[Anonymous July 30, 1998 at 12:02 am Post count: 93172]

#1050103

I WISH I had seen the show,
You are right, I guess though that they just wanted to make a GENERIC show on Thyroid diseas,
ALL of us know that those “little pills” are not instant miracle workers
LOL
PAULA

[Anonymous July 30, 1998 at 11:26 am Post count: 93172]

#1148501

I guess the segment served its purpose of giving a very general overview of what thyroid disease symptoms are like. But:

— I think they might have mentioned something about treatment, as well as that thyroid conditions are generally life long problems that need to be monitored regularly
— I thought Oprah’s comments about how hair loss is much more devastating for African American women than it is for other women were insensitive and divisive. Hair loss for women is a horrible experience no matter what race you are.

[Anonymous July 30, 1998 at 12:02 pm Post count: 93172]

#1148502

We taped this segment and I watched it after I got home. Overall, it was
good. I did have a quibble about a few things. Like Kathleen said, Oprah’s
comments on hair loss were very insensitive to ALL women, regardless of race.
I had a heck of a time explaining this to my hubby (some of my earlist memories
involve playing dress up and doing up my hair). Women of all races are taught
from early age that hair is a sign of their femaleness, so losing is is
quite devestating.

I also wished Oprah had let Gail spend more time talking about the disease,
instead of discussing all her Olympic triumphs. The short bio they started with
was enough and a short comment when they went back to the show would have all they
needed. Esp since they had several other segments to get too. Scotty’s impression
was Oprah was going “I gotta Olympic athlete on my show!!!”, who cares about
what disease she had.

I also took a bit of an exception during the voice over on the bio. Oprah said
as soon as Gail was diagnosed, she was given a simple treatment and got better.
WRONG! She almost lost her feet and her career. Something happened during the course
of treatment and they were thinking they were going to have to amputate. Luckily
they were able to correct the problem and she was able to go back to running. While
they may have wanted to down play that aspect a bit, I think it is wrong to give the
impression that as soon as you get diagnosed, you’ll get better right away.

I also would have liked it if they had mentioned Graves’ Disease and even
Hashimotos’ as causes of thyroid problems. But at least they got some information
out. I did like Dr Snyderman’s comment that the way they deal with thyroid
dsiease and such was goofy (tho I got the impression she wanted to say something
a little stronger, but that may have gotten bleeped).

But all in all, a good show. Oprah didn’t annoy me as much as she usually does.

Jean C

[Anonymous July 31, 1998 at 1:51 am Post count: 93172]

#1148503

Debby, I sure agree with your wish list. I too taped the programme. In Oprah’s overview as soon as I heard “Gail was sidelined from running for over two years before a simple blood test revealed a thyroid disorder – and with SIMPLE treatment she was back on her feet and running. She won Olympic gold in ’92 and again in ’96 and remains unstoppable now.”, I knew they probably would not be discussing the fact that for some people the SIMPLE treatment is not so simple and recovery is not fast. True, they did get the word out that people need to insist their Doctor take a blood test to check their thyroid if experiencing any of the symptoms, however, nothing about the problems people can have when they go hypo after treatment or nothing about the eye problems caused (except mentioning Gail had poppy eyes). I did not hear Graves disease mentioned once. If any of my friends watched that they would not really have related it to what I am going through. My disease went undetected for several years also and I thought I was nuts and it was blamed on nerves, stress etc. I think the majority of warriors on this board are having problems after they have been diagnosed. I was disappointed in the programme and am also afraid that any up and coming magazine articles that are written will gloss over the disease in the same manner.
Take care everyone,
I’m home for a couple of days then off again from Aug 2 – 11th so sorry if I don’t get all my e-mails answered. SAS

[Anonymous March 31, 1999 at 11:24 pm Post count: 93172]

#1148504

Finally, an upbeat post. Last week I had the distinct pleasure of attending a “Gland Central” event in Charlotte, NC. There had been free TSH testing all afternoon at a local shopping mall. That evening, there was a dinner at which Gail Devers spoke. Her story was moving and powerful. She went through two and a half years of being misdiagnosed. She actually used words like ” severe depression” freely. I found myself with tears gently flowing as she described her battles and fears with Graves’. I didn’t realize they were there (my eyelids are pretty numb!!) till my seatmate asked if I was okay. She has so much energy, and is so articulate about her Graves’, and the doctors that were there said that was the best talk about thyroid they had ever heard. I responded that it was because they were listening to a patient, and they agreed. I went away with several busines cards requesting that I send the doctors information (more starfish hunters). Anyway, it was great. I asked her about coming to the conference, but she will be in Europe training for the Summer Olympics. She’s slim, and strong, and atheletic. I hope she will participate a little with us. She gave me her address, and I need to write her.

Everyone should be coming off the CHAT room by now. Have a great end of the week. I check my e-mail daily (hint!)

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