Patient Story: Lisa Rogge

By Laura Townsend

Dreams Come True, Sometimes in an Unexpected Way

Lisa Rogge always dreamed about owning her own business, specifically in the food industry, but knew that a restaurant was not the right fit for her and her family. Her dream came true, but in a very nonconventional way. While Lisa was at a routine OB-GYN check up, her physician discovered a nodule in her neck. She always wondered why the doctor checked her neck at each appointment, and was thankful that the doctor had taken the time to check her thyroid. Lisa’s OB-GYN recommended that she see an endocrinologist to learn about the thyroid and treatment options for the nodule.

Following her doctor’s advice, Lisa consulted with an endocrinologist, who performed a biopsy on the nodule. The results from the biopsy were inconclusive, so her doctor suggested that in order to make sure that she did not have cancer she have a thyroidectomy, which is surgery to remove her thyroid. Once the thyroidectomy was performed, the nodule was tested, and the results were positive for thyroid cancer.

After the procedure, Lisa’s endocrinologist recommended Radioactive Iodine treatment to make certain that the entire thyroid was gone and the cancer could not spread to other parts of her body. At first, Lisa was hesitant to do this treatment. She did research and consulted with friends, family and experts. Once Lisa decided to proceed with the treatment, her doctor placed her on a low-iodine diet which strictly prohibited processed foods, among other things. This diet proved challenging for Lisa because she was required to make all meals from scratch.

“If a recipe called for chicken broth, I would have to boil the chicken myself just to get the stock,” Lisa remembers, “It was a real challenge.”

About a year later, Lisa was put on a low-iodine diet a second time for follow-up scans to make sure that her prior therapy was successful. This prompted her to consider additional meal options. She began experimenting with different recipes and meal ideas. Lisa’s endocrinologist talked about the importance of availability of low-iodine food for patients that are in the same situation as her. This made Lisa realize that her new-found knowledge about preparing low-iodine meals could be turned into the business she had always dreamed about, and so MediChef was created.

Looking back at her decision to do the Radioactive Iodine Treatment, Lisa says that she did the right thing. She believed that it was beneficial to her and her well-being to completely eliminate the thyroid. “It is important for patients to do their homework and find out as much information as possible. You have to be your own advocate,” Lisa says about her experience.

To learn more about low-iodine meal preparation and Lisa’s story visit www.medichef.com.