During a break from graduate school, a future therapist experienced a life-threatening thyroid storm that led to a diagnosis of Graves’ disease. What followed was a challenging journey through chronic illness, Thyroid Eye Disease (TED), vision changes, fatigue, anxiety, and learning to navigate a fragmented healthcare system. In this deeply personal story, Chantal shares her experience of hospitalization, adapting to life with Graves’ disease and TED, coping with changes in appearance and vision, becoming her own healthcare advocate, and ultimately finding resilience, community, love, and purpose.
