What is a “Thyroid Patient Advocate"? Well an “advocate" of any kind, is someone who represents another or others, representing them in a specific cause. A “Thyroid Patient Advocate", not only represents thyroid patients but also is a patient their self and so this gives them the same perspective that other patients have.

Thyroid Patient Advocates, go-to-bat, so to speak for other patients, by representing their needs before the medical community. They will also provide informative resources of information and support that will help other patients, in regard to their disease and its treatment.

In this article, I wanted to express some things in regard to what is called “thyroid patient advocacy", that is out there across the web. Sometime ago, people began referring to me as a “Thyroid Patient Advocate" because of my having a number of articles on thyroid subjects, published on several thyroid websites. Since being recognized in this way, I’ve wanted to represent thyroid patients in a respectful way because I see some things coming from advocates, that are concerning to me and these are things that instead of furthering and improving medical help for thyroid patients, are beginning to backfire at times and are causing thyroid patient advocacy to sometimes be viewed in a bad light.

I feel it is important that advocates do their best to keep this from happening because if we instead approach advocacy in a respectful way but also at the same time, state our beliefs and desires for thyroid treatment, firmly, continually and with strong conviction, I feel this will much better further our cause. The constant attacks some in thyroid advocacy feel they need to perpetrate, in my opinion does not accomplish this.

Not long ago, one advocate in an e-mail, accused me of “kissing up" to the medical community (exact words) because I was not joining more in the attacks against medicals. I pointed out to this person that there will be more recognition for what we have to say, if we are not on the attack but instead, respectfully express our views with strong conviction. After all, everyone in the medical field, relating to thyroid issues are not bad people. There are good, caring, quality medical professionals who are truly out for the patient’s interests. This is why, when I see an attack-article directed at an organization such as the AACE or some other organization as a whole, it disappoints me.

There are people within any organization worthy of rebuke but the generalizing is not fair. This would be like saying all Thyroid Advocates are bad or all Doctors are bad, all Police etc…, and I do not want the general public of thyroid patients to perceive this as “Thyroid Patient Advocates, against the Medical Community" because we then come across as whiners and complainers and we will get far more attention if we are viewed as those who respectfully disagree with strong conviction.

Advocates also need to not fall apart and fly off the handle, simply because someone in the medical field disagrees with something they may be expressing. In the past, I left several thyroid forums, that degraded into attacks, gossip and tabloid type behaviors and this too, was a black eye to thyroid advocacy in my opinion.

Let both sides of an issue be expressed, then let the chips fall where they may. We need to just keep putting out the info we feel is right and the medical community will continue to do the same and let the thyroid community decipher between what they feel is right or wrong and hopefully if we continue to do this, over time we will also see changes that really do need to happen. If we attack and are continually disrespectful, it will cause nothing but more resistance to changes that really do need to happen.

All of us including myself have expressed anger at the treatment from a particular Doctor (sometimes several) that we have received, that was obviously bad but this is not quit the same thing. In cases like these, we are able to point out and educate between good and obviously bad treatment, without too much generalizing, being careful to also point out that good treatment is always available. We can express our disagreements about what we believe to be inadequate treatments, in a firm but respectful way and without too much generalizing.

It is important that we as Thyroid Patient Advocates are persistent and determined because there are better possibilities for improved treatments for thyroid patients, in our future, as a result but lets work together with the medical community as a whole and not against it. There will always be the “bad apples" in every field, possibly even including those in thyroid advocacy but there are also those you can find common ground with, in joining together to see improved treatments for thyroid patients.


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