# Anyone read the great New Yorker article?



## surge (Aug 15, 2012)

A couple of weeks ago there was a great New Yorker article by Meghan O'Rourke about living with Hashimoto's (and perhaps other idiopathic AI issues). It captures how totally bizarre it is to try and handle, and how little is known about AI disorders. It also talks about avoiding wheat and that moment everyone I know who's tried a restrictive diet has hit-- the moment when you get the GF pizza but with REAL cheese.

I'm not embarrassed to say I did cry a little; it was just so nice to have an article to give to everyone I know and say: this is totally what I've felt like. I've had so many in-depth conversations because of the article, too. It's something we can talk about together.

You can read the first paragraph on the New Yorker website, the essay is called, "What's wrong with me". http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2013/08/26/130826fa_fact_orourke . You can also get it at your local library.

The most important thing it brings up for me is that treat AI thyroid issues can be very different that non-Hashis thyroid issues since it's more likely that other systems are compromised, and there are other issues that nobody knows anything about when it comes to antibodies, lympocytes, etc. I feel more empowered when it comes to talking with my docs now. It was kind of the click I needed about talking to my docs. It's my job to remind them that AI issues are idiopathic and my job to remind myself that I know best about how my body is acting/reacting.

Just thought I'd plug the piece...


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## Octavia (Aug 1, 2011)

Looks like a great piece!


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## Andros (Aug 26, 2009)

surge said:


> A couple of weeks ago there was a great New Yorker article by Meghan O'Rourke about living with Hashimoto's (and perhaps other idiopathic AI issues). It captures how totally bizarre it is to try and handle, and how little is known about AI disorders. It also talks about avoiding wheat and that moment everyone I know who's tried a restrictive diet has hit-- the moment when you get the GF pizza but with REAL cheese.
> 
> I'm not embarrassed to say I did cry a little; it was just so nice to have an article to give to everyone I know and say: this is totally what I've felt like. I've had so many in-depth conversations because of the article, too. It's something we can talk about together.
> 
> ...


I did in fact read that article. Very excellent. There is so much we just don't understand but I will always say, "When one system is down, the others follow suit sooner or later!"

Thanks for the "plug!"


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## CA-Lynn (Apr 29, 2010)

On the bright side......it isn't cancer.


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## hashimotocoaster (Mar 22, 2013)

Yes! I loved the essay--so excellent. It even had a few moments of humor ("Church of Fatigue, Itching, and Random Neuralgia"!). I wish everyone I know would read it.

I thought she made a great point about how, in our (valid) desperation to feel normal again, it's so easy to fall into the trap of becoming a professional patient, obsessing over symptoms and diet (I'm guilty!), and how important it is to strike a balance between advocating for our health and dwelling on things that aren't likely to help us feel any better.


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## surge (Aug 15, 2012)

[quote name='CA-Lynn']On the bright side......it isn't cancer.[/QUOTE

If you'd read the article, I think you'd see that the writer is very much aware of where her illness falls on the life-or-death spectrum. The whole piece offers perspective. There's historical information on how Hashimoto's was discovered, discussion of how the medical community approaches autoimmune disorders, and the limitations of medical knowledge considering how relatively recent the belief that the body COULD attack itself actually is (for a long time it was believed that the body had a "horror" of self-toxicosis).

There's also personal perspective-- a set of aunts who face their own sets of various AI disorders with no self-pity, and a willingness to consistently question the self. You should check it out. Or not. I was just commenting that it was a well written piece of particular relevance to this board.


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