bsrealtalk

Dr. Arlene Garcia is a high school history teacher, exam prep instructor, a Gates and Hord Scholar who obtained her Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts in Teaching through a dual degree honors program. She completed her certificate in School Building Leadership (SBL) and doctorate in criminal justice (about-arlene-garcia2).

On the outside one would say Dr. Arlene Garcia is well established and put together, but on the inside she was slowly dying. Years of misdiagnoses caused her to suffer from a major mood disorder and depression. If you came into contact with her, you would have thought she was crazy or in a bad mood ALL THE TIME. But years later, Dr. Garcia was diagnosed with Graves’ disease, a thyroid disorder that proved difficult to treat because to make matters worse, she had a genetic mutation that prevented her medication from working properly. Being compound heterozygous, due to the MTHFR genetic mutation, wreaked havoc on her body. This mutation caused methylation issues that prevented her body from digesting food and functioning properly. For more info on MTHFR, click here.

Two years ago, this diagnosis answered many questions for her and gave her part of her life back. Finally, she got the confirmation that she always knew. She wasn’t just crazy as many doctors made her feel due their inability to treat her various ailments. She has now taken back her life and is on the road to recovery thanks to this newfound knowledge and a doctor who broke from the traditional textbook response and listened to his patient. Here is her story: the bitter, the sweet, the ugly.