And It's About Time There Was Some Support For Cushing's!
I am 52. I started getting sick in the summer of 2001. After many doctors and many tests and a lot of frustration on my part I finally went to the right doctor and he sent me to my endocrinologist who put me through a lot of exercises and asked a lot of questions and told me in about 15 minutes that he was sure I had Cushing's.
I was so relieved to know what it was. So we started looking for the tumor. After a MRI my endo sent me to Denver to see a brain surgeon in May of 2003. July 27th I went into surgery take out Ted. My daughter decided that brain tumor was too depressing so we named it Ted. We live in a small town and the entire town was curious and worried for me. I had people praying everywhere. I have never experienced such kindness.
I have read quite a bit and I had most of the symptoms: Hump, weight gain, sleep problems, a bloated hurting stomach, big bumps that hurt and scared me, my hair fell out, high blood pressure, and some type of near diabetes, and I just hurt. I looked like I was pregnant. Just before the surgery I was wearing only elastic pants and was growing out of them, but I had skinny arms and legs. The surgery went pretty well. They went up under my lip to the pituitary gland. Something happened and my salt level was too high so they kept me for a couple of days longer than they planned. I went back to work in 3 weeks because resting didn't help and truthfully I was pretty down being alone.
Work is great and I take a nap during my lunch break and sometimes after work before supper. I have slept entire days away on the weekend. I lost about 24 pounds right away but have put part of it back on. My biggest problem now is I get sinus infections easily and it usually takes big doses of antibiotics to get rid of it. I am so tired and my muscles and joints hurt. I hobble around like an old woman but I keep moving because it beats the alternative! Getting ready in the morning is tough. My hands are stiff and it hurts to lift my leg. I don't sleep well at night because my joints hurt. I don't take anything except Bextra and vitamins. Up until last week my back hurt around my kidneys all the time and sometimes I just felt like I had the flu and was very nauseous.
My friends and family told me to go to the Dr because I was not acting right. I hurt all the time and it is hard to tell when you are sick because you feel awful all the time. My endo said he would call me when he wanted to see me again and that was December. The last time I got sick my regular doctor is sending me back to see him anyway. Not sure there is anything he can do, he told me that I would have to put up with some pain. Well I have that. He thinks I should be back to normal in a year after surgery. July can't get here too quickly!
