Surgical Oncology: Dominic’s Story

from MCW Surgery 2022 Annual Report

Transplant Surgery: Audrey's Story

Graves’ disease is a type of autoimmune disorder where the body’s immune system attacks the thyroid gland. This can lead to hyperthyroidism, causing a patient’s thyroid to overproduce hormones. While Graves’ can be managed in some cases with medication or radioiodine therapy, some patients will require thyroid surgery. Dominic Harris shares his experience with Graves’ to spread awareness of the disease.

“This journey with Graves’ disease has been the greatest challenge in my life! This disease not only attacked my body, but it has also attacked my mental and spiritual fortitude along the way. The months before a diagnosis was made left me feeling drained, losing weight rapidly (which was not a good thing in my case), and with a feeling of losing the grip I had on life. Daily activities began to become impossible and that’s when I knew I had a major issue on my hands. Multiple-day stays at the hospital for months left me tired, answerless, and acquainted with every blood test and required levels as if I was a medical student. Months of becoming weaker, struggling to keep food down and my family becoming very worried heightened the need for answers. Spending time researching only to find the lack of available information left me to advocate for myself and request to check my thyroid. When my results returned showing that my thyroid levels were off the charts then my symptoms began to make sense, leading to the diagnosis: Graves’ disease!

I am 1,300 miles away from my family, living in Austin TX, and left my family feeling helpless and needing to get me in the hands of a place we trust. Being born and raised in Milwaukee, WI, Froedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsin is the only hospital we trust when our lives are on the line. My family has needed the excellent care they provide on several occasions — from kidney transplants to ICU surgeries — and here we are again, needing them to stop the destruction that is happening to my body. My family has been blessed to have had Dr. Tracy Wang, MD, MPH and her team save the life of a family member a few years prior with a similar issue that I am facing. It is because of her skill, knowledge, and preparation that I am on the road to recovery with plans to be better than I was before Graves’ came into my life like a wrecking ball. From start to finish I felt cared for, confident and positive that Dr. Wang and her team would do all within their power to bring about the desired outcome. My surgery was high-risk and depending on how well my body behaved during surgery would determine how well things would go. Even with the unknown, Dr. Wang was prepared and she had my complete trust. I am ever so grateful for the great work and care they extended to me and now I continue to live my life.

The battle with Graves’ disease did not end when surgery was done, instead it changed to a journey to repair everything it has destroyed and to share my story. There is not much information available on Graves’ disease in men and checking levels in men showing these signs may have prevented these extreme events I had to endure. The need for information on Graves’ is great and this is becoming more common in men who look like me.”