DEAR THYROID^TM

We say goodbye to July and a beloved columnist, Sarah Downing. We move into August excited about all of the wonderful changes, growth and opportunity for all of us as a community. Our voices are being heard, DT’rs. We are taking the thyroid community and the world by storm thanks to each and every one of you. August will bring new contests, big news, more columnists, bold Dear Thyroid Letters, lots of meet-ups for offline support, and so much more.

To quote one of my favorite authors, from one of my favorite books, “Oh the Places you Will Go“, please know that we are going there.

—

Triple Whammy or How to Cope with Multiple Cancers, Written by HD, one man’s account of what it’s like to be diagnosed with, and live with multiple cancers. HD is taking us on a multi-part series about his experience, in the hopes that those who have been diagnosed with multiple cancers have a voice and know that they are not alone in their fight. In the Dear Thyroid community, so many members have endured a similar plight. Thanks to HD, we’re going to learn more about it through his eyes. We sure hope you’ll share your stories with us, too.

Excerpt from today’s post: “My surgeon was urgently called back.  I was reopened, (luckily I was still under), and he went in to get a clean margin and to do a mop-up job around my thyroid.  6½ hours I was under in the operating room. – And when I woke up, I was informed that I now had two cancers!”

Please catch HD’s post!

Comment of the day…

Dara Charlton says:

Hi HD – I’m in Oregon – and also found out in 2007 that I have medullary thyroid cancer – did you see Peter Anderson @ OHSU. My cancer unfortunately has metasized – but I’m doing really well. Would love to connect. Thank you for sharing your story!

Thank You Very Much to You All – Today we said goodbye to Sarah Downing, one of Dear Thyroid’s columnists. Her archives and spirit will continue to thrive on Dear Thyroid. She sure will be missed. She provided us with tremendous insight, lots of love and support. We will miss her to bits and pieces.

Excerpt from today’s post: “I would like to thank you all so very much for making me feel so welcome and appreciated as a columnist for Dear Thyroid™. I have loved getting to know you and have made so many wonderful friends. I hope that I have been able to help you with my writings and research.”

Comment of the day…

Lori says:

Sarah – I know you have to do what’s best for you and I know we will always stay in touch and remain friends, but at this moment, I am upset about this news. I don’t know what else to say at this time except that I hope your columns will remain on DT for others to benefit from your research and knowledge. And of course, your passion, which is so evident in your writings. You have never failed to inspire. I love the idea of you starting a blog and I encourage you to follow through on that!

Much Love,

Lori

Meet-up Madness, written by Kerri Schwartz, is about community and offline support; a magnificent post, to be sure. Additionally, Kerri included cities where there is interest for meet-ups and wrote about the upcoming Pittsburgh meet-up and a link to the Los Angeles Meet-up.

Excerpt from today’s post: “The Dear Thyroid community is a family, and as such, we should make every effort and attempt to meet each other in our Meet – Ups to offer our support, encouragement, love, patience, guidance, and all of the other wonderful qualities our community members have to offer.”

–NEWS AND UPDATES–

• To vote on all of the butterflygraphs, please click here. Voting ends on Friday! Next week, we will be announcing the winner of Allyson’s beautiful butterfly painting.

• Are you participating in the Thyroid Mad Libs contest? Each member of the winning team will receive a $25 iTunes Gift Card!

• When was the last time YOU wrote and submitted a Dear Thyroid Letter, to or from your gland, or glandless self/. Do you think your family would be interested in writing and submitting a letter to your gland or glandless self? We have lots of space in August and we want to hear from YOU – in your words!

• We’ve added lots of NEW and exciting volunteer positions for Dear Thyroid. If you have the time and inclination, we’d love to have you on board. Conversely, if you don’t see a position listed, but would like to donate some time, please contact us and let us know more about what you’d like to do for Dear Thyroid.

• Have you submitted your blog to be included in the Thyroid Blogger list? In tomorrow’s comments, we’re announcing the first blog to be spotlighted in August!

Tags: Comment of the Day, community building, Dear Thyroid, graves disease support, hashimoto's disease support, Health Community, health support community, hyperthyroid support, hypothyroid support, literary community, literary support, thyroid cancer support, thyroid community, thyroid literary community, thyroid support community

Follow Dear Thyroid on Twitter/@DearThyroid | See our Facebook Page | Become a Fan on Facebook | Join our Facebook Group

You Can Create a Dear Thyroid Profile and share with friends!