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Kelly's Story...

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March 1997
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July 1997
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July 1997
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November
1999
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November
1999

I am 23 years old, my husband is 34, he is an electrician. We have 3 children, an 8 yr old boy Dylan, a 4 yr old girl Alyssa, and a 2 yr old girl Brelynn. We started trying for another baby in October of 99 until we found out I was sick. We are still hoping when I am better to try again.

I first realized that something was wrong with me when after our second child I never had periods. When she was 15 months I went on hormones and fertility drugs to get pregnant with our third, it took 7 months. It was after she was born that most of my symptoms started.

At the end of my pregnancy, the day before she was born I only weighed 162 pounds and instead of losing weight I started rapidly gaining. The doctors said not to worry until I stopped nursing her at 1 year. By then, I was up to 185 pounds and had started getting the stretch marks and high blood pressure, also still no periods. My doctors told me to exercise more and eat less. I really watched what I ate after that but it didn't help. This continued until march of this year, bi-weekly appointments with my ob-gyn for the infertility thing and weight gain, they never did run any tests or anything.

After I moved here I watched a show on TV about PCOS and thought that might be what was wrong, by then I was up to 244 pounds. I went to a new doc who tested me for diabetes, when that came back positive he sent me to an internal medicine doc that agreed with my PCOS diagnosis until he saw me naked. After he saw all the stretch marks, the bruising, buffalo hump, and extra hair he told me he thought I had Cushing's. I had never heard of it. He ran some tests all positive for Cushing's and sent me to my endo.

My endo had an MRI done that showed a pit tumor 25mm by 16mm, about the size of an unshelled walnut they said. I went back to Portland Sept. 7th and had surgery, that was miserable, I thought I was on my way to recovery. When 1 month after surgery they tested my level again they all came back high, they determined that after 3 sets of tests that I still have tumor left. My neurosurgeon doesn't think they could get it all without really damaging my pituitary gland so now they are going to remove my adrenals. I go back To Portland for surgery 0n December 8th. I am really hoping this will take care of my problems, I really want to get well and be myself again.

Well, this is my story, hopefully soon I will be able to add to it how I am doing as a cured Cushing's patient. Thanks for taking the time to read this.

KellyS

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