tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-42048801639017238002026-03-29T09:34:28.632-07:00Thyroid HopeThis blog is about my experiences with hypothyroidism and to swap notes with other people. I was diagnosed in 2009 and am still not entirely well, though I’m much better now than I was. I set up a thyroid patients' support group in London in 2010 and we continue to meet regularly and welcome new members. There's lots of info on the net aimed at thyroid patients, much of it contradictory and confusing. My aim is to provide a more balanced perspective and information from credible sources.Thyroid Hope - Lorraine Williamshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14391824802740895249noreply@blogger.comBlogger76125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4204880163901723800.post-22961738188431989542017-11-22T04:15:00.005-08:002017-11-22T04:15:56.503-08:00The Thyroid TrustHmmm tis time for another from me. Apologies for somewhat neglecting this little blog recently but I have been busy busy as will become apparent.   I thought it was important to update you my dear blog readers so here goes: Our group of thyroid patients in London has been offered funding to set up a new charity for thyroid patients. We are delighted and very grateful to our benefactor Thyroid Hope - Lorraine Williamshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14391824802740895249noreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4204880163901723800.post-42139353639909021822017-09-07T14:16:00.001-07:002017-09-07T14:16:20.606-07:00Future meetingsYou can find out about our upcoming meetings on the group's website here. All welcome. Thyroid Hope - Lorraine Williamshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14391824802740895249noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4204880163901723800.post-33710895403781094842017-04-26T09:50:00.000-07:002017-05-03T02:12:58.714-07:00ch ch ch change change Ah dear friends, today there is some news to impart. We have a new website for our thyroid patients' peer support group in London - please share far and wide with anyone you know who may wish to come to one of our upcoming meetings - or indeed may like to join us on a lovely seaside walk we are planning in East Kent in the summer. Full details are on the site. The next meeting is 13th May 2017. Thyroid Hope - Lorraine Williamshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14391824802740895249noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4204880163901723800.post-19459296735769658622016-11-24T04:24:00.003-08:002016-11-24T04:54:39.216-08:00Just another Saturday in London townOn Saturday I'll be up in London again. Bright lights, big city It will be the first time for ages that I've been to a BTF London Group event. Looking forward to seeing all who can make it. The group needs more help to keep running and when I heard that, I couldn't help but offer to do what I can to keep it going. So it will be an early start and a Saturday away from my lovely husband andThyroid Hope - Lorraine Williamshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14391824802740895249noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4204880163901723800.post-71198379496393454632015-02-06T22:42:00.000-08:002017-07-14T09:50:00.517-07:00Light, air, space, time, breathI haven't blogged on here for ages. I've been mostly quite well, that's why! So there is light at the end of the tunnel for anyone feeling rotten with hypothyroidism. I've got various projects on the go these days so very little time for thyroid stuff but I still intend to post on here from time to time and in particular I want to get closer to the hypothyroid care strategy project which BTF are Thyroid Hope - Lorraine Williamshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14391824802740895249noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4204880163901723800.post-38910672412806419212014-09-17T03:26:00.003-07:002017-07-14T09:50:55.919-07:00BTF info for 13th sept 2014 meetiingThis article wasn't originally publishing properly, for some reason all the spacing was lost when it went live. I've now sorted this out so hopefully it will be easier to read: I was on the panel at the 13th September BTF London Group meeting and am sharing my notes on BTF Activity for those unable to attend the meeting, below. It was a really good meeting. We followed a different format from Thyroid Hope - Lorraine Williamshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14391824802740895249noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4204880163901723800.post-46289504995647456842014-05-27T07:28:00.000-07:002017-07-14T09:30:55.700-07:00The group goes on.... and why TSH is like the Richter ScaleOur meeting on 10th May went really well. When I get the time I will write up of some of the controversies discussed in Mr Lynne's talk and the Q&A session.  He talked for over an hour, was very open and shared a vast amount of information with us, we all learned a lot and it was a very enjoyable event.  He was a lovely man and brought along his equally lovely practice nurse, Patsy,Thyroid Hope - Lorraine Williamshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14391824802740895249noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4204880163901723800.post-65145836887786192262014-05-02T00:51:00.003-07:002014-05-02T00:51:57.740-07:00Combating internet misinformation - Press Release - Thyroid Controversial Topics EventCombating internet misinformation The London group of the British Thyroid Foundation (BTF), a national patient charity, is organising an event for thyroid patients and people with an interest in thyroid disorders at the Royal Free Hospital, London on Saturday, 10th May 2014. Thyroid disease is very common and usually easily treated - one in 20 people in the UK have a thyroid disorder - yet Thyroid Hope - Lorraine Williamshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14391824802740895249noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4204880163901723800.post-28708413137142564612014-05-01T02:50:00.000-07:002014-11-19T08:32:13.794-08:00Thyroid Controversial TopicsJust heard the news - Mr John Lynn, leading Endocrine Surgeon, has chosen the theme for his talk to our group this month - and it's a scorcher: Thyroid Controversial Topics. I'ts time for Auntie Margaret's disco ball, isn't it..... click to play  Auntie Margaret's disco ball  Well I couldn't be more pleased. Looking forward to welcoming Mr Lynn to our group and to hearing his Thyroid Hope - Lorraine Williamshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14391824802740895249noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4204880163901723800.post-51405844573290339142014-04-29T09:24:00.002-07:002014-04-29T09:24:26.786-07:00Onwards, upwards, sideways....???So great news, we had a brilliant meeting at the House of Lords last month and the British Thyroid Foundation London Group will continue! I am no longer the coordinator.  Phewweww, a relief. The vast majority of the stuff I've been doing has been divvied up and shared and my only residual responsibility is to chair the group and support those fabulous individuals who have taken stuff on. Thyroid Hope - Lorraine Williamshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14391824802740895249noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4204880163901723800.post-40569916437009330542014-03-21T20:40:00.002-07:002014-03-21T20:40:46.471-07:00What next? What can I do that will be most powerful?Thinking about some of the thyroid related things I would like to do once I've stopped running the BTF London Group. While I need to move on with my life and don't want to be forever harping on about all things thyroid, I still feel passionately that it's important to raise awareness of thyroid disease and things that people can do to help themselves, also to raise standards of care for thyroid Thyroid Hope - Lorraine Williamshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14391824802740895249noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4204880163901723800.post-59420337075224334022014-02-24T06:09:00.001-08:002014-03-03T05:38:41.130-08:00Thyroid Patient Voices, Feb 2014, London event write up Most of the attendees at the Feb 2014, BTF London Group meeting thanks to Darren Holman for taking this picture Thirty of us attended the British Thyroid Foundation Patients Voices meeting at the Royal Free in Hampstead this weekend.  It was amazing, as these meetings always are. Sadly it may be my last one. I told BTF in January that I will be standing down as London Coordinator after Thyroid Hope - Lorraine Williamshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14391824802740895249noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4204880163901723800.post-48235890268368463642013-10-27T11:37:00.002-07:002013-10-27T11:37:56.046-07:00The long awaited Nutritional Science event - press releaseMEDIA RELEASE Weds 23 October 2013 for immediate releaseNutritional Science and Thyroid Function event for thyroid patients at the Royal Free Hospital, London, Saturday 2nd NovemberLondon thyroid patients to learn about nutritional science and thyroid function  dried apricots and sunflower seeds - a healthy snack? The London group of the British Thyroid Foundation (BTF), a national Thyroid Hope - Lorraine Williamshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14391824802740895249noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4204880163901723800.post-40645927951298526552013-10-20T11:43:00.003-07:002013-10-20T11:44:27.216-07:00two steps forward, one step back...I'm starting to feel like I'm doing a little dance. Two steps forward, one step back, you know the one. I put on my (ancient) dancing shoes and..... I saw my new doctor on Friday. He seems very nice. What a relief. He thinks I might be anemic again.  Blood test done, awaiting results of that, full blood panel and thyroid function test, which is due again around now.  I'm  Thyroid Hope - Lorraine Williamshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14391824802740895249noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4204880163901723800.post-58858686835629292592013-10-09T08:50:00.002-07:002013-10-09T08:50:39.840-07:00A few days later... decision madeA few days on from my last post, the dust (in my mind) has settled and I have reached a decision. I'm changing doctors. I've taken extensive advice from various local sources and I've chosen a practice with an excellent reputation which I hope will be better than the one I'm leaving. I've filled out all my forms and I dropped them off at my new surgery today. They've said they'll take me. Thyroid Hope - Lorraine Williamshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14391824802740895249noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4204880163901723800.post-12557512992872994612013-10-03T06:24:00.002-07:002013-10-03T06:24:26.777-07:00"Thursday, Thursday, Thursday...."I had a meeting with my GP this morning, also the practice manager and a professional mediator. I found it quite harrowing but I'm hoping good things will come of it. Get me, ever the optimist.... I'm not dead yet!* The background is that we had a mix up a couple of months back, I won't bore you with the details now, I may follow up with them in a later post. As well as the mix up I was Thyroid Hope - Lorraine Williamshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14391824802740895249noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4204880163901723800.post-39266459564885683652013-09-25T09:03:00.000-07:002013-09-25T09:41:56.376-07:00RIP blue manI just saw this terribly sad story and was reminded of an alternative doc I saw in the nineties who wanted me to take colloidal silver. I'm so glad I didn't. Click here for Daily Mail article  and the full story. So sorry for this poor blue man who is now dead. Paul Karason, RIP. Thyroid Hope - Lorraine Williamshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14391824802740895249noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4204880163901723800.post-29574146259707190742013-09-09T06:53:00.002-07:002013-09-09T06:53:38.850-07:00Home again and reflecting on another Information Event What an interesting event. left-right: Emma Thomas, Lorraine Williams, Mr Fausto Palazzo (and in background slide, Alaska Blue, Emma's gorgeous and beloved rescue sled dog, who featured in her talk, as a great source of support and inspiration through her illness) Thanks to all who came along and to all who helped out and to our speakers and to the Royal Free for hosting us and the great Thyroid Hope - Lorraine Williamshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14391824802740895249noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4204880163901723800.post-67296675458283502982013-08-19T09:00:00.002-07:002013-08-23T03:06:24.344-07:00Thyroid surgery, London patient event 7th Sept 2013 - info The London group of the British Thyroid Foundation (BTF), a national patient charity, is organising an event for thyroid patients and people with an interest in thyroid disorders at the Royal Free Hospital, London on Saturday, 7th September. Leading Consultant Endocrine Surgeon, Mr Fausto Palazzo, he will be talking about thyroid surgery and answering questions on all aspects of thyroid Thyroid Hope - Lorraine Williamshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14391824802740895249noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4204880163901723800.post-18979233617619671362013-08-13T07:57:00.000-07:002013-09-25T09:04:05.395-07:00Our walk, in pictures, with a folkie flavour... This year's BTF London Group Big Summer Walk for British Thyroid Foundation coincided with Broadstairs Folk Week....  The hooden horse, emblem of Broadstairs Folk Week  Since I moved to Broadstairs in 2011 the group have initiated a tradition that each summer a few members come to see me and we do a walk to raise money for the charity, from Broadstairs to Ramsgate and back, along Thyroid Hope - Lorraine Williamshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14391824802740895249noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4204880163901723800.post-84193283093840870422013-08-09T02:24:00.001-07:002013-08-12T02:22:55.826-07:00A somewhat smaller Big Summer Walk After meeting Jill Liddington the other day, at the end of her epic trek from Yorkshire to London in aid of the British Thyroid Foundation, I almost hesitate to mention the rather littler Big Summer Walk I am organising and taking part in this weekend, from Broadstairs to Ramsgate.  But mention it I must, how else would you know about it, or be able to get involved? view of Viking Bay at Thyroid Hope - Lorraine Williamshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14391824802740895249noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4204880163901723800.post-17858500864790339522013-08-01T05:11:00.003-07:002013-08-01T08:46:34.530-07:00200 miles later...This weekend I met an inspirational lady. Jill Liddington has just walked over 200 miles to raise awareness of thyroid disorders and fundraise for the British Thyroid Foundation. Yes, you heard right, 200 miles. From Yorkshire to London.  How amazing is that?! Along with some of her friends and family and members of the British Thyroid Foundation London Support Group, I met her at Thyroid Hope - Lorraine Williamshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14391824802740895249noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4204880163901723800.post-67384024569149880862013-06-14T03:07:00.000-07:002013-06-21T09:56:03.269-07:00Let's talk about thyroid patient petitions.... Update to this post: The below post talks about two petitions. I've since discovered that the first of the two petitions mentioned is actually completely different from the one I thought I was writing about. I am very embarrassed.  I'll have to go looking for the original petition and add a link to it when I can track it down. Since this post was written the authors of the first Thyroid Hope - Lorraine Williamshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14391824802740895249noreply@blogger.com22tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4204880163901723800.post-74376742672076110152013-06-10T05:26:00.001-07:002013-06-10T05:26:46.220-07:00Patient Voices on Managing Symptoms, May 2013 An earlier post introduced the Patients Voices meeting we held in London on 11th May 2013. This post shares the notes from the breakout discussion group which looked at managing symptoms.  With many thanks to Group member, Hannah Elbourne, who has kindly typed these up and who also kindly took several lovely photos of this event. NB: These notes must not be Thyroid Hope - Lorraine Williamshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14391824802740895249noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4204880163901723800.post-80566298414102103182013-06-03T10:14:00.001-07:002013-06-03T10:21:09.277-07:00Tips for communicating with your doctor (Guest Post) I have been sent a wonderful guest post for this blog, by someone with some great advice for anyone having a difficult time engaging with their GP - who kindly wrote it up following an earlier article I wrote on here - where, amongst other things, I mentioned that I sometimes find my GP's communication style a little challenging to deal with. You can read that original post here (it has a great Thyroid Hope - Lorraine Williamshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14391824802740895249noreply@blogger.com0