Hi Ladies and Gents, my fellow Cushies!
I am a currently mid 20s student living in Toronto, ON, CAN, with big dreams and a big heart. I have been part of this network for a while now and although I’m not always active on the site, I am always eager to spread the word, the love, the support for any of you!!! Just contact me, anytime!
As for myself, I began gaining weight and not being able to control it when I was in my late teens/early 20s.
In 2007/2008 I began trying to figure out what was going on with my current family Doctor with no success. My mother (xoxox) was the smart cookie who saw an episode of “mystery diagnosis” and said “THAT’S MY LITTLE GIRL IN A NUTSHELL!”
Ironically, my family MD at the time AND the one after that said that was a ridiculous idea and it couldn’t be that and simply DID NOT TEST ME.
Luckily, in 2009 when I moved to Toronto for my new degree, I met with a new Doctor who is an admitted “over tester”, however she did help steer me to my Endocrinologist for the diagnosis. It took nearly 2 years of testing, Dex-suppression tests, IPSS, vials of blood gone, MRI’s, CT’s, and too many jugs of 24-hour urine tests we had it narrowed to a pituitary cause but could not locate it on imagine or by approximate location (right, left, etc).
So the wait began as I was referred to my neurosurgeon and the Pituitary Clinic and their hospital until the day came and I went under!
After 6 months of excruciatingly long and painful recovery (which I know any of us who have gone, are going through, or are awaiting to go through where they mess with our signalling organs can understand) I was finally feeling back to myself, my cortisol was in its normal range after tapering off of oral hydrocortisone (oh the irony) and have been feeling pretty great since, Some weight has come off, my stripes have faded (don’t worry, if you look hard enough you can still see them) and I hope to stay on a positive road of recovery! *knock on wood*
I must say, I never expected to the one in a million… and it wasn’t the “one in a million” I expected to be… You can’t change the past but you can make the best of your future. I’m proud to be a Cushie, I’m grateful to have you all as my “family”, and you are all “one in a million” as well 🙂
Be Proud, Be Strong, Be Fierce… but most importantly, Be Happy
Stay Beautiful xoxox
Update: Rebecca is writing blog. Find it at http://thecurvycushie.blogspot.ca/
HOME | Contents | Adrenal Crisis! | Abbreviations | Glossary | Forums | Donate | Bios | Add Your Bio
Apr 30, 2014 @ 08:56:54
Hi Rebecca..
I am 18 years old and am currently battling for a diagnosis of Cushing’s disease. I was wondering if you would be able to contact me with more information on the process, doctors, etc. I would be glad to share my story this far as well. I live in the area and am desperately seeking help.
Thanks!
sera.whitelaw@live.ca
May 14, 2014 @ 17:21:16
I would love to help you in any way I can! I will email you and we can chat, hopefully I will be able to help you somehow on your journey! Stay strong hun, it can be a rough road but only makes you stronger!
Aug 23, 2014 @ 17:24:21
Hi Rebecca, I am currently 24 but have been battling weight problems since I was 9. I have exactly what you describe in this post, Trunkal obesity, thin arm and legs, purple striae, moon face, the buffalo hump and even as far as disc degeneration and a ruptured disc at age 18 as I have read in other Cushie’s posts. I am also severely fatigued all the time (even when I was taking phentermine I was fatigued!) have depression that doesn’t respond to anti-depressants and bruise very easily yet heal poorly.
How in the world should I pursue this to my gen prac dr?
Aug 29, 2014 @ 05:47:51
Hi Kelsey!
Thanks for reaching out and it certainly sounds like this could be what you have. (Sorry for the late reply, 🙁 I only got the email notification today)
The first step is to talk to your DR! Although Cushing’s is not always thought of, Doctors have been trained in it’s recognition and can help guide you to a diagnosis.
1) The first step from there would be to inquire and persist on a full blood panel and work up at the lab (thyroid hormones, cortisol, CBC, iron, vitamin B12 and probably a bunch of others) and also a 24 urine cortisol test – this is to rule out other conditions and narrow down the search.
2) with those results they can then follow the right path, but it does depend on what they find to see where it would go, but if they do find the write things it would lead most likely to an ENDOCRINOLOGIST appointment
If you want to keep in touch so I can help a bit further, let me know 🙂 you can also get in touch with me through google+ or my personal blog