Rayanne Boychuk was 21 when Graves’ disease didn’t arrive quietly — it stormed in.

Now, every meal is a calculation, every bite a potential risk.

TAIT: Wife, mother's struggles exposes Alberta medical system's failures Back to video

Boychuk carefully tracks her triggers, fighting for the quiet moments with her husband and young son.

Not the exhaustion. Not the relentless walls of an Alberta medical system that fails her daily. But the love. The lopsided smiles at the dinner table. The warm hugs she refuses to give up on.

She’s rebuilding her life — not just for herself, but for others living with Graves’ disease. For those who show up in emergency rooms, desperate for answers, only to be told to wait.

Graves’ disease is an autoimmune disorder that hijacks the thyroid, pushing the heart into overdrive with a condition called supraventricular tachycardia. It takes over without warning, leaving her body in chaos.

In a moment of hope, she tried elderberry in February, believing it might help her stay strong for her son.

But on the fourth day, Boychuk’s chest tightened. Breathing........

© Edmonton Sun