Our Founder’s Story (with video)

Cynthia, Founder and Medical Provider for VHC, tells the story of her journey from suffering with symptoms of hormonal imbalance to wellness and a Balanced Best Life.

I've been in the healthcare field now for over 30 years and practicing as a nurse practitioner in hospital medicine for over a decade. In 2021, I decided to take my knowledge to the next level and go to med school. While in med school, you could say I was perhaps living some of my best life. My family and I were living in Barbados.

I was studying hard, my husband was surfing practically every day, and our daughter was doing her thing, finishing online homeschooling, perfecting her art, and writing novels. You could say life was good. If anyone had read to me the story of where my life would take me over the course of these last few years, I certainly would have never believed them.

After only six months into our lives in Barbados, Suddenly things went from being really good to becoming really scary. I remember it so clearly. It was a Friday. I came home to the house we were renting in Barbados to find my husband quite ill with the temperature over 104 degrees Fahrenheit.

Immediately he said, don't come close to me, I may have COVID. He quarantined himself all weekend in the spare bedroom. And then on Monday, he went to a local clinic.

Well, very long story, but it was soon after his clinic visit that we learned my husband had leukemia. Acute myeloid leukemia to be exact. Someday I will write the whole story down. It really is unbelievable. Our lives were like living in a nightmare. I'm skipping a lot here, but we did end up flying home where my husband started treatment for his AML.

Needless to say, I did not finish med school. Rather, I just left Barbados with three semesters of medical school debt. Life was indeed a whirlwind. My head was spinning and a lot was happening so fast, which is another long story that I will write more about someday. But amid all the chaos, I forgot about myself.

I was drowning in the stress and fear of my husband's health. It wasn't until the tornado of our lives calmed down that I realized I was just not myself anymore. What happened? I had gained so much belly fat I had never had before. I was tired after workouts at the gym. Not to mention, despite all my efforts, I was not losing the belly fat.

Then I started having symptoms of extreme heat coming over me, like the insides of my body were on fire and I couldn't escape it. It was then that I realized I needed to find out what was going on. I made an appointment and went to see my GYN and requested a slew of labs, all of which came back pretty normal.

Yet I was not feeling so good. I still didn't have any answers. I started doing research on my own and found a whole wealth of knowledge that was different from my educational background. This is when I learned about the importance of a comprehensive lab panel that can analyze my cortisol level, a complete thyroid panel, not just a TSH, inflammatory markers, and a complete female hormone panel that even evaluated the metabolic pathways of these hormones.

What did I learn by my results? Duh. The stress I was going through had me totally off hormonal balance. The whole experience I went through with my husband's health totally affected my health. I mean, my cortisol circadian rhythm was All out of whack, which had a domino effect on all my other hormones.

So naturally, I took steps to get things back in balance, and I'm so glad I did. I feel myself again. I'm going to the gym and feeling energized after the workouts like I was before. I've lost my belly fat. I no longer have those intense heat flashes like my body was set on fire. I'm me again, but better, stronger, and more resilient.

This is why I started my clinic. I want to help other women who may be going through symptoms of hormone imbalance like what I went through. I am certified in Bioidentical Hormone Replacement Therapy, Thyroid Optimization, and Functional Medicine, and now I run a virtual hormone clinic helping women gain their lives back.

You are not alone. You don't have to live with the horrible symptoms of having your hormones off balance. You don't have to feel blah like life could just run you over and you just lay there and take it. You can be yourself again. You can lose that belly fat. You can experience sound sleep. You can have that drive, motivation, and confidence you once had, whatever your story is.

I would love to work with you so that you too can balance your hormones and live your best life. Don't wait as long as I did. Get your life back now.