Hi, all.  Sorry I haven't written an update in a while about the
"Thyroid Patients Need Better Treatment NOW" petition that I 
started in memory of my brother, Jordan. There's a couple of 
reasons for this:

One: I've just had a really hard time with my own thyroid meds 
during the last months, so I've been trying to get that fixed up
better. And two: I've been waiting to see if the White House 
would ever reply back to my second attempt at trying to get a  
response from them, about this petition.  So far, no good luck 
on that. In the meantime, I've been gathering more signatures
for it where I can. As of this writing, we have 6,679 supporters!!

Thanks very much, as always, to everyone who has signed! 
Extra thanks if you've shared the petition around, or donated to
get it promoted more.  We need as much support as possible on
this to make needed changes in the thyroid world, so here's the
petition link if you can think of anyone else to share it with who
might sign:
https://www.change.org/ThyoidBetterTreatment

Here's something positive & encouraging I can share with you 
now, though. Dr. Antonio Bianco, who's a top thyroid researcher
and former head of the American Thyroid Association, very
kindly and graciously shared the petition with the current
leaders of the American Thyroid Association, last week.
He wrote an introductory piece which asked them to read the
petition, realize that we have a lot of people behind it, and
hopefully act to do something to work with us/ for us in making
changes for the better, regarding thyroid health.
So, this is a BIG thing!!   

I don't know what will come of it (if anything), but I really 
appreciate that Dr. Bianco did this.  He signed the petition pretty
early on, and that means a lot.  If you haven't read his book,
"Rethinking Hypothyroidism: Why Treatment Must Change and
What Patients Can Do," I highly recommend it. Can get it on 
Amazon and other places, More doctors should read it, too.

As for what's next on my end, it looks like I'll be writing more 
letters & sending out the petition to various government  
officials, plus whatever endocrine/ thyroid societies I can find
that may help.  One more letter to the White House, too, in hopes
that maybe someone more alert and interested will open it and
help, this time.  I'll also continue trying to get more signatures
for the petition.  The more we get, the stronger our case is.

I'll do the best I can with all of it, as my health allows. 
It's important that others don't go through what my family and I
experienced, due to thyroid problems that weren't caught early
enough and/ or weren't treated well enough.  And I know many
of you who've signed have really suffered, too, or have family
who've suffered.  So, let's do this!!  I'll end this update, as usual,
by posting my favorite photo of Jordan and me as kids....
Best to all of you!  From Jordan's sister, Starr D.