My story is perhaps somewhat different because in 1959 I was "burning up" literally and went from 227 to 150 pounds in a two month period. A wonderful "old country" doctor in Dundalk, Ontario gave me some tests and recommended I go to the Toronto General Hospital right away.
Long and the short of it was ... I was one of the worse cases ever seen by this doctor, Dr. Robert Volpé. Apparently at that time they were just experimenting with radio-active iodine and trying to figure out how much each case needed as they are all different. They had the radio-active iodine "charged up" at Chas. E. Frost in Montreal and had to gauge the decay time of it while in transit to the patient, which was quite a challenge.
They asked me if they could treat me this way as I apparently would not have survived much longer so of course I agreed. Remember ... I had lost 77 pounds but my pulse was over 150 so surgery was out of the question and it was apparently doing a number on my heart.
I "drank" two doses of the stuff (tasted like swamp water) and they sent me home ... 75 miles away. Well I have to say that the next six weeks were something else! I couldn't get along with my wife or anyone! Then one day I woke up, (which I generally hated to do due to the depression) and lo and behold ... as Dr. Volpé had said, I would think I was in another world! How right he was! For the first time for ages I didn't feel depressed, miserable with myself or others and felt that it certainly was good to be alive! The radio-active iodine had done it's job!
That was many years ago and I have willingly been one of Bob's "guinea pigs" for years. He apparently found some sort of thing in my blood that he was excited about and I had to go to the Wellesley Hospital at 6:30 am for ages to give the blood for the experiments he was doing on rats or mice. When we met, which was quite often, I would tell him how I had to miss my sleep again just to feed the rats!
Whatever he wanted me to do .... I was there! He was not only my Doctor but he became my good friend over the years. For example when one of his children passed away at a young age, I immediately drove down to his office and we cried together. Over the years I have spotted many people with the symptoms of thyroid trouble and made it my mission to have them get their doctor to send them to Bob and in many cases of course, because I've been there so to speak .... they were successfully treated by him.
Well ... Dr. Bob is gone now and that is especially sad for me but obviously his legacy will live on from his work and the many young doctors he trained. If I had my way he would be the first Jewish Saint ever! I'm now heading toward eighty (79) and besides a wonderful wife and children I have had the absolute privilege of having Doctor Robert Volpé as my Doctor and especially .... my friend.
[NB: While we generally avoid using doctors' names, this story is an exception. Dr. Volpé was medical advisor to TFC for many years until his death on April 19, 2005, dearly beloved and missed by his patients and all of us at TFC! You can read more about Dr. Volpé - Dr. Volpé]