Dear Thyroid^TM

Dear Thyroid FAQ’s

Please note, we will be updating FAQ’s as we continue to grow, so be sure to check back, should you have any questions about Dear Thyroid and want some fast facts.

What is Dear Thyroid?

• Dear Thyroid is a literary thyroid disease and thyroid cancer support website. Our community writes letters to and from their thyroids, as well as Thyrants, Thyologisms, Thygraphs, Thykus, Thysongs, Thyetry and other literary things. Because not everyone is comfortable writing about their disease, we have a Dear Thyroid Flickr pool. Each month we have a new theme and encourage our community to submit photos.

How should I use Dear Thyroid?

• There are a number of ways you can utilize Dear Thyroid. You can write and submit Dear Thyroid Letters, participate in Thyrants, and among other things, when we have thyroid literary contests, submit. If you’re not comfortable submitting something, we encourage you to get involved by interacting with our community in the comments section of our posts, on Facebook and Twitter.

What language can I use on Dear Thyroid?

• Dear Thyroid embraces the mighty gland in all of its incantations. We believe that each person who chooses to utilize Dear Thyroid should have the opportunity to speak their mind or gland, as the case may be, on their terms. We do not censor cursing, irreverence, dark humor, or extreme happiness. We encourage our community to write what feels most organic to who they are, and on their terms.

Why doesn’t Dear Thyroid allow Religion and Politics on their website?

• Simply put, we come together in the name of thyroid disease and thyroid cancer support. So that nobody feels alienated or left out, we do not allow people to write about their personal political or religious beliefs.

Are families allowed to submit letters to Dear Thyroid?

• YES. YES. YES. We encourage families to submit letters written to their loved one’s thyroid. We have written extensively about the importance of family letters. We believe that our thyroid diseases and thyroid cancers affects our families as intensely and deeply as it affects thyroid patients.

What are Thyrants?

• Every Saturday we post the community’s thyroid rants for the week, the good and the bad. In 25-50 words, thyroid patients share their experience of their disease.

What is Tales from Thyietnam?

• Tales From Thyietnam is Dear Thyroid’s podcast. We feature renowned thyroid disease and thyroid cancer patient advocates, founders of chronic illness websites, well known thyroid disease and thyroid cancer patients, as well as patients contending with autoimmune, and or chronic conditions. Additionally, our podcast includes interviews with individuals from the medical and healthcare communities.

When is the Dear Thyroid Anthology coming out?

• In 2010, a specific date has not been decided. All letters that are chosen for the anthology will come from published letters on Dear Thyroid’s website. We will ask each author for written permission to publish their letter in the anthology. We’re very excited about the Dear Thyroid Anthology and have some pretty cool ideas to ensure that our anthology is as unique as the Dear Thyroid community.

How can I be included in the Dear Thyroid Anthology?

• Submit your letters and other thyroid literary work to Dear Thyroid to publish on our site for consideration for the anthology.

How come Dear Thyroid won’t allow people to re-post their letters and other thyroid literary work on other sites, including their own blogs/sites?

• Dear Thyroid is a unique brand of thyroid support. Technically, by re-posting, the individual doing so is infringing on the Dear Thyroid brand. Additionally, by submitting work to Dear Thyroid, you are agreeing to exclusivity and permitting Dear Thyroid to use your letter on our website. Similarly, because we are launching an anthology, the work that we will showcase in our anthology should come from Dear Thyroid and should not have been previously published.

How can I share my piece with my readers?

• When your piece is published, we email you a date of when your letter or other thyroid literary goodness will be published. We also email you to let you know.  We encourage you to place a link to your piece wherever you wish. We hope that everyone is as proud of their work as we are.

Does Dear Thyroid Offer Resources?

• Absolutely! We offer many types of resources, so that we can become our own patient advocates and learn as much about our diseases as possible, to reclaim our lives and achieve wellness that is in line with our  individual selves. Thyroid Disease Resources, Thyroid Cancer Resources, Autoimmune Resources, Books & Advocacy, Chronic Illness Resources and Alternative Resources

Who Created Dear Thyroid?

• Katie Schwartz, the founder of Dear Thyroid has Graves’ disease and Graves’ Opthalmopathy. During the many heights of her illness, she wrote hate letters to her thyroid; evil, twisted, loathsome letters. She has no regrets whatsoever. All of that hatred had to go somewhere. What better place than on paper, where she could say anything, to exorcise the rage she felt, perhaps the rage we all feel when our bodies betray us. Right?! One day, on a whim, she wondered if other people wanted to write letters to their thyroids. Convinced she was a freak of nature, on a whim, one afternoon, she started a blog called “Dear Thyroid” and asked people with thyroid disease and thyroid cancer if they wanted to write hate, or love letters to their thyroids. As it turned out, Katie wasn’t alone, nor was she a crazy crazarella. People wanted to write love and hate letters to and from their thyroids, among other things. Before she could blink her jacked lady balls, she became a part of one of the most beautiful, bravest communities she’s ever known. Imagine that?!

How can I contact Katie Schwartz?

• You can email her, katie@dearthyroid.com, you can also follow her on Twitter and Facebook via Dear Thyroid or on her personal Twitter and Facebook accounts.

Who is Liz and where did the idea for “How To Kick Your Thyroid’s Ass” originate?

• Liz is a thyroid patient just like you who happened to become interested in nutrition and thyroid health, after she was diagnosed with Hashimoto’s disease and her medication was not working.  She had symptoms for days, was overweight due to thyroid-induced gain, and realized her quality of life was pretty much non-existent.  Currently, her thyroid disease and autoimmune disease are in remission (on paper, meaning levels are all balanced without the use of medication), though this does not mean she never experiences any symptoms at all. Liz is not a doctor, but is a completely self-taught, obsessive health-nut who has found great success in using nutrition, and other natural methods, for easing her thyroid and autoimmune disease and balancing her numbers and relieving symptoms.  Because she is also a writer, she was able to turn her research and personal experience into a column.

Do these methods work for everyone?

• No.  The point isn’t to make “How To Kick Your Thyroid’s Ass” a one-size-fits-all miracle cure-all.  Instead, Liz is simply trying to highlight nutritional methods that some or many people find to be successful in easing their disease and creating more wellness, as well as the science behind the idea.  What works for one person will not work for another.  Because our backgrounds, genetics, and environments are so varied, one method cannot work for everyone.  Your best bet is to play around with various plans and lifestyle choices until you find what works for your body.

When is How To Kick Your Thyroid’s Ass published?

• The column goes live every Sunday.

What do you mean when you say “creating more wellness” or “working towards more wellness”?

• “Working towards more wellness” or “creating more wellness” simply means that we all want to be realistic and not rely on something as a miracle cure-all, sort of the same way that after a while, we get realistic and realize our medications rarely are the miracle cure-all that the doctors would like to think them to be.  There are many people who create more wellness in their lives via positive lifestyle and nutrition choices, which allow them a greater quality of life, even whilst living with thyroid disease.  That means fewer symptoms, less medication, more energy, more mental clarity, less depression, etc.

When you say “natural” wellness methods, are you talking about crunchy granola kind of stuff?

• HTKYTA always employs scientific reasoning and data whenever possible. This way, there is no hocus-pocus or blind faith required to believe that such natural wellness methods can and do work. Many times, natural health is criticized, but that’s only if there is no science to back-up the claim.  So, when Liz says “natural” methods, she means methods that do not require the use of pharmaceuticals, and come from the earth (whole foods, herbs, sunshine, organics, etc.).

Where can I contact Liz?

• You can email Liz directly at Liz@DearThyroid.com.  Or, you can also connect with her on both Dear Thyroid’s Facebook and her own, or Dear Thyroid’s Twitter and her own, as well the site itself via the comment box.  She loves hearing from you and chatting with you about thyroid disease and food and health, so don’t hesitate to contact her with questions, comments, stories, etc.

Who is Joanna Isbill and what is Life Redefined all about?

• Joanna is a graduate student who was plugging away at school and life when cancer decided to rear its ugly head. Joanna was diagnosed in October 2008 and has been fighting ever since. During the course of her journey, she has realized that life is no longer the same as it was pre-diagnosis. “Life Redefined” is a column written from Joanna’s point of view about her experience with cancer, what she’s been through, how she’s changed, and what she’s learned.

I don’t have cancer now and I’ve never had cancer before. Is Life Redefined still relevant to me?

• YES! One of the goals of Life Redefined is to provide education and insight to those who do not have thyroid cancer, to teach you what we go through and to teach you how to interact with us. Because let’s face it, lots of people don’t know what to say to somebody with cancer. Joanna used to be one of those people.

When is Life Redefined published?

• Twice a month on Tuesdays

Can Joanna provide medical advice on how to treat my cancer?

• Joanna is not a doctor. She has never been to medical school, nor does not plan on going to medical school. Joanna is more than happy to share what treatments have worked for her, but you should talk with your doctor about determining what the best treatment plan is for you. (And if your doctor won’t work with you on this, find a new doctor!) Everybody deals with cancer differently. There is not a “one size fits all” plan.

How can I get in touch with Joanna?

• You can email her at joanna@dearthyroid.org, leave her a note in the comments section of Life Redefined, or find her on Facebook.

What is Marco Thylo?

• Marco Thylo is a thyroid humor column written by Katie Schwartz and Joanna Isbill, posted the first weekend of the month. The name, Marco Thylo (courtesy of Jody), denotes the searches that Dear Thyroid came up on for that particular week. Since, Marco Thylo still includes searches. However, we also run contests and occasionally Katie will rant.