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Laurie (Boo), Undiagnosed Daughter

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undiagnosed2

 

18 yr old daughter. Diagnosed with alopecia areata as a toddler. Continued through childhood until eventually lost most hair on body. Some re growth at puberty, but minimal. (Checked for PCOS age 15 ultra sound looked fine but showed mild fatty liver, she had started to put on excess weight)

Age 15. Late menses, then irratic, sometimes every 4 or 5 months, then heavy or light. Height growth stopped around 16. (Few inches shorter than all female relatives. ) Weight again, headaches, back pains, hump, chest pain episodes (3 different times), (ruled out as stress in the ER even though all episodes happened while she was having fun) light headed upon awaking in am, then felt nausea, sometimes vomits until bile. (many times led to testing of gall bladder some disfunction), (cyclical) constant throat and tonsil infections led to tonsil removal, still many throat and urinary infections, excellent student but deals with extreme fatigue, occasional brain fog, anxiety at times, moodiness, dry eye, thirsty a lot, some course black hair growth occasionally, acne, red face, moon face, problems in heat, a few pigment discoloration in spots, some purple stretch marks, weight gain heavier in midsection, repeatedly tries to eat healthy and can’t drop wieght unless she is ill and not eating at all.

Seems to be cavity prone even though she is diligent and obsessive about clean teeth. Wears corrective lenses, has vision blurriness at times, can’t wear contacts due to dry eye and discomfort.

Finally ended up at endo after many other doctors. Have been waiting over 3 weeks for results of dex suppression text. Still no news from doctor, even though I call. Frustrated, have known things were wrong outside of the norm, separate of the auto immune disease Alopecia Areata. Yet no one can figure out a connection or what.

My Daughter hasn’t felt good in 4 years. I’m sick and tired of no one trying to find cause. If it is Cushing’s, why the lack of urgency to help us figure out. After chest pains episodes etc, I’m scared of damage to her body. Not to mention possible infertility issues down the road. I’m tired of being treated as if its nothing All I want is my kid to be the happy go lucky, full of energy, brave, intelligent, confident (even though she has been bald most of her life), like she was her freshman year of high school.

Been a gradual slope downward since.

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MSU Docs Help Local Teen with Rare Disease

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A team of MSU doctors has helped a Leslie teen overcome a rare disease of the pituitary gland.

19-year-old Sydney Kandell was diagnosed with Cushing disease about a year ago. Doctors say the disease is often mistaken for obesity.

Kandell gained 100 pounds during her senior year in high school. She struggled with headaches, high blood pressure, acne, and dark stretchmarks. Her face also appeared very round. Kandell knew something was very wrong. “I was very depressed. It was very upsetting because I went to the doctor multiple times about my weight gain, and acne, and they all said the same thing, ‘Write a food journal, exercise more, it will solve all your problems.'”

But a visit to the Emergency Room for an intense headache, lead Kandell to a MSU Resident Physician who recognized Kandell’s symptoms. Dr. Tiffany Burns said, “I was very sure that she had Cushing disease. We ruled out the more common things. Cushing disease is very uncommon. We ruled out the uncommon things first, but once we got to testing her urine for the steroid level, that’s when I knew I had to call Dr. Aldasouqi.”

Dr. Saleh Aldasouqi, a senior endocrinologist at MSU confirmed Burn’s diagnoses. “I rushed to MRI because I had a strong belief and a gut feeling that she has a pituitary tumor and perhaps a big pituitary tumor. Usually these tumors that cause Cushing disease are small in the pituitary and they are very difficult to detect. Her tumor was big.”

A neurologist removed the tumor a few weeks later. Kandell now controls the disease with cortisol. She’s lost 60 pounds and is thankful someone listened. “I can’t even explain how that felt in words how that felt to have an answer.”

Kandell has a tattoo on her wrist as a reminder of her journey with Cushing disease. She is very passionate about spreading the word about the disease often mistaken for obesity. She plans to go to medical school to study endocrinology.

Cushing disease is caused by small benign tumors in the pituitary gland that increase levels of the hormone cortisol.  The disease and growths can go undetected.  Doctors say the disease can be mistaken for depression or obesity in its early stages.

Symptoms Include: Weight gain, fatty deposit between the shoulders (buffalo hump), pink or purple stretch marks, Thinning fragile skin that bruises easily, acne.  Women may experience irregular menstrual periods, thicker or more visible body and facial hair.

From WILX.com

Archived Interview with Kathy C, Pituitary Patient

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Kathy was diagnosed with a pituitary tumor in 1991.

At the time the only symptom she was aware of was a severe headache. She had a transsphenoidal resection followed by radiation therapy for 23 days. They said they could not remove all of the tumor.  She is now on Signifor and Cabergoline.

Read Kathy’s entire bio at http://cushingsbios.com/2014/04/27/interview-may-7-with-kathy-c-pituitary-patient/

Listen to Kathy’s Interview here.

Kathy’s Interview is also on the CushingsHelp Podcast

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