Home

Cushing’s Awareness Challenge 2015

March 9, 2015

MaryO Adrenal, Adrenal Insufficiency, Pituitary, Success Stories, Undiagnosed , , , , Leave a comment

Not a bio but folks who write bios might like to participate!

 

awareness

 

The Cushing’s Awareness Challenge is almost upon us again!

Do you blog? Want to get started?

Since April 8 is Cushing’s Awareness Day, several people got their heads together to create the Fourth Annual Cushing’s Awareness Blogging Challenge.

All you have to do is blog about something Cushing’s related for the 30 days of April.

There will also be a logo for your blog to show show you’ve participated.

Please let me know the URL to your blog in the comments area of this post or an email  and I will list it on CushieBloggers ( http://cushie-blogger.blogspot.com/)

The more people who participate, the more the word will get out about Cushing’s.

Suggested topics – or add your own!

  • In what ways have Cushing’s made you a better person?
  • What have you learned about the medical community since you have become sick?
  • If you had one chance to speak to an endocrinologist association meeting, what would you tell them about Cushing’s patients?
  • What would you tell the friends and family of another Cushing’s patient in order to garner more emotional support for your friend? challenge with Cushing’s? How have you overcome challenges? Stuff like that.
  • I have Cushing’s Disease….(personal synopsis)
  • How I found out I have Cushing’s
  • What is Cushing’s Disease/Syndrome? (Personal variation, i.e. adrenal or pituitary or ectopic, etc.)
  • My challenges with Cushing’s
  • Overcoming challenges with Cushing’s (could include any challenges)
  • If I could speak to an endocrinologist organization, I would tell them….
  • What would I tell others trying to be diagnosed?
  • What would I tell families of those who are sick with Cushing’s?
  • Treatments I’ve gone through to try to be cured/treatments I may have to go through to be cured.
  • What will happen if I’m not cured?
  • I write about my health because…
  • 10 Things I Couldn’t Live Without.
  • My Dream Day.
  • What I learned the hard way
  • Miracle Cure. (Write a news-style article on a miracle cure. What’s the cure? How do you get the cure? Be sure to include a disclaimer)
  • Health Madlib Poem. Go to : http://languageisavirus.com/cgi-bin/madlibs.pl#.VPGZQlPF9A8 and fill in the parts of speech and the site will generate a poem for you.
  • The Things We Forget. Visit http://thingsweforget.blogspot.com/ and make your own version of a short memo reminder. Where would you post it?
  • Give yourself, your condition, or your health focus a mascot. Is it a real person? Fictional? Mythical being? Describe them. Bonus points if you provide a visual!
  • 5 Challenges & 5 Small Victories.
  • The First Time I…
  • Make a word cloud or tree with a list of words that come to mind when you think about your blog, health, or interests. Use a thesaurus to make it branch more.
  • How much money have you spent on Cushing’s, or, How did Cushing’s impact your life financially?
  • Why do you think Cushing’s may not be as rare as doctors believe?
  • What is your theory about what causes Cushing’s?
  • How has Cushing’s altered the trajectory of your life? What would you have done? Who would you have been
  • What three things has Cushing’s stolen from you? What do you miss the most? What can you do in your Cushing’s life to still achieve any of those goals?
  • What new goals did Cushing’s bring to you?
  • How do you cope?
  • What do you do to improve your quality of life as you fight Cushing’s?
  • How Cushing’s affects children and their families
  • Your thoughts…?

Survivor’s parents organize charity bike ride for Children’s Hospital neurosurgery

March 6, 2015

MaryO Pediatric, Pituitary, Pituitary Surgery, Treatments , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

La Cañada resident Taylor Winter was just 12 when she was diagnosed with Cushing’s disease, a condition caused by a tumor on the pituitary gland that affects everything from organ function and sleep to hormone levels and body growth.

Although she’d likely lived with the ailment for years, once it was discovered by an endocrinologist, Taylor’s family had to act fast to remove the tumor. That’s when they were referred to Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles’ neurosurgery division, according to mom Gaia Winter.

“We met with neurosurgeons to see what her options were, and eight days later she was in surgery,” Winter said, recalling the two surgeries it took to remove Taylor’s tumor.

Today, Taylor is an 18-year-old freshman studying theater arts at North Carolina’s High Point University. Her life may not be perfect (she still endures complications from her condition and surgeries) but she knows it’s better than it would have been had the tumor gone unchecked.

“I was not in a happy place before I got treatment, and I think it would still be that way today if I had gone undiagnosed,” she said in an email interview.

This Saturday at 11:30 a.m., Gaia and husband Wade Winter are hosting a charity bike ride at the indoor cycling studio SoulCycle in Pasadena to raise money for Children’s Hospital’s Neurosurgery Ambassadors group. The group comprises former brain surgery patients and their families who wish to “pay it forward” by raising funds for the neurosurgery division.

For a $75 donation, participants can reserve a bike and take a 45-minute stationary bike group ride, although cycling is not mandatory, Gaia Winter said. The money raised will help sponsor neurosurgery fellow Dr. Judith Wong, who will take her training to a town where skilled neurosurgeons are few.

Michael Sampiano, director of the hospital’s Ambassador groups, worked with the Winters and another family to create the program in 2012. So far, the neurosurgery division has received $14,000 from the efforts of that group. Both Taylor and twin sister Alissa are junior ambassadors in the program.

“The money this group raises covers the training and living expenses of our pediatric neurosurgery fellow (and) it gives our neurosurgery division the financial backing to continue its work,” Sampiano said, encouraging locals to join in Saturday’s ride. “It is indeed an investment in the community and for kids in the future who might be in need of this life-saving work.”

Taylor says she was lucky to have such a skilled facility so close to home and recalls her time spent at Children’s Hospital positively.

“Even though I was in pain or discomfort for the majority of my stays, the hospital staff and various volunteer groups… helped create such a fun and caring environment that I didn’t want to leave,” Taylor said.

The Winters, along with other patient families, hope to raise $100,000 this year for the neurosurgery division through the Ambassadors group. It’s the least they can do to give back, after being given so much, Gaia Winter says.

“They gave her the ability to be a normal kid,” she said. “We just feel passionate about giving back to them. The amount of work they do and the lives they touch is tremendous.”

 

What: Charity Ride for the Division of Neurosurgery

Where: SoulCycle, 140 S. Lake Ave., Pasadena.

When: Saturday, from 11:30 a.m. to 12: 30 p.m.

Admission: A bike reservation cost $75 but all donations will be accepted.

More info: Visit http://support.chla.org/pages/thewinterfamily or email NeuroAmb@gmail.com