[Kimberly]

#1065319

Hi Jessica – I am starting up a Graves’ Disease support group in Phoenix, AZ that has its first meeting on the 19th…if I run into anyone who meets your guidelines, I will definitely pass on your contact info.

Do you participate in Yahoo discussion groups at all? That might be a good resource for connecting with fellow teens.

Also, I know that this might be too far off for your time frame, but if you are able to attend the GDF’s conference from Oct. 22-24, that might be a good opportunity to meet people as well.

Best of luck with this important project!

[gemsile]

#1065320

Thanks Kimberly. Good luck with your support group, and please keep me posted.

I’ve thought of looking into Yahoo Groups, but haven’t done so yet. I’d also love to come to the conference, but I’ll be in school and don’t really have the funds to fly out (I go to school in NY!). I hope to make it to one someday though.

Thanks for the suggestions!

[gemsile]

#1018502

Hello all! It’s been a while.

My name is Jessica, I am 21 years old, and I was diagnosed with Graves at age 15. It’s under control numbers-wise, but I still face symptoms and the reality of it every day.

Over a year ago, I posted on here about a film project I was doing for school on teenagers’ experience with Graves. I received a number of messages from interested people, and was in contact with many of them. Unfortunately, due to the demands of a new school year, I had to put any further work on the project on hold.

But now it’s summer, and I have a whole new (more positive) outlook on this film, and would love to get some more help on it!

If you are a) a adolescent (ages 12-25) whose been living with graves OR b) an adult who was first diagnosed with Graves as a teenager, please consider contacting me. I don’t mean to exclude people, but I feel there is not much out there on this from the "teen-age" view. We can do it through email correspondence or phone, or even web-cam.

You’d be surprised how many people, even those with Graves, don’t realize that teenagers can have Grave’s Disease too! It’s time to get our stories heard.

Please post a reply, or private message me and I’ll be sure to contact you back! If you were previously involved in this project, I’d love to hear from you again! Follow-up interviews would help out a lot too.

Health and happiness,
Jessica

[mspence]

#1065321

Hello,

My daughter is 13 and we just found out today that she has graves disease.
So we are just starting our journey. I just gave her first dose of medication
tonight. She starts 8th grade on August 19th and her symptoms have been
so bad that we didn’t know how she could function when school started.
We are hoping that the medication will get her back to somewhere near
normal very quickly.
We have her first appointment with the pediatiric endocrinologist on August 27th so
this diagnosis has been determined by the symptoms and bloodwork
taken by her pediatrician and conferring with the pediatric endocrinologist.

Found your request as I have been looking for information and answers to
prepare myself so I can be an advocate. ILet me know.
Thanks, MS

[Kimberly]

#1065322

MS – Hello and welcome to the boards! Sorry to hear about your daughter’s diagnosis. ” title=”Sad” /> Keep in mind that it can sometimes take a few weeks before we start seeing a reduction in symptoms. The reason is that the meds go to work right away in preventing the body from manufacturing *new* thyroid hormone…but the body still has stores of extra hormone that need to be “burned off” before the hypER symptoms start to subside.

In the meantime, you might consider speaking to your daughter’s teacher and/or a school administrator. The Individuals With Disabilities Act of 1997 and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation act of 1973 can provide some relief for Graves’ patients by allowing accommodations through an individually designed plan. For example, your daughter might be able to get a little extra time for tests or homework assignments. Being hypER can affect our memory and concentration, and sometimes the symptoms persist even after our levels are brought under control. Of course, I never know whether to blame mine on having Graves’ or just getting old. ” title=”Very Happy” />

Best of luck to you and your family!

[mspence]

#1065323

Kimberly,

Thank you for the response and great advice. My daughter Cindy is excited to see a place where she can express her feelings about the disease. After looking over the site and reading different people’s experiences, I now have the
impression that Graves Disease may not be so easily solved as I want it to be. I have two younger children that they also want to test for GD so I am preparing myself and not hoping for a GD "trifecta". ” title=”Wink” />

Thanks again,
Margaret

[scgirl]

#1065324

hey kimberly, this is cindy, i was wanting to post stuff on my page… how do you do that?

[Kimberly]

#1065325

Hi Cindy – I see that you were able to post some questions on the board. Is that what you were trying to do?

We don’t really have fancy personal "pages" on this board like they have on sites like Facebook. However, if you click on "User Control Panel", you can do things like update your profile and add a signature or avatar. Be careful with posting any information that is too personal. We do our best to keep spammers OFF this board, but occasionally they do slip through the cracks.

If that doesn’t answer your question, let me know.

[scgirl]

#1065326

thank you kimberly. i had some questions too.
i’m only in 8th grade and want to do stuff like other people.
do you think i could be on the track team? or be in honnors?
and what can i do to help my memory?
thank you,
cindy ” title=”Very Happy” />

[scgirl]

#1065327

sorry, i didnt see where you posted a reply on the other. thanks for the advice, I will try to eat better and stop excercizing so heavilly. You’re advice was very helpfull and i will make sure i go by your instructions.

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