Thyroid Fun Stuff

There's not much fun associated with thyroid disease, but we've come across a few instances that gave us a laugh or two. In addition, we have a list of famous people who have suffered from thyroid disease, but went on to live full and successful lives. If, as a thyroid patient, you have a funny, enlightening, or inspiring experience and would like to contribute an anecdote to this page, submit it.

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Famous Thyroid Patients

President George Bush, and First Lady Barbara Bush were both sufferers of hyperthyroidism. The unusual occurrence of thyroid disease in the First Couple prompted an investigation into the water supply at the vice-presidential mansion. Even their dog Millie was diagnosed with thyroid problems! No cause was ever found, and it was apparently just a statistical anomaly.

Rod Stewart - Rock/Pop Star, singer, writer and producer. During an annual physical doctors discovered a nodule in his thyroid. Surgery on May 12, 2000 removed the nodule, and it was found not to be malignant.

Tipper Gore - Wife of Vice President Al Gore. Became the third resident of the Blair House (the vice-president's residence) to suffer from thyroid problems. Tipper's recent surgery to have her thyroid gland removed because of a nodule has raised awareness of the thyroid in general and thyroid nodules in particular.

Gail Devers - Olympic Gold Medal Winner. Her courageous battle to overcome thyroid disease is portrayed in "Run for the Dream: The Gail Devers Story", an original movie of her battle to overcome thyroid disease and win an Olympic Gold Medal. This movie was made by Showtime, and runs occasionally on television.

Faith Ford - plays Corky on "Murphy Brown". She was diagnosed with hyperthyroid after suffering an episode of heart palpitations and breathlessness on the set. She experienced a classic symptom of Grave's disease, and told Ladie's Home Journal, " I felt like I had sand in my eyes." She also lost a considerable amount of weight and two dress sizes, but like so many mistaken women, she felt this was not a problem.

Muhammed Ali - "Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee" is this World Champion heavy weight boxer's motto. It could just as easily be the thyroid's motto as well, as any sufferer of thyroid disease can attest. Muhammed Ali lost a championship fight after being mistreated for thyroid disease.

Carl Lewis - Olympic Gold Medal Winner. Five months before the 1996 Olympics, Carl was diagnosed with hypothyroidism. He was successfully treated and able to compete.

Ben Crenshaw - World class golfer.

Pat Bradley - Top player in the Ladies Professional Golfers Association.

Patty Berg - Winner of the first Women's National Open Golf Tournament in 1946 and member of the LPGA Hall of fame.

Joe Piscopo - Actor, producer, writer, singer, and comedian.

Charles Marion Russell - ( 1864-1926 ), cowboy artist, had a large goiter that choked him, and squeezed is air pipe, and gave him dizzy spells. He was unable to sleep, or work, and finally went to May Clinic. World famous thyroid surgeon, William Plummer, removed the goiter. Unfortunately, for him during the pre-op evaluation, they found severe Emphysema, and associated heart failure, and coronary disease. He died in 1926, not long after the thyroid surgery. C.M. Russell Museum in Great Falls Montana, has many of his art pieces. The best photo of him on the Museum web site shows him in a suit, but due to his massive goiter he could no button the shirt all the way, or put the tie on tight. See www.cmrussell.org/meet.html. for his biography and photograph.

"Infamous" Thyroid Patients

Peter Gotti - the head of the Gambino Crime family in New York, brother of the "Teflon Don John Gotti, convicted of money laundering, and racketeering, has requested a reduced sentence because he has a thyroid condition, and is blind in one eye. The disease was not named in the L.A. Times article. Maybe he has Graves' Disease with a rare complication of blindness from Thyroid Eye disease.

From: L.A.Times, Page.A10, 4/2/2004 by John Goldman

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Taken from Batman Comics 1942

Evil villain paralyzed Thyroid gland and made victims swollen and ugly.
They were cured by injecting Thyroid Extract ! ! !

In the Hellbrunn Gardens, Salzburg, Austria

Photo by John C. Wilson, 1985

Thyroid Jokes

Thanks to Don:
Recently, I had a sonogram done on my thyroid. I have six lumps, two of them quite large. While I was in the testing room, a nurse asked me what I thought of the scan. I told her that I didn't care whether it was a boy or a girl, I just wanted it to be healthy. The nurses sure got a good laugh from that.

Janet Glassberg in Arizona Highways, June 1998
Prior to treatment with thyroid they used an unusual therapy for goiters in the old west. They wrapped a snake around the neck and let it slither over the goiter to shrink it!

Thanks to Dr. Nancy Patterson of the National Grave's Disease Foundation:
Two women were walking down the street and a talking frog said, "Kiss me and I'll turn into an endocrinologist." One of the women scooped up the frog and and put him in her shopping bag. The other women said, "Aren't you going to kiss him?" Her friend replied, " Hell, no. A talking frog will talk to me more than my endocrinologist!"

What did the radiologist nuclear medicine doctor say to the Grave's Disease patient? "The pellet with the poison is in the flagon with the dragon."

Thanks to RitaB:
My daughter was recently diagnosed with Grave's disease. When she went in for her radioactive iodine treatment, the nurse went over do's and don't's. Do sleep alone, do flush the toilet 3 times after using,etc. The last thing she said was, "Get up at 3 a.m." When my daughter asked why -- the nurse replied, "Don't you want to see if you're glowing in the dark?"

A Thyroid Poem

Butterfly

Shaped like a butterfly she sits within the neck

Wanting only to share her beauty throughout the body and awakening all cells

Yet faithful to her messenger she will evolve with the information sent

She can race forth spinning your entire being into a frenzy

Awakening you in the midst of the night saturated with sweat and palpitating heart

Or she can lull you to sleep and make you feel so melancholy or down right

Depressed and angry for no particular reason

Whatever the effects her presence will be felt by every part of your being

When feeling fine and neither up nor down do not think that she has forgotten you

For at this time she simply sits on her throne, her wings spread wide,
as she escorts You through your journey

There have been cells that have turned against her, most of them without the strength

To fully conquer her fortress

Other have penetrated her and have caused her great harm

But she continues to evolve with the force of such intrusions while desperately

Attempting to maintain her exalted position

She will fight to save her fortress and keep her chamber safe, but eventually she

Will give in to the information she receives and must subjugate her will to the will Of the informer

Although her wings may be clipped, she is still a beautiful butterfly, she remains

Exalted, meaning only well for the body she inhabits and loyal to her messenger

- - - Anonymous - - -

Interesting Thyroid Links

http://www.gimenez.biz/legend

Weird Thyroid Links

These are links you don't want to get your information from. Dr. Guttler has reviewed these sites and found them to contain unreliable information for the treatment of thyroid disease. Especially the first one.

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