The happiest day of my life should have been the day I got married or the birth of my son. But for me, it was June 12, … Read More
1 Year: October 2011 through October 2012
Know Cushing’s: Rahul’s Story
It was like finding a needle in a haystack. It was Friday, June 26, 2015, one week after I was discharged from Brigham and Women’s Hospital where I had brain surgery to remove a pituitary tumor. My parents and I were back at the hospital to hear the outcome. I was very optimistic that day. I knew it was a success; it had to be. I hadn’t endured a brain surgery and three days of blood tests for nothing. [Read more…]
Know Cushing’s: Jake’s Story
My Cushing’s story started long before I realized it was being written. It is hard to say exactly when I exhibited my first symptom, but looking back at pictures, I began displaying a rounded “Cushing’s face” during my undergraduate studies in the late 1990s. I began dealing with minor anxiety at that time, but that didn’t seem too abnormal given my busy and intense schedule.
As I moved on to graduate school in the fall of 1999, I began having some skin issues, again nothing too out of the ordinary. In the fall of 2000, I became sick and unable to eat, which eventually was diagnosed as a failing gallbladder, which was removed at the end of that year. Although it’s unclear whether there is a connection between Cushing’s and my gallbladder issues, that was the first of many significant health issues I encountered over the next 13 years.
Know Cushing’s: Alyssa’s Story
Most of my Cushing’s journey has circled around important milestones in my life. I guess that’s what happens when you start to get sick during your transition into college. This was the time I was supposed to be learning, growing, becoming independent and finding myself. In a way, I suppose all of these things were still a part of my college experience, however, I also had to balance regular doctor’s visits and 24-hour urine samplings all while starting a new life in a new city on a college campus that was 6 hours away from home.
I was sick for about 3 years prior to being diagnosed with Cushing’s disease in winter of 2008. Finding out that I had a microadenoma on my pituitary gland was a pretty scary thing to process as a 19 year old. The first matter of concern for me was timing. I didn’t want anything to hold me back from graduating with my newfound friends and regularly wondered how Cushing’s would further impact this phase of my life. Thankfully, I was able to have a pituitary surgery the summer in between my sophomore and junior year of college on May 20, 2009 and maintain my schooling schedule, even if it was more than a full year after diagnosis.
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