Incompetent Endos

[Guest guest]

First of all, I wanted to say to Terri - What a very tragic and

horrifying story. It is very hard for me to believe that a doctor

would choose to treat a patient in that manner, and then for her

parents to go along with the cover-up, but I am not sure why, when I

have members of my own family even who would do whatever a doctor

told them he/she thought was best.

Secondly, I have just been reading the posts and I notice a lot of

you use the example on endos as most of them know a lot about

diabetes and not so much about graves. I agree 100% with this

comparison and was just wondering...maybe its because they don't

really HAVE to know. My thinking was, if RAI is the " standard of

care " (seems to be used pretty loosely in that context, if you ask

me), do they not think it to be a " miracle pill " and that once taken,

all your problems simply disappear? I know that I was told this by

numerous doctors and even technicians while going through my initial

testing to determine that I did, in fact, have Graves' Disease. I am

sure that many others of you were too. I guess what I am trying to

say is that perhaps it is due to the fact that most people are easily

talked into RAI and the fact that the doctors do not have to learn

how to properly administer the ATDs, this may be the reason that

there are not many endos competent in the treatment of Graves.

On the other hand, I have a cousin who is now 26 that was diagnosed

with diabetes when we were in 2nd grade and has always had very good

care and treatment. The endos were always sure to monitor her blood

sugar and insulin levels very carefully. She has not always had

doctors that she liked, as I am sure many of us have run into even

with GPs, but they have always been very capable of treating her

illness.

So, again, why are more endos not well-versed in the care and

treatment of Graves? I am slowly coming to the conclusion that there

seem to be far more people with thyroid-related problems, then even

diabetes. It is very sad to me that more people are not aware of

what they are doing to their bodies before they take RAI. I was

nearly one of them, but for some reason I could not get it out of my

head the fact that once ingesting the RAI I would have to stay away

from people, most importantly my son, for a time being. I guess the

lights and bells just went off on that fact and I could not justify

to myself the idea that this would be " harmless " to me if it was,

indeed, " harmful " to those who would come in contact with me.

I know I have been rambling through most of this, but I am in my 4th

month of pregnancy and am just about sick at the thought that I have

all of these doctors that are supposed to be keeping me on track, but

so far their ideas have not been good ones, in my opinion, and I have

to count on the advice and support of this group to make informed

decisions about medication adjustment on my own behalf. I am, as of

this moment, awaiting my latest lab results and cannot wait to post

them to the group for feedback, as well.

Thank you for listening and any insight anyone can give to me. I

wish the best to all of the mothers who have been posting about their

children being diagnosed and am so glad to see caring parents who are

willing to research and become informed before making such a life-

altering decision on behalf of their child.

Lori