It's certainly a distressing time in the Rivets' family. The 14-year-old has confirmed Graves and the recommendation is radio iodine ablation. It leaves her with a lifelong reliance on synthetic replacement drugs and the bewildering costs that will never go away when you don't have social medicine.
It's a miserable decision for any parent to make, despite my son being able to analyse the technical details and search for a last minute alternative. So far, one has not been found.
My wife an I played a major part in her childhood. There is of course no difference between how we feel about these children and their parents as children. The powerlessness is utterly draining.
The concept of immune reaction causes is something I'm very aware of with personal issues, so I'm the first to have an open mind on those hypotheses.
I did forward the above posts. Thanks for your input.
If anyone could think of any procedure that could stop the damaging treatment, I'd of course be very grateful.