Hi all - We are looking for some hopeful stories to share with newly diagnosed attendees at our upcoming San Diego conference Oct. 26-28.

Would you be willing to share your favorite memory or proudest accomplishment *since* your diagnosis? We will use initials only (or screen names - your choice) – no full names.

Thanks!

One year after my RAI, we went to Europe, and I got to a place that was high on my list of places I wanted to see – the Mont St. Michel. It is a tiny island off the coast of France, with an abbey on top, that has been a place of pilgrimage for over 1600 years. The climb to the abbey is about 200 feet or so from the entry gate. And I did it, without problems, and felt like Rocky on the steps of the Philadelphia Art Museum. I hadn't been able to climb a flight of stairs the year before.

Since then, I've spent my summer hiking in the Sierra Nevada mountains. I'm not fast, but I can go up 1100 feet (think of a 100+ story building) and hike for miles.

We DO get well again.

Thanks, Bobbi! I also got to take a “dream vacation” to Europe 2 years after my diagnosis…Italy, Austria, Switzerland, France, and England. Three weeks went by WAY too fast, but I have loads of great photos and memories!

Hi!

I'd say my good news story is that I am able to live my daily routine again. At the worst of my hyper time, I pretty much stayed in bed or sat on the couch as my muscles were weak and my heart rate went up to 120 just walking down the hall. It was devastating to not be able to care for my children or homeschool them or do anything at all. I also had terrible anxiety and didn't want to be alone with my children for fear of passing out and not being able to care for them as I felt shaky and woozy a lot of the time. My mother in law took over for those 2 months and came to our home almost daily, thankfully.

Now I can say that I am able to care for my boys, homeschool them, take them to their gymnastics (17 hours a week at the gym!), go to their competitions to cheer them on, take them places, go for walks to the park, museums, walk the zoo & Sea World. I can exercise and do hard cardio for about 30 min. at a time 4-5 days a week. I would say all of this started to come together about 3 months after my surgery. So, although I didn't celebrate with a trip or big accomplishment necessarily, simply being able to be (pretty darn close to) the mom and wife I was pre- Graves is the best thing that I could ask for and was all I wanted the whole time that I was sick. My family means the world to me and being here for them again is all I want. I am very grateful that there are treatment options and that I was fortunate enough to be able to have surgery.

Thanks for sharing your story, Alexis! You've definitely come a long way in the last few months!