Interviewing My Mom, My Support PersonWhen we think about a diagnosis, we think about the patient first. It is only natural since they are the ones directly dealing with the disease. Then there are those...Reactions0reactionsComments0 comments
My Graves' AntibodiesI recently had an appointment with my endocrinologist. Every time I get my thyroid labs done, I have my Graves' antibody numbers checked. This last time, they had once again...Reactions0reactionsComments0 comments
What I Would Warn Myself About TEDThere was no time between who I was before thyroid eye disease (TED) and who I became once I had TED. Of course, there was a time between the symptoms...Reactions0reactionsComments0 comments
4 Things I Would Tell Myself About TED NowWhen the puffiness from the swelling first formed around my eyes, I asked someone if it was normal. They replied, "Yeah, it's a sign of getting older." I had just...Reactions0reactionsComments5 comments
How TED Taught Me PatienceI have always been a pretty patient person. I am not usually someone who sighs to myself in a long line or gets antsy when things are taking too long...Reactions0reactionsComments0 comments
Why I Didn't Get SurgeryEveryone's journey with thyroid eye disease (TED) is uniquely their own. For me, I never thought of surgery as a possibility of being part of my journey. Maybe I am...Reactions0reactionsComments2 comments
The Stranger in the MirrorI look in the mirror and do not recognize the person staring back at me. She is not me. She is not who I imagine I am. Her eyes are...Reactions0reactionsComments0 comments
Not Everyone Is Looking At MeHow you look at your eyes is not how everyone else will look at your eyes. This is something I had to remind myself of when I was in the...Reactions0reactionsComments0 comments
How Glasses Helped Me with TED (Part 2)Editor's Note: This is part 2 of a series. Please read part 1 here. "Do you wear glasses?" my friend asked me. She was on the phone with her then-boyfriend...Reactions0reactionsComments0 comments
My Vision Journey (Part 1)When I was a junior in high school, I failed the school vision test. I could not read the letters below a certain line from far away the way I...Reactions0reactionsComments0 comments
"Are You The One with TED?"It was the morning after my cousin got married to his longtime partner. I was sitting in the hotel dining area, sipping on a Starbucks, trying to wake up, when...Reactions0reactionsComments0 comments
Why My Eyes Are Still My FavoriteIf someone were to ask me what my favorite part of my body was before I had thyroid eye disease (TED), I would answer with my eyes. Even now after...Reactions0reactionsComments0 comments
When Time Was My Only FriendWhen I was going to doctor’s appointments for thyroid eye disease (TED) from 2018 to 2021, the options for combating the symptoms I was experiencing were limited. The drugs available...Reactions0reactionsComments0 comments
Questions I Had About TED a Year Into the DiseaseEditor's Note:This is part three of a series. Read the first and second article from this series by clicking the following titles: Questions I Had About TED When I Was...Reactions0reactionsComments4 comments
How Meditation Helped Me With TEDWhy am I doing this? Sitting for ten minutes is way too long! It’s practically an eternity!! Who decided ten minutes was the lucky time to meditate? Why is this...Reactions0reactionsComments1 comments
Eye Drops or No Eye Drops? A Dry Eye Dilemma“Your eyes are extremely dry. Can you feel how dry they are?” My regular eye doctor asked me during a follow-up visit with her two months after I was diagnosed...Reactions0reactionsComments0 comments
Reminders of TEDThe other day, I experienced a really bad migraine. It was so bad that I had to lie down in my bed for two hours because it hurt to move...Reactions0reactionsComments0 comments
Questions I Had About TED After I Was Diagnosed (Part 2)After the initial shock of my thyroid eye disease (TED) diagnosis wore off, I still had a lot of questions. These questions had to deal more with the journey TED...Reactions0reactionsComments0 comments
Questions I Had About TED When I Was Initially Diagnosed (Part 1)When I was initially diagnosed with thyroid eye disease (TED), I was overwhelmed. There was a lot of significant change happening all at once with the onset of the symptoms...Reactions0reactionsComments0 comments
Going Through the Motions of EmotionFrom October 2018 to March 2020, I was in a constant state of worry over my eyes. Being worried was nothing new to me but suddenly I had something specific...Reactions0reactionsComments1 comments
