The First Day of the Rest of My Life

he said that???


did he say why he disagreed?

He didn't. He just thinks I should kill it off. Which everyone I talked to thinks that is just nuts for a woman as young as me. Just destroy my body now so I can be miserable for the rest of my life. Many people I am reading about that did RAI, became hypo very shortly after treatment and now struggle with that.

I think I will tread carefully around this thread.

I hope everything works out for you, Bella.

I can't speak to 1) but I hope 2) works out for you....

Crossing my fingers for ya Bella :wink:

Good for you for going with your gut, and taking your health into your own hands!

Hold your dominion.

Good luck and take care. You certainly need a doctor who is on the same page..I have a friend who has grave's disease. She has been on medication for over 5 years. She conceived last year and had a healthy baby boy. She does suffer from mood swings and irregular periods but otherwise is happy and healthy.

I read about your condition and about grave's disease..some of the symptoms are like my own but i guess i'll not jump into conclusion before i get a test done...

I am wary of judgemental swings you may have, bella, from your readings. Not that any of them are wrong, but I'd have some grains of salt in hand.

Not that I am unadulteratedly for md's but ...

me, when I've had stuff, I have been - in my view - lucky, to be near by med centers, and that has mattered for me several times. I am really a lucky chicky.

so, is there a univeristy med center near you? First, I would consider going to it. For example, I went to an eye clinic at UCLA, cost me nine dollars a visit, though that was a while ago. I eventually worked my way up to their main guy, for real payment, but ne'er mind.

They tend to have the best and the brightest at those places, all exhausted, but vying among each other to be best, and so on. I am ms cynic, competitive medicine is good.

As far as I know, thyroid zapping and pill replacement is routine, but I haven't read pros and cons. Me, I'd enquire at the best specialist's office. Not that I am so rich, just that I worked in a med center for years and that is who I would call up, the chief resident or the main person, man or woman, in whatever field.

You seem to me to be extra frightened of this and that, not to natter at you about it. But a lot of us here have been through a lot of procedures and we're still here typing at you.

Many of us have undergone rads. Get a grip.

I don't know which is better, irradiating the thyroid or taking stuff.

Go to the national foundation site for thyroid disease, whatever the link is.

call your local univeristy hospital and get a clinic appointment.

(even if you are already taking stuff).

chase it down, find out where you are in it all. Don't go all woo woo. You can go woo woo later.

**You have a "renegade thyroid gland". It isn't listening to the
command center anymore. ( the pituitary gland)
**If it were my decision to make, I think I would check with
Mayo Clinic or another nearby "well known" research medical
facility just to be sure that you are being told about ALL of the
latest available treatment options.
**The trouble with drugs is always weighing the risks versus
the benefits.
**A friend of mine had your condition and her family MD told her
she needed to see a psychiatrist !! The poor woman, HER DOCTOR
WAS DRIVING HER NUTS!! I sure do wish you all the best.

I'm adding my good wishes for you.

I have a male friend with Graves, I wonder if it's different between the sexes?

One other thing I'd caution (knowing NOTHING about this specific subject) is that medical forums of that type tend to collect people who think similarly -- whether they're right or wrong.

People who disagree are hustled out as "flamers", or just don't even post because they don't want to open up that can of worms.

When sozlet was a little over a year old, she was found to have 7 cavities. This seems laughably minor now, but was a huge deal to me at the time. She'd need to go under anesthesia to have them filled (always risky), and the prognosis was not good -- a very, VERY high percentage of babies who had cavities had more later on, had to have teeth pulled, had problems with permanent teeth because their places hadn't been "held", etc., etc. I was terrified, for those reasons and many more.

I knew she needed to have the cavities filled, and that was a huge part of my terror (the anesthesia, especially), but the aftermath and keeping cavities at bay had me very worried, too.

So I went into high research mode. Problem was, there was a ton of contradictory information. I must use fluoride toothpaste. I must keep her away from evil fluoride. I must wean her immediately. Weaning her immediately would be the worst thing to do. Just brush all the time, with water. Brush some of the time with water, some of the time with fluoride. Use some weird herbs instead (I forget which ones.) Etc., etc.

Every single perspective had convincing first-hand stories of how their way had worked for them/ how the other way was evil. Fora tended to clump into one perspective or the other -- one would say how A was wonderful and B was evil, another would say how A was evil and B was wonderful.

Finally, after an absolute ton of reading, I found on one forum a wonderful professional dentist who was able to give me fantastic advice. She gave me all kinds of scientific studies, was patient with my innumerable questions, and convinced me that fluoride was important but that I did not have to immediately wean.

Sozlet got through having her cavities filled just fine, with no memory of the experience. She likes going to the dentist. She hasn't had any problems with cavities since. (Last check-up was a few weeks ago, but I'll still knock on wood for the future.)

But you know what? This person went against the prevailing orthodoxy of the board we were on, and was forced to resign. (She had a position something like moderators here.) She was unfailingly respectful and polite, but would provide links to reputable studies when the fluoride naysayers would show up, and generally would not just let what they were saying go unchallenged. That wouldn't do.

Long-winded, I know! Just saying that as tempting as it surely is to say a-ha, this is it, I encourage you to keep researching and keep trying to get a well-rounded picture. It could well be that the forum you found is the most balanced, truthful, scientifically-based thing on the whole internet, but it's the kind of thing that can bear double- (and triple-) checking.

Good luck!!!

sozobe makes some very good points. When I undertook to heal myself of the type of cancer I had, I learned to never quit researching, and because of it, my attack became better correlated and more successful as it went along.

Holy Mackeral! Babsatamelia is back. Where you been? WOMAN, we've been worried to death. Welcome back. I'm gonna go tell Misti. She'll get the word out.

Bella, by all means, find a doctor you're comfortable with. Yours might be anywhere from tops, dandy, so-so, punk, to downright lousy, but all he seems to be communicating is the lousy.

Sweet, sweet Miss Bella Dea....wishing you the very, very best and nothing less.....

Bella, I wish you every success with your treatment. You are a lovely person, who deserves a long and happy life.

<clink.....blip blip blip blip blip>

I will now drain a large brandy and make a toast to your good health.

"MAY YOU LIVE TO BE A HUNDRED, WITH ONE MORE YEAR TO REPENT"

< glugglugglugglug.....ahhhh!>


I feel like singing something to you now....and then I may have a little nap.


<ahem>.............

"Some things in life are bad,
They can really make you mad,
Other things just make you swear and curse,
When you're chewing on life's gristle,
Don't grumble,
Give a whistle
And this'll help things turn out for the best.
And...

Always look on the bright side of life.

< whistling bit > foo foo, fa foo foo foo foo foo (sorry, new teeth and all that)

Always look on the light side of life.

foo foo, fa foo foo foo foo foo......................................


zzzzzzzzzz, zzzzzzzz, zzzzzzzzz..................

I hope that made you smile.

It did!

Thanks guys!

Noddy, I am not sure what you are trying to say but...is it that I should investigate all avenues myself before deciding one treatment is better than another?

If that's the case, I can assure you I have never felt safe with the decision to just kill off part of me. I have read a lot of stuff on all 3 treatments available to me and the one that always sounded best was the pills. For one, because they are not permanent. For two, because there is a 40% chance that I will stay in remission once acheived. And three, any chance to return to normal function is welcome by me. If I'd have done RAI, there'd be no chance and I'd have been pushed into doing something permanent before exploring all avenues first. If the pills don't work, RAI will be the answer. But if RAI didn't work (I went into hypo right after) I couldn't do anything else. Understand?

Bella--

Sorry to be obscure.

I meant by opting for the least invasive choice, you always have the option for chosing one of the other approaches if the least invasive choice doesn't work.