Get that thyroid checked!

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MARILYN HOLASEK LLOYD

October 21, 2002

MY UNCLE JOE DIED BECAUSE HE WASN’T GIVEN A $25 BLOOD TEST

The Medical Neglect Of A Quiet, Friendly Family Man

By Marilyn Holasek LloydMy Uncle Joe lived for his garden, and his garden lived for him. He supplied his family with the most beautiful organic veggies, before anyone knew what organic meant, and also the world’s most beautiful flowers. When he got up there in age and had to have back surgery and had to use two leg braces, he gardened from his little plastic chair which he dragged around the yard. He was a quiet, friendly, family man who had a blue collar career after serving his four years in World War II. My uncle’s life ebbed away - all because his big HMO didn’t run a $25-$50 blood test to check the status of his thyroid.

ly, I had no idea that severe thyroid dysfunction could cause such havoc in the body. My uncle went to the doctor often for regular check ups (every month or two) at his big HMO. But he never complained, always smiled. He would take his little list of symptoms, but the doctors just discounted him because geriatric patients have a lot of common symptoms, such as fatigue, dry skin, and constipation.

But his symptoms got severe one day and he ended up in hospital. And everything then went from bad to worse. My uncle had a strange feeling in his chest and felt weak. When he arrived at the hospital, his temperature was 94 degrees. He was really in a state of hypothermia and about ready to go into a coma. His thyroid was not just low. It wasn’t functioning at all. And the thyroid affects a lot of the body’s functions.

Besides its effects on carbohydrate and fat metabolism, and basal metabolic rate, thyroid hormone has a great effect on blood flow and cardiac output. This output can fall to 50% of normal in severe hypothyroidism. Muscles (the heart muscle too) can become sluggish. On top of that, lack of thyroid hormone can lead to elevated levels of blood fats and this can lead to severe peripheral vascular disease, resulting in a heart attack or stroke.

When my uncle arrived at the hospital, he had an enlarged heart trying to compensate for its lack of performance; there was decreased cardiac output, and heart damage. The doctors told us that they had to be very careful in giving him thyroid hormone because the fluids used to transport it could throw him into congestive heart failure. And that is exactly what happened.

So, on leaving the hospital and going to the rehab facility, his heart was in bad shape and his body was retaining fluid. After rehab, they sent him home to be with his family and see his garden, but that lasted only about 24 hours. His condition got worse at home, and he had to be readmitted to the hospital and then to a nursing home. We picked one with a view of a garden. My family is very close and they visited him everyday, making sure he always had flowers in his room. He smiled always, and died in that nursing home six months after the ordeal started.

I remained very upset over the fact that a simple blood test could have picked up this condition. A simple TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone test) is not that expensive and it shows if the pituitary (the master gland) has to work hard to stimulate a failing thyroid. So a higher reading on the TSH usually shows there is likely a problem. Also, a whole thyroid panel would give a truer picture of what is going on, since there are different types of hypothyroidism. And a metabolic panel would have picked up on his high lipid levels as well. But besides the blood test, a simple palpation of his thyroid would have showed enlargement. What was the doctor doing for him with those checkups every one or two months? Apparently nothing.

The Christmas that was obviously going to be my Uncle Joe’s last, I sent out my Christmas letter urging everyone over 50 to get a thyroid test. So, it would be fitting to say it here: HMOs save money by not ordering tests. Every person 40 plus should ask for a full metabolic panel every year including thyroid tests. That will check not only the function of your thyroid, but will shed light on your lipid status, glucose level, and liver and kidney functions. In preventive medicine, simple blood tests can catch disease before they become life threatening. Before disease takes you away from your family.