Episode 60 - Experiencing Quarantine Before The Pandemic

It started off in the hospital when Juanita told her friend she would be back to school in two days. Soon, those two days turned into months of isolation, treatments, etc. On this week’s episode, Juanita Garcia comes on to share her story with Thrombotic Thrombocytopenic Purpura (TTP) and Lupus at ages 13 and 20, respectively. Being born and brought up in Columbia, Juanita shared her health care journey while going through the Canadian vs Columbia’s system. She discusses the difference in wait times, getting blood results, and overall patient care. At the age of 13, Juanita was isolated for months from her family and peers due to her weak immune system. Her parents were also told that she wouldn’t make it when she could not get to the hospital quickly. Despite all of this, Juanita continued to be resilient. Once she found  medications that worked, things got better. Natasha and Juanita discuss the different types of patients that exists, both of them being ones that actively want to learn more about their disease. Not only that, Juanita comes to a point in her life where she had to learn to accept her disease as her new reality. Juanita shares her change in mindset and how she had to turn her disease into her friend. Lastly, Juanita shares how her journey allowed her to really get involved in her passion — research and health. She ends off the podcast episode by talking about her patient partner work with the SPOR Evidence Alliance group and the COVID END team.

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