KimberlyHello – Sorry for any confusion, but I’m a fellow Graves’ patient and not the “Kimberly” in the 10 things video! Glad to hear that you liked it, though…it was from our 2012 San Diego Conference and received a great response.
I’m not familiar with the details of complications coming from the BRCA1/BRCA2 genetic mutation, but it sounds like Shirley might have some info to share on that. Hopefully, she will arrive at her destination safely and chime in here.
On the TSI, many docs do use this to measure the course of thyroid eye disease, but it’s not a perfect correlation. For example, one of our volunteers who was in the middle of multiple TED surgeries shared that she had a TSI in the mid-400s. Hers was almost identical to mine at the time…and my eye issues have been more mild so far (although definitely bothersome).
Different brands of eye drops seem to work for different patients…you might ask the doc on the 10th for any recommendations. This presentation from our 2011 conference in Boston on dealing with dry eye might also be of interest:
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xat5SBU_1_c
Benadryl can definitely have an impact on dry eye, so you might try a few days with/without it to see if you can tell a difference.
Take care!