What Important Life Lesson Thyroid Disease Taught You
It's made me very cynical about mainstream medicine, but it's also made me determined. It's taught me that I am in charge of my health and my care. I've learned that sometimes I have to go an extra mile to get appropriate care. I've learned not to take no for an answer. I've learned that ultimately, the power to take care of myself lies with *me*. It's not always easy, and it can be infuriating, but in the end it's all in my hands. If I have to travel to see a good doc, I will. If I have to someday go to Canada to get my meds, I will.
How Has This Lesson Changed Your Life?
It's made me think about my health almost constantly. I am always considering how things will affect my immune system and my thyroid. But this hasn't paralyzed me. It's given me perspective. I have a chronic disease and that sucks. Sometimes it sucks a lot. But it's not killing me. I could have something far worse, and I try to bear that in mind.
Advice
- Find a good doctor. This might not be someone in your HMO or who takes your insurance. It might not even be a *doctor* (my first wonderful practitioner was a nurse practitioner, and she put me on Armour and changed my life.) You might have to travel to see him/her, and you might have to pay cash. Do yourself a favor and save up all of those copays that you'd just be wasting seeing uneducated docs and use it to see someone who knows how to treat thyroid disease. Your thyroid and your stress level will thank you.
