Today’s story in Give It All You’ve Got comes from Malinda Teague – a pediatric nurse practitioner, and the aunt of a young adult with HH Syndrome.
Hollie’s quote, “You get 3 choices in life: give up, give in, or give it all you’ve got”, inspired this series. Malinda brings a perspective few others in this community can offer: 25 years of clinical experience in specialty care, emergency medicine, and pediatric primary care – and a family seat at the table, watching her sister and brother-in-law fight for her niece Molly’s diagnosis and treatment.
Malinda S. Teague, DNP, CPNP-AC/PC, is Assistant Professor and Director of the Pediatric Primary Care NP Program at Duke University School of Nursing, and a pediatric nurse practitioner at Duke Primary Care Pediatrics in Holly Springs.
What “giving it all you’ve got” looks like for Malinda — as both clinician and family member
“As a clinician, I think of commitment to patients and their families in not stopping the search until we find the full answers and get the best management team working hard for them. I also think about supporting the entire family through the complex layers of their experience with the disease, truly being on the journey with them and learning along the way so I can do better the next time.
As a family member, I think of having hope for the best outcome and function possible, celebrating the wins (both small and large), and not letting assumed or pre-determined limitations prevent growth and thriving.”
The moment her clinical knowledge and her love for her family collided
“Watching and understanding the burden placed on my sister and brother-in-law as they searched for a diagnosis and then moved mountains to get their daughter the best surgical treatment available, including the immense financial burden due to lack of insurance understanding of specialized centers and procedures for HH, showed me first-hand what families in many rare disease situations go through. It broke my heart to see how it impacted their family with the day-to-day struggles, worry, and immense energy needed to keep fighting.
When the initial diagnosis of a tumor came up, the immediate fear of malignancy was difficult from my clinical side. I have to admit, once we knew it wasn’t malignant and my niece had done well with the surgery, I thought the idea of ‘one and done’ was it. I certainly have more pause now about the uncertainty and limited knowledge that exists with all rare diseases, but am so privileged to watch her thrive.”
What she wants families to know — and how being an aunt has changed how she shows up for her patients
“This experience as an aunt has definitely impacted my practice as a nurse practitioner. The fact that clinicians didn’t believe my sister and brother-in-law initially when they noticed the seizures in my niece as an infant, really impressed upon me that parents’ intuition that something is wrong needs to be taken seriously. I even reference their experience in my teaching of colleagues and students to illustrate the importance of truly listening to parents and committing to looking deeper when there is concern. I have had many patients in my own practice with different rare diseases and unusual conditions, where this approach has made the difference between missing the diagnosis and making the diagnosis. This experience has also made me push harder with colleagues and specialists who didn’t think there was a diagnosis to be found.
I think it is important to know that most clinicians do care about patients and families, but the system of healthcare in our country has an impact on us. The lack of time to spend in visits, the workload that is always present, and the emotional toll of patients with poor outcomes and even patient loss is emotionally and physically exhausting. We don’t really get to leave work at work, so it can creep into many other aspects of life that others don’t fully understand. In order to function, we do sometimes have to compartmentalize emotion and this can come off as uncaring, especially in a particularly bad time period. However, most clinicians have also been patients or family members of patients, worrying about health, test results, proper treatment, etc., and we are often just as frustrated by the system and looking for it to be better.”
Thank you, Malinda, for sitting on both sides of the exam room table and for carrying what you’ve learned as an aunt into every family you sit across from as a nurse practitioner. Thank you, too, for speaking at our 2026 Patient and Family Conference and giving so many families in that room a sense that they were truly understood. This is why we fight.
Inspired by Malinda’s story? Join the fight for every Hope for HH family. Donate or start your own fundraiser at givebutter.com/2026-hhsyndrome-awareness.
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