Day 2 of the Cushing's Awareness Challenge: My story
I was 13 when I first started having medical problems, although it would be over 10 years before I would ever hear the word Cushing's. When I was in junior high I started having severe headaches and GI issues. My pediatrician told my mother that the headaches were because I didn't drink enough water, and my stomach issues were from drinking too much soda. (Even though neither of these were problems for me we doubled my water intake and eliminated like the one soda I was allowed to drink a week). The headaches and stomach issues continued. Then in high school I developed cysts on my ovaries. The doctor's explained to my mom that this happens sometimes and at 15 they started me on birth control to try and prevent the cysts. It didn't work.
I went away to college when I was 17. I was doing really well, but I began to gain weight. I was just about 100lbs and 5'4" when I went to school, so everyone attributed the weight gain to the dreaded "freshman 15." Over the next three years my weight would balloon up to 180lbs, I would develop high blood pressure, off the charts cholesterol, and I had a new infection every few months. I saw campus doctors for all sorts of ailments but the thing that finally got my parents involved and had me sent home from college was a psychotic break, essentially. I was placed on a student's in crisis plan my junior year and sent home for treatment.
I was diagnosed as being bi-polar and for the next 5 years I would go through medication after medication to treat the anxiety, depression and sometimes psychosis, but nothing really worked. And when I would complain about other ailments, fatigue, muscle weakness, infections, headaches, pain, weight gain; all of it was dismissed because I had been diagnosed with a mental illness.
After a few years I got into a routine and learned to live with all the symptoms I was experiencing. I saw so many doctors to try and figure things out but either they didn't believe me or they couldn't help me. Eventually I was accepted into medical school at the age of 25, something that had always been my goal. I had been doing fairly well, but the stress of medical school and the long hours and constantly being surrounded by sick people sent me spiraling into a tailspin medically. When we learned about Cushing's in class a lightbulb went off for me. I had nearly every symptom that was a hallmark of the disease, and I actively started seeking out an Endocrinologist.
It would take me two years and 4 Endos before I would get a confirmed diagnosis, and another six months after that before I made it to surgery. There were many times I wanted to give up. So many doctors, friends and family who told me I was crazy, lazy, depressed, attention seeking, or that it was all in my head. Well, it turned out it was. I had a pituitary tumor causing Cushing's Disease, which is what was causing all of my symptoms. If I had not been like a pitbull in pursuing a diagnosis I might not be here today. That is why Cushing's awareness is so important to me. There are many people out there undiagnosed, and I hope by bringing attention to this disease that people will find help like I did.
