Local teacher with rare disorder thrives in virtual classroom

She started seeing signs at just 3 years old. When she was 10 years old, it became more serious. Doctors didn’t know how to help her and it got worse when COVID hit.

Until they knew what it was: Mast Cell Activation Syndrome, or MCAS.

A native of Amber, Cammie Jeffries was recently diagnosed with MCAS, a rare, life-threatening disease causing her body to react severely to smells, food and temperature changes. Some days are bad, even going so far as to cause anaphylactic shock.

“My body thinks it’s allergic to everything,” Jeffries said.

Jeffries teaches 7th grade Science at Oklahoma Virtual Charter Academy (OVCA). She had to leave her dream job of teaching in a traditional classroom setting when her condition started getting worse.

“I was actually having an anaphylactic reaction in the classroom every day, so not safe for me or my students,” Jeffries said. “When I realized I can’t do this anymore, I had to leave mid-semester and I was heartbroken because I absolutely love teaching. Teaching science has been the most amazing thing I’ve ever discovered in my life. I had a lot of tears when I left because I thought, ‘I just found this, and it’s over.’ Then I found OVCA, they happened to end up needing a science teacher mid year. It was just perfect and I thought, ‘This is meant to be, this is what I’m supposed to continue doing.’ It has literally been life changing being here.”

Jeffries started seeing symptoms at only 3 years old.

“I’ve had it my entire life,” Jeffries said. “It actually was not even a known medical disorder when I was growing up, which made childhood very difficult. It wasn’t until after I had COVID a couple times that my doctor was able to diagnose it. Before COVID, it was completely manageable. I was still able to eat about 40 foods. After having COVID a couple times, I couldn’t eat at all. When I finally went to my immunologist, she said ‘This is what’s happening, let’s do something about it.’ I did have to spend two years eating only four different foods, which was really tough, but i’m up to seven now so I have some good variety in there.”

Doctors didn’t know what it was at the time and it impacted Jeffries for the worst.

“When I was 10 years old, my doctor told me, ‘There’s nothing wrong with you, it’s in your head,’” Jeffries said. “It really changed me. I started to hide when I was sick. My parents didn’t even know just how awful it was. It changed my personality, it was really a struggle in school. I did everything I could to live a normal life. I made straight As, in high school I ended up joining some varsity teams. But I was still continually accused of being antisocial, rude and irresponsible and it wasn’t any of those things. It was just me trying to survive and hide this horrible condition that I was just trying to convince myself didn’t exist. It was a struggle, it was very hard.”

Jeffries is able to leave her house, but she has to be careful and wear a mask.

“Anytime I’m going to be outside my house, I have to wear a mask and even then, that’s not enough to prevent the anaphylactic triggers, “ Jeffries said. “I try to do everything pick up.”

Even with her progress, it seems the stress is never ending.

“There’s that constant worry or awareness wondering, ‘When will my next reaction be?’” Jeffries said. “Even stress can trigger it. I have to make a lot of barriers when it comes to work.”

Her favorite place to go is the Oklahoma City Zoo.

“It’s outside, so I don’t have to worry about those chemical triggers,” Jeffries said. “There’s plenty of space for me to be able to separate from other people so I don’t have to worry about reacting to their deodorants., haircare products or laundry detergent.”

Jeffries is big into routines.

“Even when I eat, it has to be in a routine to keep reactions from happening,” Jeffries said.

Other than being a big reader, she enjoys playing the ukulele after hours.

“We have a virtual hangout that we refer to as ‘recess,’ but it’s called K-12 zone,” Jeffries said. “When I go to hang out with the students, I play and it makes other students bring out their instruments. It’s really cool to see what they play and I love that opportunity.”

There’s currently not an official treatment for MCAS, but Jeffries gets an injection every two weeks to eat and help with her seasonal allergies.

“Without this, I can’t eat at all,” Jeffries said.

Because of her condition and her past, she started the Positive Proton club, which spreads kindness wherever they go and also is in charge of a coding club where students type the code from scratch.

“Every time I go into the classroom, I think about how difficult that was and how alone I felt,” Jeffries said. “A lot of what I implement into my classroom is to make sure that no student ever feels the way that I felt back then.”

Jeffries has been feeling better since working from home. She is part of a medical study to learn more about her condition.