This poem, “Oh, Graves Disease, what you put me through!!” is the one I wrote after my doctor, Bryan McIver, deemed me in remission from Graves Disease on November 13, 2009. Enjoy!
Oh Graves Disease what you put me through!!
In December 2001, unexplained back pain and high levels of sugar in my urine
were only the first signs of my soon-to-be burden.
During a routine check-up for birth control,
I was ready to get out of that gown and rock ‘n roll.
Yet the nurse exclaimed, “Oh my gosh! What is the matter with you?”
To which I replied, “Why…lots of things! What’s it to you?”
“Your thyroid is the size of a baseball!”
“Is that a bad thing?” I answered, once and for all.
“Yes! That’s a bad thing!”
My heart skipped a beat.
The news of which hit like a bee sting.
So much so I couldn’t feel my feet.
It was January 2002,
I would be going to Europe in a day or two.
I was 22 and it was the first time I would have my blood drawn,
Highly unaware of what my body had undergone.
With my pending European trip,
My internist was smart as a whip.
She got me into see Endocrinologist Mitchell Hamburg that very day,
So he could tell me I had Graves Disease, much to my dismay!
Two days later, off to Europe I was,
Blood draws in Cambridge and Munich, an unexpected part of my travel buzz.
By Munich, blood work was normal,
However, having to take an additional few pills a day was abnormal.
Six years and three endocrinologists later, Kallsen, Hellman and Bhattacharya,
Who knew Bryan McIver at Mayo would be the Niña, Pinta and the Santa Maria.
Fighting the idea of Radioactive Iodine and Thyroid Surgery,
I swore to McIver I would do as he said after 8 years, all the while committing perjury.
7.75 years after being diagnosed and 18 months after my first McIver appointment,
I came to realize that there would be no more disappointment.
McIver must have told me 5 times I was in remission
before I realized the wisdom of my intuition.
An additional 40 lbs., unexplainable cravings and memory lapses in between,
I had forgotten what it felt like to feel eighteen.
Countless holistic practitioners, awareness of my body,
realizing the effects of an imbalance, would be a trend I would embody.
Meeting McIver, being under his care,
finally believing in a doctor, had answered my last prayer.
Graves Disease, I thank you.
Oh, Graves Disease, what you put me through!!
Bye-bye Graves Disease, I bid you adieu!
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