Graves Eye Disease and Hyperthyroid

Actress Faith Ford Struggles with Graves' Disease

Did you know that actress Faith Ford has struggled with Graves' Disease?  She was diagnosed in 1988 when she was playing a leading role on the comedy "Murphy Brown" with actress Candice Bergen.  Read how Candice got her to see a doctor and how she was diagnosed.  

 

Better yet, listen first-hand to her story right here.  

 

 

"Eyesee" Typepad turns 3 years old this month

On May 10th my "eyesee" typepad blog turned 3 years old.  I can hardly believe it.  It seems as though so much has happend during this time period, and the 18 months prior to that when I was first diagnosed.  More than anything, this evening I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who has taken the time to drop by, send a personal e mail, pose a question, or answer a question posed by another reader.  So many of you now I know by name and I'm always so excited when I hear back from you on more than one occassion.  It just would not be the same without you. May I wish good health to all of you, no matter what you are dealing with.  Remember, you are never alone in your journey.

 

Autoimmune Disease: Coincidence Amongst Friends

If you've been following my blog for some time now then you know I've written in the past about my one-time reluctance to tell others about my Grave's Disease.  Especially when I was first diagnosed.  The name alone was scary enough.  Grave's Disease?  One of over 100 autoimmune diseases (the family of diseases Type 1 Diabetes, Celiac, Crohns Disease, Lupus, Rheumatoid Arthritis and many others belong to, although each is vastly different).

Reluctant no more, I don't go out of my way to bring it up but if during a conversation it seems appropriate to do so, well then I do.  And that's exactly what I did Friday while having lunch with Randall, a long-time friend of mine. 

In addition to catching up on family, careers, politics and more, we discovered we share a mutual hobby:  blogging!  Randall blogs about photography, and I of course blog right here about Grave's Disease.  He asked me what I blogged about.  "Well it's medical" I responded, pressing on to tell him I have Grave's Disease, an autoimmune disease that affects the thyroid and causes hyperthyroid.  "I've heard of it!" he tells me enthusiastically.  Well wouldn't you know, it turns out his wife Machelle, whom I've known as long as Randall, has Hashimoto's Disease, an autoimmune disease that also affects the thyroid gland but causes hypothyroidism instead.

Grave's Disease affects less than 1% of the population.  Hashimoto's is diagnosed between .3 and 1.5 times per 1000 per year.  With those kind of statistics, what is the liklihood that two long-time friends would discover we were both touched by these autoimmune diseases?  Quite low indeed. 

Despite the odds, you never know just who you will come in contact with that is also affected by an atutoimmne disease.  There are, after all, over 100 and counting.  I know one thing is for sure.  Getting over my own fear of discussing autoimmunity amongst family members and friends was the best thing that could have happened to me.  It wasn't long after doing so that I asked myself, "why didn't I do that sooner!!?"  Looking back, I wish now that I had.  And I wish the same for you!  There is absolutely nothing to hide from.  Ever.

For those readers wondering if there are any similiarities between Grave's Disease and Hashimoto's, the answer is yes.  The answer to the question can you be both hypothyroid and hyperthyroid (by mary shomon) may surprise you.  I encourage you to check out Mary's explanation.  She provides even more insight between similar symptoms that often get mis-diagnosed as hyperthyroid when in fact it may be just the opposite.  She also includes numerous references to Hashimoto's Disease in her very popular must-have thyroid book which you can get right here:

Maybe I was lucky, but so many have a difficult time in getting a proper Graves' Disease diagnosis

The timing of Mary Shomon's e newsletter I subscribe to couldn't have been better.  Recently I've responded to several of you, here on my blog and via e mail to those of you who emailed me directly, who expressed frustration at trying to get a proper diagnosis, having to switch doctors, not getting proper tests done, and more.  I was excited to see the article in my in box that speaks to those very issues!!  Not only are you not alone, but you're also about to be equipped with some very practical advice that can help you.  By clicking here, Mary Shomon's Q&A with Dr. Jan Nicholson, you'll find a short article that will help make you a more informed patient when it comes to your proper diagnosis, along with more information on the "mind-body" connection to thyroid disease.  I think you'll really like it.

Road Rage

This is a true story, a story about someone so out of control yesterday I could hardly believe it.  You won't either.  It has nothing to do with Graves Disease.  It has everything to do with a man not being able to control his anger or stress, who took it out on me, with road rage, in a parking deck.  I just had to write about it.  Read on . . .

I was driving down the down ramp in the parking garage where I park at work.  It was very busy and backed up.  Cars were converging at the top of the last ramp from both sides of the deck.  I thought I'd help with traffic and got out of my car when no one would let our side merge in.  I walked over to the man who wouldn't let the woman in front of me in and waved and asked "will you let her in?"  Since I was standing in front of his vehicle I turned to my left and waved the woman through.  Before she even had a chance to move, the man now behind me drove his car into the back of my legs, as if to push me into the car in front (long back up, no one was moving).  I was as much in shock as I was in horror!!!  I honestly thought he was going to pin me between the two cars.  Fortunately, he didn't and I wasn't hurt.

At this point I turned around and yelled at the man in words I won't repeat here, ran around the back of his car to get his license plate number, and ran to my vehicle to call the police.  I was afraid to get out of my car.  Traffic starts moving, I ask one of the valet attendants to ask him to pull over and not leave, that I'd phoned the police.  The driver did pull over but left before the police showed up.  Two did rather quickly, and so did security from the building I work in.

Meanwhile, the woman who was in front of me gave me her number and name as a witness.  As luck would have it, the head of global security for the company I work for (a large global company) was two cars behind the driver who drove into me and saw the whole thing. 

An hour later, after explaining what had happened to the police, I drove away from the parking deck in sheer disbelief at what had just happened.  All I can think of was, what was he thinking!!!?

Whatever would possess a human being to act out with aggression of this sort, is just beyond me.  Should I have gotten out of my car to help manage traffic?  Who knows.  I did.  It seemed like the right thing to do.  Will I do it again?  Not likely.  Will he do it again?  I'm certain he's asking himself the same question tonight.