You Thytrocious, Thyle of Crap, I’m a Teenager
Dear Thyroid,
I am 17! Why am I inside my house feeling dizzy and grumpy, when I should be out with friends?! Why do I have to cancel every outing with my friends, because my body decides to attack you?! When will I be able to go out without you trying to ruin my night?!
Look what you have done; I stayed home all weekend because you didn’t want to work. I’m tired, not only because of you, but at you, because you won’t choose whether to be hyper or hypo, because I’m afraid to tell any new people I meet. I told one of my best friends about you last week, he said you are selfish.
I have missed swim meets, deadlines, and dress rehearsals caused by you. I stopped acting because my immune system wants you out of my body, but you are just as stubborn as I am. You can’t just leave my family or friends, or me, alone.
I couldn’t get off the couch this weekend because of you! I missed babysitting because of you. I missed going on a “day road-trip” with my friends because of you.
Guess what, tomorrow, you are going to get all of the attention once again. It’s time for our semi-annual blood test. Maybe you’ll cooperate this time and show the doctors something better than chronic fluctuations.
Maybe by my senior year in high school, I won’t have to deal with stupid drama, braces, or YOU!
You have taken away the past year or so of my life and you won’t drain this one of laughs, energy and smiles that I have missed so much.
P.S. Dear Thyroid, Jake, Alex, Ale, Mom, Bill, Xochi, and ALL my other friends HATE you, too, and think you are just plain mean.
Yours Truly,
Madison M.
(Bio) To find out more about Madison, follow her on, Facebook and check out her blog, Senior Year with Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis
Tags: Dear Thyroid Community, Dear Thyroid Letters, epistolary series, letters to thyroid glands, letters to thyroidectomized selves, letters to thyroids, thyroid blog, thyroid disease, Thyroid disease support, Thyroid patient letters, thyroid patient support, thyroid support
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19 Responses to “You Thytrocious, Thyle of Crap, I’m a Teenager”
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I love your pin-up girls!
Madison – I was diagnosed with Hypothyroidism when I was the same age as you – It’s seriously crap I know – I later found out that it was Hashimotos and even today at the age of 38 – It still hasn’t fully decided whether it wants to settle down or not
Hope is there – I’ve been to University, been a Mum twice despite supposedly being infertile – if that was infertile – I should have stopped falling off that damm log! I hold down a good job and enjoy life/
I can’t do everything I want to – I get tired very easily if I don’t pace myself (which is more often than not tbh), I struggle with my weight – If only I’d known at 17 that this was going to be my major issue – I would have taken more care but I was 17!
Life goes on regardless of what your thyroid has in store for you – don’t let the bloody thing stop you from where you want to go or what you want to do – Allowing it to handicap you means its winning
Of course there will be days – when you just want to say – F*ck You to the world and stay home and eat cookies – Just remember there are other days when you can take on the world
All my love
Jo
Madison, you rock! And, this year you will NOT miss out. Laughs, energy and smiles are going to be your medicine and the way that you are going to get even with your thyrocious thyroid. Every day, find one thing to laugh about. Burn some energy, even it is throwing old plates on the ground when you are pissed off. Then, think “Aha damned thyroid, take that!”, and you will surely smile! Keep writing, girl..it helps SO much!
I so feel with you! I may not be a teen anymore (I am 23, and I got diagnosed a year ago), but I have got friends complaining the whole time as well when I say that I am too tired to go out and do something. Since school just completely wires me out.
*hugs* Hope you feel better soon!
Hey!!
just want to say I feel your pain, I was diagnosed when I was 14. the problem with me though I went on for about a year, thinking maybe it was a normal teenager thing to just want to sleep from after school 3pm till 7 am the next day. I think I slept for an entire year, finally had the thyroid checked and now I’m 29 and I feel like Im just starting to understand it. I’m eating healthier and most times literally FORCING myself to go for walks and bike rides even though I dont’ feel like it, taking lots of vitamins, b, e, d and selenium to help with it’s function and it’s seems to all be helping make me feel better.
I was so young and I didn’t know any better about it and how to help it. I thought, I could trust the doc and if they said “your normal” I was supposed to be feeling ok – don’t trust them, even though they have had like years of med school they are not always right. find a doc who will listen and do whatever makes you feel better. Also try to watch your weight, I know as a kid I could eat anything, but it caught up to me and the higher your weight and the harder your thyroid has to work then just making you fall into a pile of shit again. It is always having good days and bad days, feeling crazy, and that no one understands, it’s all not in your head, so many others feel the same way!
It sucks, but I am slowly learning to live with it, One day at a time! and it sucks some days.
all the best!
p.s. I LOVE the pin up girls!! they are so cute and they make me smile! Nothing like having the support of great girl friends!!
Hey Lovely
I’m 17 too! So let me assure you that I completely understand where you are coming from – like you, I cannot find the energy to go and do all the stuff that normal teenagers do on a day to day basis. Keep writing, keep smiling – I’m always here if you need to vent
x
Thank you all for your thytasic advice!!!
Your comments and outpouring of support for Madison takes my breath away. Youse are amazing, you know that?!
Love,
Schwartzy
Thanks Annie!!
(ps: so do we)
I hate the pin-up girls!!! Why are we assuming that the majority of thyroid conditions and/or cancers are that of women? The portrayal is appalling. We need to relook at what this site is about and why?????
Jo,
Aww that is such a nice comment for Madison. You’ve given her such good advice. It just still comes as a shock to me that we’re being diagnosed so young. I was 22, but you and Madison — being in your teens at the time — just doesn’t seem fair to me. It’s terrible and I’m so sorry. The great thing you’ve said here is that though, no, you can’t beat it everyday, you can beat it many days. You can go on with your life and you can do the things you want. That is such a hopeful message for a teen in her place. Thanks so much for your support of Madison.
Kathy,
We so appreciate your support and kind words for Madison. Isn’t she brave to be so young and sharing her story? You’ve given her such great advice. Not everyday is good, but at least everyday there is a possibility for hope…
Moony, I had the same experience you are. I (Liz) was diagnosed at 22, and am now 24. So my thyroid disease hit my last year of college. And in my experience, unfortunately, I received little support and understanding from my peers. It’s a really painful thing to go through on top of the disease. I so get what you’re saying and going through. I have a feeling a bunch of our other thy folks do too.
Rebekah, that’s so nice of you!! Thanks again for supporting Madison!
peach,
Thanks so much for your support and advice for Madison!! That’s so great of you!
WOW. You were diagnosed at 14??? That is so young. I’m so sorry you have had to essentially live your whole life with this disease. How do you feel about it? We’re having a theme of “hope” this month for our photo pool (www.flickr.com/dearthyroid). Do you feel like there is hope for you amidst this disease, even though you were diagnosed so young?
I think your advice with the healthy eating and vitamins is brilliant, and hopefully something our teens can incorporate. Thanks for the advice!
Hi Robyn;
I am very sorry that you dislike the pin-up girls.
You emailed me about this, which I appreciated and I responded. I’m going to post an abridged version of MY response to protect your privacy. I will NOT post your email:
Dear Robyn;
First and foremost, –deleted– I hope after reading this email, you will consider Dear Thyroid as a venue to voice your opinion. You have a very strong voice and you’re not afraid to use it. We welcome you and your voice.
Thank you very much for taking the time to email me and voice your opinion. I greatly appreciate it.
To give you some background, briefly, I have Graves’ disease and Graves’ Opthalmopathy and came dangerously close to losing my life to this disease. Our Editor-In-Chief has Hashimoto’s Disease, which she has and continues to battle with. We take thyroid disease in all of its incantations very seriously. Similarly, we are extremely involved with everyone who connects with us via Dear Thyroid and do as much outreach as we can.
I am sorry you feel that the images posted on Dear Thyroid are inappropriate. I welcome the opportunity to speak to why that choice was made. First and foremost, as you know, this disease has a way of taking away who we were and morphing us into someone else, physically and emotionally. On one level, these images represent a piece of who we were in some small way. I think they also remind us that a piece of our former selves still exists in these iconic images. It’s also a call to action, regardless of our disease, we are sexy, we are beautiful and we are more than the sum of our thyroids or thyroidectomized selves. Lastly, it is subversive in a way that I believe is very important. Here we are, thyroid patients, struggling with this horrible, vile disease. Many of us are trying to reclaim our lives. Pairing sad, angry, irreverent, humorous, loving, introspective, intelligent Dear Thyroid letters with these images, is part of that part of that process, in my opinion. Again, this is just my opinion.
You are absolutely correct, men are affected by this disease and they send letters, as well. While we have some men who are onlookers. We do have a lot of men who are becoming more involved. I’m not sure if you’ve seen any male letters, or if you’ve read the submission guidelines or the about us pages, but I included a few links of a few men’s letters for your review.
http://dearthyroid.wordpress.com/2009/07/24/a-thynundrum-indeed/
http://dearthyroid.wordpress.com/2009/07/29/thycancerrific-and-seriously/
http://dearthyroid.wordpress.com/2009/07/03/graves-becomes-him/
I hope you’ll email me back. I hope we can continue this discussion and I hope that you will consider Dear Thyroid as a community you can engage in. Regardless of your decision, I wish you good health and healing. I hope you find a venue that is right for you, to voice your opinion. Please know that we are here supporting you, rooting for you and wishing you well every step of the way.
All My Best,
Katie Schwartz
Robyn,
We understand your concern about focusing only on women and thyroid disease. The fact is that, statistically, women ARE more likely to have the disease and it IS more common among us. However, it also affects men and teens, and we have opened Dear Thyroid to them as well. Because it’s important to also acknowledge men and teens and provide them support, we’ve published letters from them, which details their experiences and helps them find catharsis and community.
We’d love for you to read our interview with Mary Shomon, Thyroid Patient Advocate and Writer for About.com. In the interview, we explain the background of the pin-up aesthetic. It’s more of a “real-between-the-lines” or “read-the-subtext” kind of a thing. The images are meant to be subversive to the traditional ideal of beauty — either with a disease or without one. Essentially, we are mocking the idea that all women must look a certain way. Please read this interview for more information: http://thyroid.about.com/od/blogs/a/dear-thyroid.htm
Otherwise, Dear Thyroid, as you can see in our letters and many lovely comments, is a site whose goal is to create a kind and supportive community. We ask everyone to remember that as they read these letters and browse the site.
Just wanted to note that it seems thyroid cancer affects a disproportionate amount of men while thyroid disease seems to affect mostly females. Just my opinion from the perspectives I’ve heard from.
Hey!!
yea, I had it young but it didn’t really bother me. I didn’t know what it was. Thyroid? what’s that? It was just a silly word. It wasn’t very off really at the time I had a low dose of meds. It’s only been in the past 5 years it’s gotten worse, I’ve gained weight (that freshman 15 was 30) I think since I let myself go I have had problems with being very depressed, tired, crying a lot and even thrown on prozac. Even though it numbed me I still felt off. I still believe that it’s my thyroid that’s been bringing me down and right now Im in the process of trying to lose the weight, (only 5lbs since feb!) eat well, exercise and try to kick the crap out of my thyroid so it carries out no more excuses for me anymore. I know when I do all those things I feel better. I just have to be more careful now and it took me 15 years to realize it. My advice is all of that, the 14 year old me didn’t know.
I added you as a friend on flickr actually – I made a painting I’d like to share with you, just letting you know it’s not really hopeful. Its kinda exactly how I felt when I hit my rock bottom and when I look at it it’s a reminder that I never want to feel that way again and it encourages me to continue a healthier lifestyle. There is hope, sometimes it just takes a while to get to your feet and its hard when nothing makes sense and feels right. I would cry because I was crying.
I tried to send it, but I couldn’t figure it out, my name is peachey79 – it’s my 1 of 2 pics on there.
Thank you for this site!! this vent!!