You Might Also Like: Symptomatic: A Medical Mystery Podcast

Mark Brantley (0:09)

Being short of breath is a pain equivalent. It's like your lungs being on fire.

Len Geiger (0:16)

I couldn't possibly walk all the way across a parking lot in that condition. I couldn't catch my breath.

Beth (0:24)

It dawned on us that he might really die.

Lauren Bright Pacheco (0:29)

Imagine your body being hijacked from within by an unseen assailant, determined to inflict pain, steal your independence, and slowly unravel your life. Even your doctors can't tell you why. You're trapped in a diagnostic maze, searching for answers while fighting to be believed. For millions living with chronic illness, this is reality. And this is The Medical Mystery Podcast, where patients become investigators, survivors become advocates, extraordinary doctors become heroes, and every story has the power to help someone else find answers.

I'm Lauren Bright Pacheco, and this is Symptomatic.

Len Geiger is a great example of what you might call naturally high vitality. At 67, he still seems wired to get the most out of life, a level of energy and curiosity that appears to have been there from the very beginning.

Len Geiger (1:33)

I was the rambunctious child. I was the one who was always doing something crazy that everybody thought I was going to be breaking bones.

Lauren Bright Pacheco (1:41)

Len's younger sister Beth agrees with this assessment.

Beth (1:44)

Of all of energy growing up, he was definitely the most extroverted and active and busy one of us, you know. So he was fun. So when Len walked in the room, there was always a lot of extra energy. We were a family of pretty introverted people, generally speaking, and there was Len.

My mother used to say, I cannot think of all the things to tell him not to do.

Lauren Bright Pacheco (2:07)

I love that.

Len Geiger (2:08)

I was very physically oriented, so climbing trees, but not just climbing any tree. I was like, I climbed the tallest tree I could find and hang out at the very top and swim down to the bottom of the lake at places where nobody swam to the bottom of the lake. I think my father was surprised when I made it to 18

Lauren Bright Pacheco (2:25)

You're a physician's son. What was his area of expertise?

Len Geiger (2:30)

He was a pathologist. He spent most of his career looking through a microscope, being the doctor's doctor, explaining, this is what's going on with your patient.

Lauren Bright Pacheco (2:41)

Len's dad served as inspiration for some of Len's college ambitions too. And then you end up at the University of Georgia.

Len Geiger (2:48)

Yes. Go dogs.

Lauren Bright Pacheco (2:50)

What were you studying there?

Len Geiger (2:51)

I studied microbiology and immunology.

Lauren Bright Pacheco (2:54)

What drew you to that?

Len Geiger (2:57)

To be honest, I was trying to figure out what I was going to major in. And then I realized that people were dropping out of the biological sciences because they found it too hard.

And for me, it naturally came to me. And so I was like, well, I'll just major in one of these and it'll benefit me someday.

Lauren Bright Pacheco (3:14)

And benefit him? It did. After graduation, Len set his sights on pharmaceutical sales.

Len Geiger (3:21)

I was trying to get into pharmaceutical sales or medical sales of some sort. And the answer was always, you have no experience. So I finally found a job. It was at a department store in Atlanta. It was a very social selling situation because you were in the middle of the floor talking to lots and lots and lots of people. And one day a gentleman came up and said, if you ever want to get into some real sales, give me a call.

And he was one of the owners of a men's clothing store that made custom-made suits for the wealthy in Atlanta. I took him up on his offer. It was a lot of fun.

But at some point I realized, well, you know, now I have sales experience. Maybe I should go back into this attempt to get into medical sales.

Lauren Bright Pacheco (4:06)

You look at your studies and then you combine your people skills from your years at sales. And it sounds like a definite niche.

Len Geiger (4:14)

I managed to get a position with a company that had manufactured a pediatric vaccine for Haemophilus influenzae type B and ended up being the number one sales rep in the country the very first year. I just enjoyed it. I really loved meeting people and talking to people. It wasn't really a job, it didn't seem like.

Lauren Bright Pacheco (4:32)