News & Events
GDATF 2023 Annual Appeal!
If you didn’t receive our annual appeal letter in your mailbox, you can read it in full below!
Thank You For Your Support!
Do you remember the early weeks or months after your doctor first gave you the diagnosis of Graves’ disease or thyroid eye disease or Hashimoto’s thyroiditis? Maybe it all made sense when the doctor was explaining it. Or maybe it didn’t – you probably hadn’t had a decent night’s sleep in a really long time. But everything seemed muddled once you got home. For those who are diagnosed in this “information age”, the Internet can offer clarity – but also a lot of confusion. You work to sort out fact from fiction and to learn all the new lingo and acronyms and abbreviations like T3, T4, TSH, TRAb, TSI, and TPOab. And wait…are the people in that online group you just joined really talking about taking meth? (Nope, it’s probably methimazole – a commonly prescribed antithyroid drug whose official medical abbreviation is MMI.) Then just when you feel like you have it all sorted out, along comes a new symptom or a new diagnosis or a new challenge in keeping your levels stable.
No matter which phase of your journey you are in, you don’t have to go it alone! The Graves’ Disease & Thyroid Foundation is here to offer help and hope. Looking for credible, fully vetted information? Visit our website at gdatf.org for patient bulletins and educational videos. Need one-on-one support?
We’re just a phone call, email, or letter away! (Email: info@gdatf.org; phone: 877-643-3123; address: P.O. Box 2793, Rancho Santa Fe, CA 92067). Would you like a chance to visit with fellow patients and caregivers who understand what you are going through? Stop by the “Contact Us” section of the website and ask to be placed on our support group email list. We typically host two meetings per month, with dates and times selected via a poll of list members.
So what’s new for 2023 and beyond? There are a number of active clinical trials for thyroid eye disease, and we’ll work to keep you informed of the latest developments. We’ve started to get back to in-person events, including attending the European Thyroid Association annual meeting, exhibiting at the American Thyroid Association annual meeting, and hosting a physician Q&A session in conjunction with the 26th International Thyroid Cancer Survivors’ Conference hosted by ThyCa: Thyroid Cancer Survivors’ Association, Inc. (View a recording of the session here!) And we’re thrilled to share that Frontiers in Endocrinology has just published the results of our survey of the thyroid eye disease (TED) community! This project was completed in partnership with rareLife solutions and with funding from Amgen, Inc. (formerly Horizon Therapeutics). We believe that this will offer patients, physicians, and caregivers a comprehensive look at quality-of-life issues for those living with TED.
Whether it’s day-to-day support activities or larger special projects, we couldn’t offer these critical services without our valued supporters! Please consider a year-end contribution by mailing in the enclosed form or donating online using this link.
Wishing you all the best for 2024 – no matter where your journey takes you!
Sincerely,
Kimberly K. Dorris, Executive Director and CEO
Nancy Hord Patterson, Founder and Chair Emeritus