Customer Reviews

Healing Options: A Report on Graves' Disease Treatments

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I highly recommend it to individuals with Graves' disease as well as their family members, health care givers, and therapists. Having recently been diagnosed with Graves' disease I found the book very informative and helpful. Giving a list of the symptoms as well as the different types of treatment for Graves' and actual stories of those with the disease. Specifically, the author. Especially since my doctor didn't provide me with any information. It explained muscle weakness as well as other symptoms/side effects of Graves' disease.

I am pleased to have this opportunity to dialogue about my book and respond to reader comments. Specifically, I would like to address the misconception that my book offers a "cure" for Graves' disease. I am a 50 year-old woman who after years of misdiagnosis was finally diagnosed in 1991 with Graves' disease and Hashimoto's (chronic hypothyroidism and an autoimmune disease). I received standard U.S. treatment, radioactive iodine. To my dismay, this did not make me "better". I grew to understand that healing takes time and calls for a look at causes and not just the alleviation of symptoms. I stopped looking for a quick fix-there is no quick fix for chronic illness. Dr. Christiane Northrup says, "There is a difference between healing and curing. Healing is a natural process and is within the power of everyone. Curing, which is what doctors are called upon to do, usually consists of an external treatment and medication or surgery is used to mask or eliminate symptoms. This external treatment doesn't necessarily address the factors that contribute to the symptoms in the first place. Healing goes deeper than curing and must always come from within." I wrote this book as a part of my healing journey. It is a book I wish had existed when I was first diagnosed, feeling so vulnerable, overwhelmed, confused and alone. In my book, I explain Graves', offer practical tips on locating physicians and managing one's health care as well as address the many complementary therapies and offer help in finding practitioners. My hope is that my book will help others in their quest for wellness, their healing journey.

Kate Flax's informative book covers all aspects of Graves' Disease,from its onset, through treatment choices, to living the rest of your life as fully as possible. The main thrust of the book, for me, was that the responsibility for successful healing lies mainly in the control of the patient. It is up to the patient to find out about all the possibilites for healing and to then make as informed a choice as possible. This book not only helps sort out all of the medical mumbo jumbo, but it also is extremely helpful in dealing with the emotional ramifications of this diagnosis. I highly recommend this book.

I bought this book in an attempt to learn more about new options in Grave's treatments. I assumed by the title of the book, that Ms. Flax found a way of conquering Graves. Unfortunately "Healing Options" tells the story of her continual struggle with Graves. While it is a true representation of a chronic illness, it is neither an uplifting or comforting story. Ms. Flax covers the current Western methods of treatment. She does this by offering examples that illustrate the downside of each treatment. It is difficult to accept the alternative treatment methods she promotes (i.e.: massage, herbs, meditation). She was not originally treated with any of these methods and it is uncertain whether her outcome would have been better or worse. For me, the valuable information Ms. Flax provides is over-shadowed by her depressing and sad biographical narrative.

Kate Flax has pushed the edges of Graves disease, knowing that the healing is a whole-person effort. Her maturity, compassion, and clear writing brings hope for all those who have been struggling with Graves Disease. We are blessed to have such a remarkably fresh perspective on this complicated disease.

She seemed to age overnight. She changed, went gray, she wasn't the same. We just thought that was how she was, but she didn't feel good, and my cousin had to keep pestering physicians who kept assuring her that "nothing is wrong." They were wrong. She finally got help, and her life took on meaning again.

I wish this book had existed for my cousin. It would have saved her years of grief and confusion. Kate Flax has given us a gift of her own experience, and presented it in an articulate and thoughtful format.

A writer can't be any braver than to tell her own truth, and Ms. Flax has done just that. It is a book we all should read.

This is NOT THE ONLY BOOK a graves patient should have in their library. This is ONLY ONE perspective and to truly get the best treatment, I think it's important to consider all treatment measures before making the best decisions. This book covers the struggles the patient has to go through and it covers the fact that there are OPTIONS... it's not a cut and dry experience. It also covers traditional vs. alternative methods. BUT the reader must understand Graves is DIFFERENT FOR EVERYONE and this book doesn't mean that alternative is the way to go or not to go... it's just a perspective in Graves Treatment from a patient's point of view. It does provide info based on experience and for many Graves patients it provides relief from the "I AM THE ONLY ONE" syndrome. But I would also recommend purchasing medical books, books that cover both eastern, western, traditional AND non-traditional methods of treatment.

This book is an honest account of the author's personal encounter with Graves' Disease. This frightening thyroid disease changed her life and caused her to look into herself to see both what she could do to help and heal herself. In the process she educates the rest of us on the connection between the mind and the body and gives practical alternatives to what is available at your local HMO. This is a brave and necessary book.