One day 20% of the male population is hit with destructive thyroid disease!

What a catastrophe!

Dan missed his morning meeting the other day. He just could NOT get out of bed, which is very strange for Dan—he’s a real go-getter; loves life.

Nowadays he’s tired, achy, crabby, and getting pudgy. He doesn’t play with the kids, finds the couch as soon as he gets home from work, doesn’t respond to emails, never calls family or friends, and always turns down social invitations. It’s all just become too hard; it’s way too much work just thinking about it.

Boy, he used to be so much fun, always full of spontaneity, energy and mischief!

None of us ever thought he’d turn into such a lazy loser at such a young age. He’s only 40 for crying out loud. He even quit his weekly golf game. Now that is really strange!

What’s even stranger is that all of his friends have quit too!

What the hell is going on? This is outrageous!

Deeply concerned at what I see happening, I have to ask, “Dan, how are you? You just don’t seem like yourself these days.”

“I know”, he replies, “I used to feel sharp, quick, focused, but lately I feel foggy and tired, I just can’t get on top of things anymore. My sales are down, and I don’t even care. Quite frankly, I don’t have the energy to care. I actually have to take naps in-between meetings. I have a pillow in my car for such emergencies.”

I convince Dan to visit his doctor.

“Dan, I have reviewed the blood work and the tests reveal you have Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis, an autoimmune disease.”

“What!?” Dan nearly passes out. He’s a bit of a baby when he gets the sniffles, so being told he has a “disease” is more than he can take. “What does this mean? Am I going to die?!”

The doctor smiles and reassures him, “No, this is not terminal. This is a very common condition. More than 20% of the population, or more, has thyroid disease—and nearly all of those diagnosed are men.  Just take this little pill once a day and you’ll be fine.”

“I’ll be cured?” Dan asks, hopeful.

“Well, no, this is not a cure, Dan. This is a band-aid. It will alleviate the “symptom” of low thyroid production due to the attack on your thyroid gland. It is quite probable you will continue to deal with ongoing symptoms such as constipation, hair loss, joint stiffness, muscle fatigue, rashes, moodiness, irritable bowel, osteoporosis, plantar fasciitis, loss of smell, and such. But we have drugs for all those things, so you’re in good hands.”

“That sounds horrible."

"Yes Dan, it is horrible."

"Will there ever be a cure?”

“Oh yes! Rest assured, this is on the top of everyone’s list; we are very concerned. I see men like you coming through my door all day long. It troubles me greatly that my only recourse is to offer this superficial treatment when what I really want to do is make you feel better—for real, and give you your full quality of life back. ”

“So, is anything being done about this?” Dan asks, more than slightly perturbed.

“Oh yes! We are working on it every day, Dan. Believe me! There are research dollars pouring in, and research scientists are passionate about curing this problem. My God, we can’t have all these men, these “once productive and energetic men”, feeling crappy. The world will collapse. This is an outrage, and women everywhere are deeply concerned about this. They are leading the rally to curing their loved ones, their husbands and sons and fathers and brothers. It breaks their hearts to see them suffer so.”

“Phew, thanks Doc. I figured something would have to be done. It just isn’t right for me and so many of my friends and colleagues to be feeling crappy all the time.” And Dan leaves the doctor’s office feeling very relieved, supported and hopeful...as he should, and fully expects.

OH! WHOOPS! HOLD ON A SEC!!

My mistake, it seems I have made one small error here.  

Please note the change:  This disease affects mostly “women”, not men.

Phew! Had me worried for a second there.

Oh, and please note, one more slight revision to the above version of things: this is NOT on the top of the list of research priorities. It is on the bottom.

It’s a shame really. Can you just imagine what all these women, once cured of this epidemic of “crappiness”, would be able to do? How they would instinctively rally for all the other causes that need support, care and love behind them? How they would lift them up and nurture them? And I don’t just mean the big, sexy causes either. I mean their own kids, their own dreams, their own productive contributions to this world---these are also worthy causes.

Aren’t they? 

So, I ask you, why so many women? Were we all born with wonky thyroid glands—like some sort of big cosmic joke?

Really?

Really?

Always, Bea True

P.S. Bea True is available to present at your upcoming function.  For booking details, contact me here using the comment box.