[Anonymous]

#1022722

Shameless plug for the NGDF time!!!

Hello Warrior’s.

The conference date is fast approaching. It is being held in Northbrook, Illinois at the Renaissance hotel (within 15 miles of O’Hara airport). It will be held from 22 October to 24 October 2004.Visit our home page and click on Annual Conference to see what it is all about and links to past conferences.

Now a topic that is near and dear to my heart!! NGDF membership. The NGDF runs this bulletin board with an all volunteer staff (as a matter of fact all in the NGDF are volunteers). We all have other jobs and do this as time permits or we make time for our fellow Graves’ warriors. We pay for the server time, attendance at National and International thyroid conferences (where we meet with the Endocrinologists and thyroidologists from all over the world) where we present papers or present the face of the Graves’ patient to the medical community. Membership pays for reproducing bulletins, the news letter, mailings, education programs to the medical community and lay organizations and much more.

Without membership we cannot continue to do these things. We do receive some funds from corporations but that goes for sponsorship of the conferences that provide excellent information and support to our people with Graves’. Running this organization is a huge undertaking and it is like I said all done with Volunteer help.

What do you get when you join???? You get to pick six bulletins from our bulletin list. You get four newsletters a year. You help to keep our organization running. You get to help promote awareness of Graves’ disease here and abroad (a portion of every membership goes to the Thyroid Federation International). It is you chance to help do something about Graves’ Disease!!!!

Of course we will continue to run this bulletin board. We are the only bulletin board on the internet that has an affiliation with a Major Thyroid Organization (and that would be the National Graves’ Disease Foundation of course), a medical advisory board, and comply with Internet health codes.

So if you have not joined the NGDF, WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR!!!!!!! An invitation?? OK you got one. Go and join today. You can join by check, or credit card. Click on the stained glass butterfly at the top of the page. Or go to http://www.ngdf.org and click on Join.

We look forward to hearing from you. We also look forward to seeing you at the Annual Conference.

We are as always and forever only a click away.

Jake
On-line Facilitator

[Anonymous]

#1083584

Good Morning All!
Just a quick note to ask if there are any activities on Fri. the first day of the conference. Is Saturday the day for the actual group of speakers with the exception of Mr. Chang? I know it may be a little early for itineraries, but I would like to make arangements at work ASAP. Thank you! Best of health to all! Priscilla

[Anonymous]

#1083585

Priscilla,

First of all, I look forward to meeting you at the conference. This is shaping up to be a great conference.

The sessions will be all day Friday (which is a change from prior years), all day Saturday and Sunday morning. The Friday sessions will start at 9:00 am or so. The exact starting time is still being worked out. The Saturday night dinner cruise is going to be fun, fun, fun. A time for all of us to relax and unwind and forget about all that we have to deal with. The brunch with Robert Chang will be the last event of the conference.

I’ve been to two conferences and I can’t tell you how much I was blessed for being able to attend.

More details will be posted to the website when available.

Linette TX

[Anonymous]

#1083586

Linette,
Hello, it will be great to meet you also! Thank you for your assistance with the itinerary. This is a good starting point for me. Talk to you soon. Best wishes, Priscilla, NJ

[Anonymous]

#1083587

Doc Nancy asked that I put a note on the bulletin board about joining the foundation. It is how we keep this web page going.

I also decided it has been a long time since I posted my poem

“The Gift” It is how I look at Graves’ disease now. You are all treasures I hold close to my heart. You have been there for me when needed and we try to be there for you too.

Here it is for the new folks.

The Gift

The Great Spirit said, “I am going to give you a tremendous gift.”
“I hope I am worthy of this gift,” I replied.
The Great Spirit said he would inflict me with a disease
“Disease as a gift?” I asked. I could not fathom illness as a gift

“What you do with this gift depends on you,” he said
“You can treat it as a curse, or accept it for what it is
You can lament or make the best of it. It is up to you
What you do and how you act will prove if you are a Warrior”

He struck me with Polio and paralyzed my legs.
Doctor’s said I will never walk again
But I did. I learned to walk and run
I thank the Great Spirit every day
He taught me that those without legs are worthy

He struck me with Graves’ disease
Life was pure hell for a few years.
Loss of memory, pain, and tremors
But I got better

I learned that by helping others with Graves’
I could help to heal myself.
I learned that helping others is a worthy cause
I learned I had the strength to keep going
Even when I had no strength left
I learned that as bad off as I felt there was another
Who was worse off than I who I could help

I learned that instead of reaching for a helping hand
I had become the hand that was reached for
Instead of being in the abyss I was on the edge
Helping others out of the void

The Great Spirit said, “I will take your vision”
My eyes bulged and pained
Vision started to dim and colors were lost
My eyes went askew and looked in different directions
But I got better

Sixteen eye surgeries
Much pain and discomfort
Orbital Radiation on my eyes left me with cataracts
But I got better

I learned that even with no sight I was worthy
I saw with my mind what my eyes could no longer
I learned that by helping other’s with eye problems
I helped myself

I am a Warrior. I no longer look at a person the same
I see what is inside them not the shell of the body
Instead of seeing a person in a wheelchair
I see a person who was given a gift

I see the Great Spirit gave them a gift too I admire their strength
I admire their courage
I admire their will

I pay homage to a fellow Warrior as we pass by
I thank the Great Spirit for these gifts
Fore they made me the man I have become

Copyright “The Red Man In Me”
Jake George 2002

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