Cushing's Stories

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.

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Alyssa’s Story

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.

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Jake’s Story

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. We were called by the receptionist to one of the exam rooms, where we met Dr. Laws, my neurosurgeon.

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Rahul’s Story

Fabiana’s Story

I first started experiencing symptoms of Cushing’s Disease at the age of 16. I am now 36, and for the past 20 years I have continued to experience the aftermath of Cushing’s and the treatments I have undergone. I would like to say that Cushing’s has not changed me, but that would be untruthful. While Cushing’s does not define me, it is a big part of who I am and has shaped the last 20 years of my life, for better or worse.

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Fabiana’s Story

DaVita’s Story

While I don’t know exactly when my Cushing’s journey started, I can honestly say that I have mismanaged stress and trauma in my life going back to my childhood and I believe my body paid the price for that mismanagement. By the time I was 35, a single mother and working in middle corporate management, the effects of the stress were starting to be more apparent. I knew there was something wrong going on inside my body long before it showed physically.

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DaVita’s Story

Wendy' Story

We all experience them; wistful and passing moments of looking back into our lives for those events of awareness and choice that would have so differently shaped the years that came afterwards. Discovering that I had Cushing’s Disease, and coming to accept its meaning in my life, has brought those moments into sharp clarity.

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Wendy' Story

Mila’s Story

My Cushing’s journey started many years ago. I was born in Russia, in a big city called Voronezh. As a child, I was sick a lot with upper respiratory infections and strep throat. Physically, I was much weaker than other kids my age. I also had different skin problems such as rashes and inflammations which were hard to treat. Also, when I dealt with stressful situations, like difficult exams, I became sick with flu like symptoms.

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Mila’s Story

Allen’s Story

My story began in February 2015, or so I thought. I woke up one morning with my legs swollen again and it felt like my heart was racing. I made a doctor’s appointment that day. My blood pressure was out of control. My primary care doctor requested some blood work, and when my test results came back, I was able to review them online. There were a few test results that were either a little too high, or a little too low, but nothing significant. I did some research on my own and asked my doctor to request a test to check my cortisol level because I thought I had Cushing’s disease.

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Allen’s Story