filming this episode
0:24.1	and I'm bleary from, I'm exhausted for her listening to her story and I can't wait to
0:32.8	share her story with everyone because it is just, I mean, it's heartbreaking.
0:39.6	It causes you to be angry.
0:45.6	I'm angry for her. I personally went through all of the motions. I saw you go through.
0:52.0	People who go through the misdiagnosis themselves. I've never seen Aaron get angry, like visibly angry about the situation, except for this episode.
0:55.8	Normally, I think she has a moment of logic where she's like, well, this makes sense how this could have happened.
1:00.9	And then there were points in this episode where she was like, nope, can't find the logic in this one.
1:05.7	And I know it crushed her, but it was also fascinating to see because, yeah, it is, it's a good one. It involves the military.
1:14.6	It also talks a lot about isms in medical care, which I think is probably the boldest we've
1:22.3	talked about this. So it's a little bit longer because we get deep in this one.
1:28.1	Yeah. Well, let's get into it longer because we get deep in this one. Yeah.
1:28.6	Well, let's get into it.
1:30.1	Let's get into it.
1:35.8	Hi, Rita.
1:36.8	Welcome to the medical detectives.
1:38.4	Thank you so much for joining us.
1:40.5	Hi, Dr. Nance.
1:41.3	Thanks so much for having me.
	...

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