New labs and anti-body question - Elaine or others

[Guest guest]

Hi ,

At 49 and dealing with Graves', I can only imagine what Lillie's going through

at 17. I was angry and overwhelmed to be saddled with a chronic illness, and at

17 it must be even more frustrating. The symptoms also make me withdraw at

times, so I find myself shutting out friendly contact yet welcoming it when it

gets through. I also found that my emotional reactions are less reliable than

before, which again would be pretty confusing at 17. I find that decisions that

used to be quick and easy now leave me vacillating and unsure. (The example I

used with my psychologist was the situation when you get out of your car at a

store and decide whether it's a safe spot or you should lock the doors--it's

like my guidelines having vanished and I have to rethink/refeel everything.)

My insurance was willing to pay for counseling as Graves' is considered to be

stress induced (where I would say it's really a combination of factors, but

regardless. Odd that my Mom's insurance won't pay for counseling for her IBS,

which they say is not stress induced.) I was lucky to be referred to a very

objective, practical psychologist (a former union negotiator) and the sessions

have been very helpful. Counseling might be a great help for Lillie. I do

remember turning down counseling at the age myself because I feared the doctor

would report back to my parents, so you might stress that it would be

confidential.

This is also an important time to impress on her not to smoke, as there's a

clear connection between smoking and worsening of the eye problems. I'm even

irritated by smoke residue on clothing, so she may have to stay out of her

friends' smoke, too. A tough lesson but at least there's a very concrete goal to

it, as irritated eyes are a lot more immediate of a threat than lung cancer in

the far future. (In fact, you may want to remind Lillie that the skills and

strengths she develops now, including things like stress reduction techniques,

will help her throughout her life and may really give her an edge on people who

don't have to learn " self-defense " till later on.)

As I complain about the problems Graves' has caused me I'm constantly aware that

I have more tools to deal with it than the teens and children it affects and I

have great respect for their parents. BTW, I'm in Albany and having trouble with

my endo, so I may end up going out of my HMO and contact the endo you mentioned

in Hudson. (I'm not at that point yet but will be if my endo continues to deny

me a TSI test.)

Best wishes,

--- Original Message -----

From: nermal1002003

To: graves_support

Sent: Saturday, September 13, 2003 6:50 PM

Subject: Re: New labs and anti-body question - Elaine or

others

Our worries about her have more to do with her emotional well-being.

She's somewhat depressed and withdrawn, and we're not sure whether to

attribute that to her GD. Or, I should say that we think she's

responding to her situation, not that her illness is causing her

response, if you know what I mean. That it's perhaps reasonable for

her to be a bit down, considering.