Teresa

Teresa has been a patient at the clinic off and on for the past 4 years. She is a fairly typical patient – married, white, employed, with some college education and no health insurance.

I got to know her because she called me to complain about one of the providers who volunteers at the clinic. She was unhappy with the care she had received; she has dealt for many years with Graves' disease, an immune system disorder that results in the overproduction of thyroid hormones (hyperthyroidism).

Because thyroid hormones affect a number of different body systems, signs and symptoms associated with Graves' disease can be wide ranging and significantly influence your overall well-being. Although Graves' disease may affect anyone, it's more common among women and before the age of 40.

Common signs and symptoms of Graves' disease include:

• Anxiety and irritability
• A fine tremor of your hands or fingers
• Heat sensitivity and an increase in perspiration or warm, moist skin
• Weight loss, despite normal eating habits
• Enlargement of your thyroid gland (goiter)
• Change in menstrual cycles
• Erectile dysfunction or reduced libido
• Frequent bowel movements
• Bulging eyes (Graves' ophthalmopathy)
• Thick, red skin, usually on the shins or tops of the feet (Graves' dermopathy)
• Rapid or irregular heartbeat (palpitations)

Graves' disease is caused by a malfunction in the body's disease-fighting immune system, although the exact reason why this happens is still unknown.

As you can see – Graves’ disease is a difficult condition to manage; Teresa’s complaints were a perfect argument for the need for a primary care provider. The problem was not with the provider she had seen at the clinic; the problem was that she needed a provider who KNEW her – knew her history, knew her disease and how it had manifested.

Fortunately, we were able to enroll Teresa in the Healthy Michigan Plan – she now has access to a primary care provider and the appropriate healthcare for her condition.