Thyroid diseases and thyroid cancers are fun, right? Unfortunately not; they deeply affect us as patients and our families, indelibly leaving an imprint on our minds, bodies and souls. None of it is easy. If we’re going to bring awareness to this disease, we have to come together as a family. Our collective voices have the power to invoke change. Because the holidays are a time of celebration with the people we love and a time to reflect, what better way to ignite change, and move our stories forward, oh and have a laugh along the way, than to connect with each other?

Questions:

1) Have the holidays and your experience of them changed since you’ve been diagnosed?

The way I experience holidays now is totally different since I was diagnosed. The Holidays no longer feel lonely and sad. The depression I used to feel around the Holidays was difficult.

2) What is your favorite holiday food/dish from childhood? What is your favorite dish now? (Did you have to change your diet at all since being diagnosed?)

My favorite dish from the Holidays was my mom’s Thanksgiving bread. The only reason I don’t eat it now is that she does not make it anymore. I want to change my diet but am finding it difficult to do so. I hope to tackle this in 2010.

My favorite dish now? I really don’t have one. I eat anything! Which is probably not that good.

3) Off the top of your head, is there one comment from friends or family that sticks out in your mind as a what-were-they-thinking kind of thing that brought your disease front and center for everyone at the holiday function to hear about?

No one has really brought attention to my disease. Mainly because I feel they don’t know exactly what I go through on a daily basis. I try to keep a lid on it as much as I can. Part of me feels that in order not to be the center of attention I just keep quiet about the particulars of my disease. I have had several people comment outside the Holiday realm. They have read concocted remedies that are supposed to “cure” me. Even though I can’t be cured. I so wish!

4) How do you get through the stress of the holidays, paired with a disease? What are your coping strategies?

I really try to live my life to the fullest everyday. I choose not to let my disease stop me from doing the things I really want to do. I think I do really well during the holidays.

5) Do you feel the need to enlighten and educate your loved ones about your disease when you get together for holidays, as people are often curious about our illnesses? If so, how do you educate them?

My experience with trying to explain my disease to others has been not very good. I feel that people just really aren’t that excited to find out about what I go through as a thyroid patient. They have better things to do than understand my symptoms. I think someone said it best “if you know where your thyroid is – you have a problem with it!”

6) Has your disease ever showed up at the wrong time on a holiday and ruined the day or moment?
It has a few times. Not from strange symptoms – but from gut bloat as I call it. I suffered from undiagnosed Candida so any large meal that I ate got stuck in my tummy. Nothing would digest. So, leaving restaurants after birthday celebrations I would be in great pain. I would wake up the next morning and my tummy would STILL  be bloated and full!

7) Have you thought about submitting a letter to Dear Thyroid? If so, would your letter be a love letter or a hate letter? Would it be to your thyroid or from your thyroid?
I did I did! It was cathartic to release some frustration on my thyroid. I hope to write another one soon. My letter was called “Thy Good, Thy Bad and Thyugly”. It was posted on Sept. 30th and got 55 comments. :-) If you haven’t submitted a letter I highly suggest you do. It was great to get supportive comments from everyone!

The thyroid regulates EVERY aspect of you body. Skin, hair, mind, stomach, etc. I feel that people just blow off Thyroid disease as this little little thing when really it is a very large disease. The pain and depression that come with it are really tough to deal with. I wish people would show more sympathy for thyroid disorders. I have meet people with Thyroid Disease that don’t take it very seriously as well!

9) What is the greatest misconception regarding thyroid disease and thyroid cancer?

10) What is the stupidest thing someone has said to you regarding your illness that, to this day, still makes you laugh or makes you angry?

“Oh – you still have that Thyroid thing? I thought you were done with that.”

Dear Thyroid is a literary thyroid support community and blog. Thyroid patients are invited to submit Dear Thyroid letters; love letters and hate letters, among other thyroid literary things, such as Thyrants, Thygraphs, Thykus, Thyetry and Thysongs, etc. Our goals are for all of us as a community of patients to connect with each other and our diseases, and to bring awareness to thyroid diseases and thyroid cancers, we need and deserve a face and a voice. For our non-literary crew, we have monthly Flickr pools. Recently, we launched Dear Thyroid Local Meet Ups for offline support. Dear Thyroid Forums are forthcoming in December.