Random Friday

What's rambling through my head this week…

1. I have a slightly addictive personality. I have been known to crash on the couch and watch a full season of Downton Abbey in two days. Or to burrow down and plow through the entire Twilight series in 5 days. Seriously. Twice. Over this past weekend, I sat still with a book, a blanket, a cat, and a cup of coffee for 6 hours on Saturday and 8 hours on Sunday. And I was thrilled!
2. I lost my activity tracker in (literally) knee-deep mud out in the cow pasture. Believe it or not, I found it the next morning! (Thanks to the ladies for not trampling it under the manure/mud!)
   
3. Speaking of cows. I love healthy baby calves. It’s so much fun to watch them play!

Ouch, my thyroid!

I’ve been thinking about writing this post for a while now, but haven’t gotten around to it been brave enough to write it yet. It’s finally gotten to the point where this is taking up so much of my time and energy (and, frankly, just plain stealing my energy) that it’s time to write.

I have Graves’ disease. This is a type of hyperthyroidism, where my thyroid gland is overactive and produces way too much thyroid hormone.

Here’s how a normal thyroid gland is supposed to work. Your pituitary gland (in your brain) makes a hormone called thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH). This hormone goes to your thyroid gland and tells your thyroid to make two hormones, T3 and T4. T3 and T4 are basically just two different forms the same hormone; one has 3 iodine molecules on it (T3) and the other has 4 iodine molecules (T4.) See, science isn’t that hard!