Former 'Basketball Wives' Cast Member Meeka Claxton Has Grave's Disease

Meeka Talks About Illness

Reality News: Former 'Basketball Wives cast member, Meeka Claxton,  has revealed she had Grave's disease while she was on the show.  She wrote a blog entry titled "Letting Go" talking about ending her feud with Tami Ramon when they both reunited during fashion week recently. She reveals that she was battling grave's disease which is the same disease rapper Missy Elliot has.

 "I’m a private person and there was so much more going on with me than I let on. Aside from Speedy, not too many people knew exactly what all I was dealing with.  A little over a month before filming started in Miami, I noticed my right eye was bulging out of my head. Nervous that it was the result of a tumor, I went to the doctor and he ran tests. The CT Scan came back negative, I thought I’d be relieved but I wasn’t.  I was 31 and I knew my body, something was definitely wrong. I saw a few specialists including an Opthalmologist and they couldn’t find anything. It wasn’t until I went to NYC’s top Endocrinology Specialist that I was diagnosed. 2 weeks before filming, I was officially diagnosed with Graves Disease.

I went through 2 months of radioactive treatment and had to have my thyroid removed. My hair fell out and I lost a lot of weight. I needed something to take my mind off of what I was going through with my illness/treatment and I thought being on the show, new experiences, and working to expand my Atlanta based real estate company to Miami was the answer.  Needless to say, I was dead wrong.  Evelyn made fun of my bulging eyes every chance she got, Tami picked a fight every time we were together and Shaunie cackled at every bit of it all the way to the bank.  They made my experience miserable but I never showed it. I never wanted to give them the satisfaction of knowing that they were essentially “breaking my spirit”. I dreaded filming each day and wondered what happened to all the “showcasing of the lifestyle of basketball wives” like I was told by the producers was supposed to the premise for season 3".