Sheila's daughter has posted an update on her health on the tpauk.com forum, page 10 of the 'Sheila' thread.
I'm afraid it's not good news. Susan has requested that anyone who knows or has met Sheila send her a letter to let her know that we remember her and her work with TPA.
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Thanks for posting Hillwoman,
Such sad news for everyone, prayers for her and her family at this time.
🙏🍀
Terribly sad news. She has been fearless in fighting The Establishment for thyroid patients to be both treated and medicated properly.
I hope her family can take strength from her achievements in helping others.
I'm sorry she is so unwell and know how worried and upset her family will be.
She is another who helped lots of people recover their health. Thanks for posting the sad update.
Very sadly, Sheila has been diagnosed with dementia following a major stroke earlier this year. I did raise the possibility of PA/B12 deficiency following her long hospital stay, where she was also deprived of her NDT for eight weeks. Her family don't seem to be saying very much at the moment, and it must be very difficult for them to adjust to the new situation.
I don't know if you've ever met Sheila, BP, but she is, or perhaps I should say was, such a dynamic and clued-up person, and so generous with her time and assistance. Just before the latest news on the TPA forum, I'd been re-reading her submission to the Presqipp consultancy (hope I've got the acronym right), who were recommending to CCGs early this year to drop T3 from the prescribing list. Sheila's refutation was remarkably comprehensive and cogent, with about 200 references to medical literature. I can't quite believe she has deteriorated so much and so quickly.
When i saw Sheila 7 weeks ago there was no sign of dementia. In fact she answered the door and gave me a hug and a smile.. She can move about, just fine and made me a cup of coffee. She is hugely frustrated because she has lost all of her vocabulary, she cant remember words and needs to relearn them all. She needs to learn to write again too... She has got as far as writing her name but other words, the letters get jumbled up.
I was afraid she would be a dribbling mess, but she was definitely the Sheila i know. What she needs is some help to re learn stuff, I dont think she is getting any.
There has been another post denying the dementia and saying its a result of her stroke.
Unfortunately Sheila lives in an awkward to reach village and her husband Howard, is now quite ill. He cant really look after her in the state he is in.
Xx. g
No one has been able to advise how to ensure help gets to Sheila, I have no way of communicating with her, I tried sending a questionnaire with tick boxes but it was not returned... I sent an sae and a map of where the postbox is.. She cant type or answer the phone. Ideas?
Oh dear, this awful, Galathea. On the one hand I'm delighted to hear that Sheila 'only' has problems with speech. That was my initial understanding of her condition after she was released from hospital. But on the other hand..
I'm just repeating here what Susan told everyone on the TPA forum. I saw Sheila myself a couple of times in 2015, and she seemed fine, her usual self. Shortly after the second occasion, she developed shingles of the eye, which her GP didn't take seriously. I wonder now if that was the first sign all was not well with her health, as shingles attacks a compromised immune system.
I had no idea Howard was ill. Lovely man - do you know what is wrong? They are both pretty much stuck down in that little valley if neither of them can drive at the moment.
Meant to add, I'm not sure how to help unless someone can visit her regularly. The only thing I can think of is to contact Susan via PMs on the TPA forum. Otherwise, it's a call to local social services, isn't it?
I'm appalled by the standard of post-stroke care in so many areas. If you don't live within reach of a specialist rehab centre, I don't know what you do.
Well, I don't know if Sheila actually is deficient in B12 or not. I raised the possibility that this might be one cause of her cognitive deterioration because her thyroid care had also been lacking, and B12D so often goes with hypo-T. I just don't know, and the family aren't saying anything about this in public. I just hope Sheila is getting everything she needs.
Edited to say that I'm not criticising Sheila's family in any way - I'm sure they're doing everything they can.
I think it's on the TPAUK website. She lives near Coundon, North Yorks.
If you went through TPA, then you might.
Found it, bottom of page:
It's near Cowling, not Coundon, which is Co Durham! Sorry about that...
I don't, unfortunately. I wasn't able to manage the long journey down to Sheila's to call in over the Christmas period.
galathea might have heard some recent news of Sheila, but she has even further to travel than I do.
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