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in reply to: strabismus surgery #1066403
Sorry I missed this thread. I have had 7 strabismus surgeries all told over a period of almost 4 years. It is a simple surgery and the results are immediate.
I worred myself to death over the surgery and when it was done I was amazed at how quick, painless and immediate the loss of double vision was.
I was out of work one day. I had the surgery done on a Friday and back to work on Monday. I had to use antibiotic eye drops for a week. And you will end up with the coolest red eye. I had one done at Halloween and Everybody wanted to know where I got the cool eyes. I rocked that Halloween…
Feel free to ask any questions.
in reply to: TED surgery complications #1066247Yes actually I had five strabismus surgeries to correct double vision before the orbital decompression. And yes depending on what muscle they cut it can make the eye sag(for lack of a better word) and need to be propped up later.
I had a hard pallet graft prior to my decompressions. That involved taking part of the hard pallet from the roof of my mouth and grafting it into the lower eye lid. This worked to prop up the lower lid and protect the eye. Once I had the decompression I needed upper lid surgery to reposition the upper lid.
All in all the end result was great. My eyes look normal and I am loving life. I have Graves’ and life is good.
in reply to: Prism glasses #1066395When my prisms were changing often I went to one of the national eye glass chains that advertised free changes for a year if your vision changed. I would get the prisms ground into my lenses. I paid extra for the prisms but it beat the stick on kind all to heck.
Over the course of the year I had about three different sets. After that I kept all the lenses. As my eyes fluctuated I swapped out lenses ( with my doctor’s help) to keep the double vision at bay. With three sets of different prisms I could almost always get the diopter strength the doctor said was needed and no additional cost to me.
Just a thought…
in reply to: Newly diagnosed, need to work out #1066325Actually your body is getting a major workout when you are hyper. That is one reason the doctor may have said no workouts for the time being.
When you are hyper it is like running a marathon every day and to add additional workouts to the stress of the body is dangerous. And yes if you have some muscle wasting, the heart is a muscle that can be overworked too much and cause you more problems than a short term workout ban.
Think of it this way, while you are hyper you are getting a workout with out the extra work. Bonus!
in reply to: Surgery Complete! #1066271YIPPEE
Great to hear the surgery went well. We look forward to learning more how well you are doing and keep us informed.
in reply to: Pregnancy after RAI #1066492Hi Kristi,
Pregnancy after RAI is not recommended for at least 12 months after. Excess RAI not absorbed by the thyroid is excreated in our urine and sweat. Since the bladder is close to the overies, there is a slight chance it could harm developing eggs. That is why the doctors recommend at least 12 months after RAI to try to get pregnant.
Hi Butter,
We cannot tell you what a nodule may or may not mean of any size. What I can tell you is to ask your doctor what this means based on your symptoms and what the scan showed, There are so many variables for what could cause a nodule that only your doctor can tell you what it means.
There has been a great deal of dissusion on nodules in our archive files. Do a search on our archives for information on them and you may find an answer to your question.
My first choice was to use ATDs for as long as possible then use radiation or surgey if needed. In my case each time I was backed off of the antithyroid drugs I went hyper right away. So I chose radiation for my treatment. It worked well for me and twelve years later I am in really good shape, Graves’ wise, and life is good.
My Mom came down with Graves’ about eight years ago and stayed on ATDs until she crossed over a few years back. He crossing was not related to Graves’ and she stayed on ATDs until the end and they worked well for her.
If long term remission is in your future I hope it works well for you. Just remember as long as your Antibodies are active, they are still attacking your thyroid. So over time your thyroid may not be able to function as well. Work with your doctor and keep a good watch on what is happening with your levels and let us know what is happening.
Jake
in reply to: Dear Thyroid #1066842About ten years ago we had a limeric contest to see who could write the funniest limeric on Graves’ disease. We had over 40 entries and the answers were a hoot. Nancy we ought to think about this again. Last time I supplied the prize.
Perhaps Nancy can supply one of those fancy bracelets.
Lets see If I can come up with one off the top of my head to kick us off.
There was once a man from Staves
With Graves’ he was stunned
He said with chagrin
There goes my weight again
and with ATDs he did shuck itWow that was really bad. REALLY bad
YOu know Billy,
You just described almost every person on this board at some time in their treatment and recovery. Every statement and emotion you said, I had. So I know exactly where you are coming from. From the sounds of it you are still very hyper and have not had your levels reach normal with antithyroid drugs.
We must remember we did not get sick overnight and we do not get better overnight. But getting better does happen. Little by little.
It is hard when we do not look "sick" then people expect us to act and behave like we used to. Only we are not the same. We have anger, memory loss and lack of ability to do what we used to before Graves’ disease.
But when you get your levels back to normal, you will find who your true friends were. They are the ones who still kept coming by knowing you may blow up at them or cry for no reason. The ones who took the kids for a few hours so you could try to relax. The ones who brought dinner because they knew you were not capable of cooking with all the stuff going on in your head.
If you have not found these types of friends yet, rest assured they will come.
Life will get better, we just have to have patience. One day you will wake up and realize you don’t feel bad today. It will just come with time. When it does you will try to pinpoint what day or week you felt better. You will just know that one morning you feel good.
I have been through all you have. I can truly say today, "I have Graves’ and life is good."
in reply to: Glen W. Bell passes #1066802Kathy, Steve and the entire Bell family,
We are with you in your time of loss. The world is a better place because your father was in it. That is a fantastic legacy to leave. To know that through him and his children, so many have been helped.
He will be missed and prayers for his passage to the great unknown willl be said.
in reply to: Can anyone please shed some light? #1066926Your OB and primary care doctor will have to work closely together. Some of the medications used to treat hyperthyroid can cross the placenta barrier to the fetus. So getting the two of them to work and talk to you and your husband should help to elevate your concerns.
Are you seeing an endocrinologist as opposed to a GP for your thyroid levels? Normally if your levels are set to a proper level you should not see any increase in dangers for the pregnancy. But getting your levels into the normal range is very important.
There are a number of women on here who were in your position and I hope they answer your posts. Welcome to our board and we look forward to following how well you do until the baby is born. We love babies…
We are only a click away.in reply to: What’s that on my head? #1067152Yes that is true. I have four books published and just submitted my latest to my publisher. I am also working on 6, 7, and 8.
Back when first diagnosed I never in a million years thought I would feel well enough let along the brain fog lifting letting me return to a somewhat normal life.
Jan kids me once in a while that she misses the hyper me that could clean, iron, mop, vacume and build things all at once because I was hyper. Now I do what I can and what I can’t we hire to have done. But then again I am 12 years older and getting ready for retirement. I have earned the rite to hire someone to do something I don’t want to any more…
For those of you newly diagnosed and those not yet regulated. You will get better. Just remember you did not get sick overnight. You will not get better overnight. But day by day you will get better. We are here for you. Ask any questions, we are only a click away.
I have Graves’ disease and life is good.
in reply to: eye muscle surgery #1067223Bobbi’s right. I should have made that more clear. I had the surgerys after each hot phase was done.
And yes three hot phases were the pits. Bobbi, and Dianne saw me at my worst times. But then again when we saw each other the next conference they were happy to see the crossed eyes gone.
Due to personal reasons Jan I have not been able to make it to the past two conferences. We missed our friends, but life has returned to normal years ago for me and my writing and publishing have taken off and are taking most of my time now.
So you can see that after Graves’ and multiple eye surgeries life does get back to normal. I am glad to say I have had four books published, I am a partner in a publishing house and I get to read all submission to us for publication. My eyes work great and I can read without stress to my eyes.
I work full time as a civil servent for the Air Force, write, edit and am a partner in a publishing house. Also Jan and I run a home business for editing, copywriting and typing. So you can see things will get back to normal. Long gone are the days I had to sit in my car for half an hour to get the energy to simply walk into my house to the couch.
I have Graves and life is indeed good.
in reply to: eye muscle surgery #1067220I had multiple hot phases where my eye muscles continued to scar and moved my eyes off center. The last two were because I had a three wall orbital decompression and when the eyes settled back into my head they moved off from center again and I had the last two to get the eyes as close to center as they could.
Because I had a few already they could only adjust my eye muscles so much. After decompression my eyes were eighteen degrees off center. After strabismus surgery they were only six degrees off center. I now wear ground in prisms in my glasses. Three diopter (degrees) in each eye and have no double vision with my glasses off.
When my glasses are off you can see I am slightly cross eyed, but with my glasses on that is not the case.
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