I love watching the Olympics. My husband downloaded the Olympic app to his phone. My kids are glued to the TV. We are an Olympics loving family. We love watching sports on TV, so what could be better than watching the world’s best athletes compete against each other. We also love learning more about sports that we aren’t familiar with – like curling. As an aside, I sarcastically asked my boys if they wanted outfits like some of the curlers were wearing. My youngest (who loves costumes and characters and did not detect my sarcasm) jumped up and said “Yes! I’d totally wear that!”. HA! He probably would.
I started thinking about what Olympics our family could qualify for and compete in. Probably not much at this point (thanks to Hashimoto’s, Sjogrens and Graves Disease, for me and my husband anyway). BUT, if it were Thyroid Olympics, we could kick butt!
To be sure, those games would begin with checking weight and height, just like at an endocrinology appointment. I’m certain we can remove our shoes and be on and off those scales in record time – kids included.
But, what would some of our events be?
Sleeping. Seriously – hands down. All thyroid sufferers could rock this. We could out sleep anyone.
Pharmacy Sprint. You know the mad dash you make to the back of the pharmacy with kids in tow when you realize you and/or your kids are out of thyroid meds and the pharmacy closes in 2 minutes. Put us up against anyone else (like someone there just to grab some tylenol or allergy meds) and it would be a clean sweep. GOLDEN all the way.
Pill Splitting & Crushing. Parents of children with congenital hypothyroidism would definitely win gold here. Bonus points are given for making sure there is no residue left on the instrument you use for crushing and administering the medication. If you have more than one kid with congenital hypothyroidism and don’t confuse which kid is on which dose, you get major bonus points – like doing a triple salchow in the 2nd half of a long program in ice skating.
Blood draws. If blood draws were an Olympic Sport, thyroid sufferers, especially children with congenital hypothyroidism, would medal every time. Bonus points earned for not passing out, not crying and not having to call in an extra phlebotomist to help hold (you or your kids) and for entertaining your kid(s) while you wait. Points lost if the lab doesn’t have your prescription or the prescription doesn’t have the full panel of thyroid levels that need to be tested.
Spelling Bee. For thyroid and endocrinology terms only. We’d all win gold here. Not only can we tell you what FT4, TSH and FT3 stand for, but we’ll be happy to tell you at level we and our kids feel our best and what the ranges are for each test and we can do this in record time.
So, those are a few of my ideas. I’d love to hear some of your ideas for what events should be in the Thyroid Olympics.
By Blythe Clifford
