Talk show titan Wendy Williams (How you doin’?!) announced at the top of her daily talk show that she has been diagnosed with the rare disease Graves’ disease and hyperthyroidism.
Graves’ disease is an immune system disorder that results in the overproduction of thyroid hormones (hyperthyroidism). About 30% of people with Graves’ disease show some signs and symptoms of a condition known as Graves’ ophthalmopathy. In Graves’ ophthalmopathy, inflammation and other immune system events affect muscles and other tissues around your eyes.
In true Wendy fashion, she joked about what she now considers a sign she had the disease:
My thyroid has been totally cattywompus – and that is the eye thing that you all have been seeing, you caught it before I did, I’m thinking, ‘Alright I’m 53, I’m not quite a year of not having a period!”
The “eye thing” she’s referring to is exophthalmos, or bulging eyes. In fact, Wendy goes through some of the common symptoms of Graves’ during her monologue, (with some funny NSFW-ish jokes, I might add), which is tremendously inspiring and soothing.
A rare disease isn’t bringing down this talk show queen! So it shouldn’t bring any of us down, either.
“Wendy has been openly dealing with her Graves’ disease for many years in addition to hyperthyroidism,” according to a show rep for The Wendy Williams Show. “Yesterday, Wendy’s doctor prescribed a necessary three weeks of rest to get her levels and medication in sync.”
Wendy is famous for her hustle and hard work ethic, but she had a message for her audience – aimed more so at women:
