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| Today is ...and it's about time there was some support for Cushing's! | ||
| Wednesday is CHAT NIGHT | ||
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Rose's Story...
Hello Reader! I�m Rose Marie and I�d
like to personally welcome you to Cushing's Help and Support. All of us on
the
message
boards have
worked together to provide a strong network of support during the
pre-diagnosis, diagnosis and post-op care of patients with endocrine
disorders.
My story with Cushing's is different, in
that I didn�t really know anything was wrong with me. I do have Hashimoto�s
Thyroiditis. Oh, I�d been to the doctor several times for different ailments,
like borderline high blood pressure, fibromyalgia, and headaches, but I just
thought it was my thyroid. When I had my last child a few years ago, I was
feeling a bit mentally exhausted. I was having trouble controlling my body
temperature, and I was getting very forgetful. I blew off the weight gain as
being from having my last child. I had found this �thyroid� endocrinologist
that was highly recommended on the About.com website. I called his office to set
an appointment and was dismayed that I had to wait three months to see him. I
almost cancelled twice, but decided if the wait was so long, maybe he was really
that good. He was. I went into the appointment not planning on
telling him any of my extracurricular symptoms. I had read an article about
Cytomel supplementation with patients who had Hashimoto�s Thyroiditis. I thought
the Cytomel was the cure-all. I almost got out of his office with a
prescription. He did tell me that it would help my �fibromyalgia� and might help
with my cold intolerance. He added that it would not help me with my weight. Nonchalantly, he asked me if I had other
symptoms. Oh, I mentioned my vertigo and my borderline high blood pressure, and
the �anxiety attack� I had a couple of years ago. I blew off all of my symptoms
and mentioned that many of my problems seemed to go away when I got pregnant, so
I figured it was just hormonal. He got a funny look in his eye and started
asking me question after question. I was taken to an exam room and looked over.
He asked me to come to his office. He explained that he thought I had a
pituitary tumor and that he wanted me to have a MRI done of my pituitary. He
also wanted me to come back for a series of tests to see how my pituitary and
thyroid were functioning. I didn�t really know what the function of a
pituitary was. I really didn�t even know for sure where it was, let alone this
discussion of a pituitary tumor. It scared me. It really scared me later when a
neurosurgeon reviewed my MRI scans and called me to discuss his findings. My hormonal panel showed that I had
hypercortisolism. I have a pituitary tumor, and I am undergoing testing to try
to sort out the source of the hypercortisolism. My symptoms are mild and my
testing is sometimes normal and sometimes quite elevated. My doctor is keeping a
close eye on me. In time, we will have things figured out. My official diagnosis
is hypercortisolism. My doctor feels that it is ACTH-dependent. It can be argued
both ways right now, that I either have pseudo-Cushing's, or Cushing's. The
dimension of time will tell. Since I work in healthcare, I have access to
a large medical library. I volunteer with the CUSH
Organization as the Medical
Librarian. That is enough about me. We are here to help
you the best way we can. Please remember that we are patients. We
cannot give medical advice. The
message
boards should not be substituted for a physician. See your doctor.
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Rose
Marie
