FEVER FLU and Adrenal Insuffiency

Hi there quick post. I am feeling extra sick. This feels like the time I had a fever a month ago and I don't know why I am getting it so often. I wonder if that is normal for A.I. but I need to double up on the steroids. I hope I will feel better tomorrow. I have a headache, sore throat, weakness, and I cannot focus. Earlier I did not recognize the street I was on. That was pretty alarming. I don't know if It is all related but I hope things will resolve soon. Alright that's all I got for today.

When Healing Begins

Now that I am free of the Cushing's Tumor, I am given a gift for the ability to heal myself. This is the gift that enables any damage that has been done to my health, body and mind in the past to be reversed. The damage that has been done was many things from the list of symptoms. However I need to address the damage in another form that I hold responsibility for. For a long time I never wanted to accept that illness could or had happened to me. In order to start my true healing, I needed to accept the situation for what it is, however I am one to resist the thought of something I don't want. But not only did it make the process slower, it caused more friction within my energy and finding the peace I wanted.

During serious ailment, the body is weak so there is no defense to protect the mind. The sickness tends to take over but we have to be conscious of the situation and accept it. It is not easy to do so especially for a sick patient. But we have to know that we are not our "tumor"-- the one that creates the painful symptoms, or even our mind-- the thoughts that can create bad feelings. Being aware of the triggers and fears are very helpful. What I have learned is that the only thing I needed to do was to let everything run it's course instead of fighting it with nonsense worry and thinking. I can accept that I am not who I use to be anymore. Now I am given a chance to change and become stronger, grow happier, and make peace with my life. And if it took all of this to happen then thank God it did!!

 

Who Would Have Known It Would Be You

Here's a funny story.  like most hypochondriacs, prior to getting diagnosed I went to WebMD to try and diagnose myself. I typed in my 15+ symptoms and guess what popped up? PCOS, Adrenal fatigue, etc... and Cushing's syndrome/disease. What caught my eye was the Cushing's syndrome. It said a rare disease characterized by a moon face, depression, high blood pressure, anxiety, fatigue, muscle weakness, bone loss, amenorrhea, memory loss etc etc... anyways I ran to muffin and said "that's me!!!" but he told me it was too rare only 10 out of a million people get that so it's probably not.. But guess what? Not only was it Cushing's that I had. I also had the adrenal kind that affect not 10 but 2 out of a million... I'm starting to feel that my chances of winning the lottery might not be so far fetched after all haha! Okay not to scare anyone into self diagnosing because most of the time it is NONE of the above that you have. Just go to the doctor and it's probably less severe than what you imagined in your head.

I have been talking to a girl who is from my city Houston  and almost my age who suffered from Cushing's. She had her surgery in 2010 and is fully recovered today. She sent me some of her before and after pics and she is looking happy and healthy! So all of these people I talk to give me hope I will get there one day. It's crazy to know that someone in the same vicinity to get this so called "rare" tumor. I have always felt that maybe Cushing's is not as rare as we think but is often misdiagnosed or not at all since it is hard find the problem. But I do believe it is happening to a lot of unknowing, innocent folks. I really want to spread the word about this to help others who could be living with an adrenal or pituitary tumor. I get a few people emailing me freaking out about how they have the same symptoms and want to know what to do next. Okay first off don't freak out! It may not be anything at all. My first advice is to get your hormones tested!!! Check for Cortisol levels.  It is better to just do a routine hormone blood test to rule out Cushing's. It is beneficial to get a test for all your hormones to rule out Cushing's or any other problems you have. This one lady went for a checkup and found out she had Pcos. Any who, if you are noticing strange symptoms that is not " normal you" get your hormones checked!

The other week I found a sweet lost abandoned kitten and took her home a few days and found her a new home. Never was a fan of cats until now. Have a good life little Meo Meo. <3

 

 

Undiagnosed, Untreated, Unheard

The other day I talked with my surgeon and doctors about how my symptoms are still persistent and they told me in most cases it is always a delayed recovery. They say most symptoms will have a significant improvement after 6-12 months. That doesn't sound too bad from a normal perspective, but having to live with it everyday makes it hard to tell if you're getting better, then when it gets real bad you just feel like it's never going away. From what I read on researching this illness, most patients go undiagnosed, untreated, and unheard for so long then after they have the surgery, they go unheard again. Luckily I have my surgeon who is educating medical students about Cushing's and listens when I complain. He sent me some new endocrine journals and articles about long term studies and evaluation of the disease. It talks about how there needs to be a better way to improve the recovery process because it is tedious for the patient and often after the surgery, the patient is expected to be "cured" however they have to deal with all the difficulties of recovering themselves. the other study talks about all the issues that come with the recovery and how symptoms improve. there's more interesting things discussed so I will post it up. In my opinion there definitely needs to be more support for Cushies after surgery from the Medical care that may help them feel as comfortable as possible. Maybe requiring more followups, requirements for psychiatric assistance, and some kind of better booklet that tells everyone what to expect after because it just seems like every person I've spoken to were unprepared for the long road after surgery. Oh yeah they totally need to update their booklet for symptoms!!

 I told my doc that I use to have dark orange tinted hands that even my bf noticed. The doc told me that only pituitary patients get the orange hands and not the adrenal patients... How is that possible? well it is the same illness, just different area of cause but idk doctor, my hands are not tang tinted anymore post surgery, just believe me and take note please... I did read somewhere that another adrenal patient had orange hands so it has to be a real symptom... I told them how tired I've been feeling and asked if it's related to the blood test and they say "possibly, but we are not sure". No disease or syndrome is "one size fit all" because some patients may experience much different symptoms than others but it is all real and needs to be heard. This disease is hard to understand but we need more help to unravel this mystery! Ahh this sucks.. I tried to post up the endocrine articles but it can't be shared and you need a membership to access these files.. Ok I guess i'll just put a link to a story about a woman named Shannon. Her story is another one that gives me strength, you gotta read it till the very end.
  http://cushingsdiseasestories.com/