Make a Difference

There was a young man walking down a deserted beach just before dawn.
In the distance, he saw a frail old man. As he approached the old man, he saw him picking up stranded starfish and throwing them back into the sea. The yound man gazed in wonder as the old man again threw the small starfish into the water.
He asked, "Old man, why do you spend so much energy doing what seems to be a waste of time?"
The old man explained that the stranded starfish would die if left in the morning sun.
"But there must be thousands of beaches and millions of starfish!" exclaimed the young man. "How can you make any difference?"
The old man looked at the small starfish in his hand and as he threw it to the safety of the sea, he said, "It makes a difference to this one!"


One of my favorite stories...

Has anyone recieved anything from NUS??? someone dying of worry here...
Min!! I wanna do the ttsh attachment!! it sounds so interesting!! The thyroid removal op right... it's for a thyroid cancer patient or a hyperthyroid patient??
Have I told you pple? the only ways of treating a hyperactive thyroid now are...
1) Medication of PTU (Propylthiouracil) or Carbimazole
2) Radioactive Iodine (RAI) - I131
3) Surgery

Tried mtd 1 for the last 5 years... stopped medication for 10 months in J1 and it relapsed... so doc's suggesting RAI... he says that the surgery is too high a risk (of losing your voice for example... and various likelihood of infection) to take... oh! btw... I decided not to go for the RAI treatment... yet. Doc was saying that I shld not go through it if I am not prepared for it. Though he assured me that the treatment is a safe one. He agreed to allow me to stop medication and try to see if I can go without medication again.

some info for future medical students:
Thyroid problems are frequently misdiagnosed by doctors due to the wide variety of syptoms the disease display. Most doctors will treat the patients as suffering from anxiety (for Hyperthyroid) and depression (for Hypothyriod) as well as cardiac problems (due to fast heartbeats and palpitations).
Some syptoms of thyriod problems: mood swings, inability to concentrate, lose of interest in life, anxiety, weight problems, weak immune system, tremours, feeling too hot or too cold (as compared to normal situation).
Thyroid problems are really frequent especially in females... approx 10% of all women are hypothyroid and a lesser pecentage being Hyperthyroid. Many thyroid disorders are undetected and treated.
A simple defination of Hypothyroidism = production of too little thyroxine hormone, Hyperthyroidism = production of too little thyroxine hormone.
Thyroid diseases are one of the most complex medical problems because of the wide range of body functions the hormones are associated with.
To zone in on one type of thyroid problem... I shall do Grave's disease (my disease)... next time... (>-<) haha... tell me if you are interested in knowing before I spend the time typing in ok? ^^