About a week ago I told my chiropractor about Norah’s upcoming surgery. He has been treating Norah for the last few weeks because she had some misalignment in her neck. This misalignment can affect the thyroid and the thyroid can affect the spine, so adding chiropractic care to her arsenal can’t hurt.
He expressed the opinion that Norah shouldn’t rush into surgery because we hadn’t given the complementary treatments enough time to work, and we hadn’t seen a naturopath. He asked me to talk to the naturopath affiliated with his office, so I called her. We had a good conversation, and although she said that there were some things she’d like to “try” with Norah, there didn’t seem to be a definitive naturopathic treatment that she could confidently recommend, especially given the time constraints. She mentioned that there were things she could do after the surgery to help treat the underlying autoimmune disorder so we may see her or another naturopath at some point.
Still, the chiropractor’s comments worried me. Maybe I hadn’t looked hard enough. Maybe I had missed something and there was a miracle cure out there that would save Norah’s thyroid. I looked some more, and although there are naturopaths who have had some results/luck treating Graves Disease in adults, I didn’t find a magic (naturopathic) pill for Norah.
I spoke to the acupuncturist and he reaffirmed that in his opinion we were doing the right thing for Norah given the circumstances. He didn’t think that the chiropractor should have said what he did, because parents are always hoping to find a miracle, and the chiropractor made us question the opinions of experts in pediatric thyroid disease. We’re not giving up on complimentary treatments, but Norah’s hyperthyroidism needs to be resolved NOW. Her liver function tests showed that she’s doing fine on the PTU so far, but she can not stay on it long-term.
I am so lucky to have a network of friends who would do anything to help, so after a conversation with a friend who works in the medical field, an email opinion from another naturopath (a friend’s sister-in-law), and a discussion with Norah’s school nurse, I was back on track. It’s amazing how quickly one opinion started to derail my confidence and make me question our decision, but luckily everyone talked me down from the ledge and I’m feeling much better now. One more week.
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