Living

Early on in my thyroid eye disease (TED) diagnosis, I got into using an icepack when my eyes were swollen or felt very uncomfortable. I bought an ice pack off...

I was excited about becoming a Health Leader on thyroideyedisease.net, but when I was asked to provide a picture with my bio, I almost turned down the opportunity. I never...

Recently, my sister had an eye infection. Her eyes were irritated in a way she had not experienced before. She felt overwhelmed and annoyed by how her eyes were taking...

Let’s talk social media filters and thyroid eye disease. I am very active on social media as an advocate within the autoimmune disease community, but ever since I was diagnosed...

Keeping track of your medical records is essential for your health, especially when you have thyroid eye disease (TED). With organized medical records, you can track changes and find patterns...

When I was diagnosed with thyroid eye disease (TED), everything felt different. I had an answer, a name for what I was experiencing, but I did not quite understand the...

When 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...

I 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...

New surgery, new me! Is that the right phrase? I would like to say that my journey with thyroid eye disease (TED) has been a rollercoaster, but it has been...

There 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...

I had noticed my sunglasses were not fitting right about a year before I was diagnosed with thyroid eye disease (TED). I thought someone had sat on them or I...

When 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...

On January 21, 2020, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Tepezza, made by Horizon Therapeutics, to treat thyroid eye disease (TED). It is the first and only FDA-approved...

I 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...

After having 4 surgeries to treat thyroid eye disease (TED), I did not think that I would ever need to meet a new TED specialist again. However, my regular specialist/surgeon...

Everyone'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...

When we last spoke we were having our final post-op appointment before you went on sabbatical for several months. This appointment marked the end (or at least what I hope...

I 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...

I have spent a fair amount of time talking about thyroid eye disease (TED), but I do not think I have talked enough about Graves disease. My Graves’ disease diagnosis...

The same question has been posed to me several times in interviews and chats with other rare disease advocates - "What are you most proud of?" And I never knew...