COVID-19 Vaccine booster shots are available for the following Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine recipients who completed their initial series at least 6 months ago and are: Obese or diabetic
Video, personal stories and "official information". The MRI still showed nothing, so they did a Petrosal Sinus Sampling Test. That scared me more than the prospect of surgery. (This test carries the risk of stroke and uncontrollable bleeding from the incision points.) Catheters were fed from my groin area to my pituitary gland and dye was injected. […]
Upon getting the pre-op work ready for her IPSS, Martha had another abnormal EKG and she was sent for a chemically induced stress test. During the stress test, she said she became very, very sleepy and the nurse asked if she was ok. A few days after the test she became very dizzy and briefly passed out in the kitchen but refused to go to the hospital. She wa […]
Neurologist Accused of Sexual Assault A neurologist at Beth Israel Medical Center in New York has been accused of repeatedly sexually assaulting patients over the course of a decade, but was still able to secure three jobs in three states until surrendering his license in 2017, a new lawsuit with multiple plaintiffs revealed.
She was only 45 at the time of her death October 12, 2009. I’ve known far too many Cushies who have died far too young from this disease. Bonny wrote July 1, 2009 I was sick with ALL the symptoms (about 30-40) for 5 years. Finally got correctly diagonosed and had my left Adrenal Gland and its tumour removed in June 2007. The recovery was long and hellish. Th […]
Cookie died October 11, 2003. She had a pituitary tumor, recurrence, BLA, PCOS, radiation... Cookie touched a lot of lives. I would get these perky, cheerful and witty emails. It is terrible to lose her. She has left such a legacy, though, that she will go on touching lives for many years to come. She loved people and wanted to make a difference in the lives […]
Dear friends and family: I am writing this letter to share with you some basic facts about Cushing’s Disease/Syndrome and the recovery process so that you will have sufficient information to form realistic expectations about me and my ability to engage in certain activities in light of this disease and its aftermath. As you know, Cushing’s is a rarely diagno […]
The most common etiologies of Cushing's syndrome (CS) are adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH)-producing pituitary adenoma (pitCS) and primary adrenal gland disease (adrCS), both of which burden patients with metabolic disturbance. The aim of this study was to compare the metabolic features of pitCS and adrCS patients.
My step daughter is really dragging on getting timely care for what appears to be Cushing Syndrome. The symptoms have been going on for years. She has an adrenal tumor that needs to be moved and an abdominal hernia that needs repair. My husband and I are very worried and frustrated about the deteriorating effects on her health. She is extremely reluctance to […]
The chronic excess of glucocorticoids results in Cushing's syndrome. Cushing's syndrome presents with a variety of signs and symptoms including: central obesity, proximal muscle weakness, fatigue striae, poor wound healing, amenorrhea, and others. ACTH independent Cushing's syndrome is usually due to unilateral adenoma. A rare cause of it is b […]
Today is the birthday, or anniversary, of the boards starting September 30, 2000 (The rest of the site started earlier that year on July 21, 2000) As of today, we have 73,024 members who have made countless posts.
The occurrence of different subtypes of endogenous Cushing’s syndrome (CS) in single individuals is extremely rare. We here present the case of a female patient who was successfully cured from adrenal CS 4 years before being diagnosed with Cushing’s disease (CD). The patient was diagnosed at the age of 50 with ACTH-independent CS and a left-sided adrenal ade […]
Bettye passed away due to complications of Cushing’s disease. Once she was finally diagnosed, a decision was made against surgery and Bettye was put on the cortisol-lowering medication Korlym. Though she had initially gained weight from Cushing’s disease, as many patients do, she rapidly lost weight and was admitted into hospice care soon after.
Joanne was known on the boards as raggettyjoanne. Mario VandDermeij announced the passing of his loving wife of 23 years. Joanne Swain VanDermeij at the age of 56. After 2 years and 3 months of fighting the system, Joanne was finally diagnosed March the 14th, 2011, with full blown adrenal Cushing's.
WHO SHOULD ATTEND This activity has been designed for endocrinologists, neurosurgeons, ophthalmologists, gynecologists, general radiologists, nurse practitioners, nurses, residents and fellows. Additionally, patients and their caregivers, family members, advocates and members of the public who may benefit from understanding current innovative approaches to p […]
Téra is a member of the message boards - you can respond to her posts here. New video added. This is just a quick update. I am not in a good head space. Being denied a much needed surgery because of irresponsible people are not following cdc guidelines, makes me very very very very upset! Every day a new issue pops up, IIH could make me go blind, my bones co […]
I have been trying to write as many posts as I can that relate to Cushing’s this month, as part of the Cushing’s Blogger Challenge, so here is the next in the series. I know a question on the minds of a lot of Cushing’s patients post-op is whether they are actually in remission after surgery. As I discussed the other day in another post, it often can take a long time to figure this out. Neuroendocrine tumors are a special PITA this way. The tumors are tiny and soft like toothpaste and it is common for very excellent, experienced surgeons to miss a tumor or part of a tumor during surgery. And because the tumors spit out hormones they do damage and disrupt the body’s natural hormonal activities for many months, muddying the waters even further.
So how do you know if you are in remission? The annoying…
It’s Sunday again, so this is another semi-religious post so feel free to skip it 🙂
I’m sure that many would think that this is a semi-odd choice for all-time favorite hymn.
My dad was a Congregational (now United Church of Christ) minister so I was pretty regular in church attendance in my younger years.
Some Sunday evenings, he would preach on a circuit and I’d go with him to some of these tiny churches. The people there, mostly older folks, liked the old hymns best – Fanny Crosby and so on.
So, some of my “favorite hymns” are those that I sang when I was out with my Dad. Fond memories from long ago.
In 1986 I was finally diagnosed with Cushing’s after struggling with doctors and trying to get them to test for about 5 years. I was going to go into the NIH (National Institutes of Health) in Bethesda, MD for final testing and then-experimental pituitary surgery.
I was terrified and sure that I wouldn’t survive the surgery.
Somehow, I found a 3-tape set of Readers Digest Hymns and Songs of Inspiration and ordered that. The set came just before I went to NIH and I had it with me.
At NIH I set up a daily “routine” of sorts and listening to these tapes was a very important part of my day and helped me get through the ordeal of more testing, surgery, post-op and more.
When I had my kidney cancer surgery, the tapes were long broken, but I had replaced all the songs – this time on my iPod.
Abide With Me was on this tape set and it remains a favorite to this day. Whenever we have an opportunity in church to pick a favorite, my hand always shoots up and I request page 700. When someone in one of my handbell groups moves away, we always sign a hymnbook and give it to them. I sign page 700.
I think that many people would probably think that this hymn is depressing. Maybe it is but to me it signifies times in my life when I thought I might die and I was so comforted by the sentiments here.
This hymn is often associated with funeral services and has given hope and comfort to so many over the years – me included.
If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.
~John 15:7
Abide With Me
Words: Henry F. Lyte, 1847.
Music: Eventide, William H. Monk, 1861. Mrs. Monk described the setting:
This tune was written at a time of great sorrow—when together we watched, as we did daily, the glories of the setting sun. As the last golden ray faded, he took some paper and penciled that tune which has gone all over the earth.
Lyte was inspired to write this hymn as he was dying of tuberculosis; he finished it the Sunday he gave his farewell sermon in the parish he served so many years. The next day, he left for Italy to regain his health. He didn’t make it, though—he died in Nice, France, three weeks after writing these words. Here is an excerpt from his farewell sermon:
O brethren, I stand here among you today, as alive from the dead, if I may hope to impress it upon you, and induce you to prepare for that solemn hour which must come to all, by a timely acquaintance with the death of Christ.
For over a century, the bells of his church at All Saints in Lower Brixham, Devonshire, have rung out “Abide with Me” daily. The hymn was sung at the wedding of King George VI, at the wedding of his daughter, the future Queen Elizabeth II, and at the funeral of Nobel peace prize winner Mother Teresa of Calcutta in1997.
Abide with me; fast falls the eventide;
The darkness deepens; Lord with me abide.
When other helpers fail and comforts flee,
Help of the helpless, O abide with me.
Swift to its close ebbs out life’s little day;
Earth’s joys grow dim; its glories pass away;
Change and decay in all around I see;
O Thou who changest not, abide with me.
Not a brief glance I beg, a passing word;
But as Thou dwell’st with Thy disciples, Lord,
Familiar, condescending, patient, free.
Come not to sojourn, but abide with me.
Come not in terrors, as the King of kings,
But kind and good, with healing in Thy wings,
Tears for all woes, a heart for every plea—
Come, Friend of sinners, and thus bide with me.
Thou on my head in early youth didst smile;
And, though rebellious and perverse meanwhile,
Thou hast not left me, oft as I left Thee,
On to the close, O Lord, abide with me.
I need Thy presence every passing hour.
What but Thy grace can foil the tempter’s power?
Who, like Thyself, my guide and stay can be?
Through cloud and sunshine, Lord, abide with me.
I fear no foe, with Thee at hand to bless;
Ills have no weight, and tears no bitterness.
Where is death’s sting? Where, grave, thy victory?
I triumph still, if Thou abide with me.
Hold Thou Thy cross before my closing eyes;
Shine through the gloom and point me to the skies.
Heaven’s morning breaks, and earth’s vain shadows flee;
Before Cushing’s Disease, I had good and bad days. When I was getting sick, things were out of control. Not only did I feel really bad but I had to analyze how I felt bad. I had to focus on why I felt bad. Those wonderful days that I felt better, I questioned how bad I felt before. It took me some time to just allow myself to enjoy feeling less horrible. I don’t even want to think about recovery because that was a whole new level of feeling poorly. Now I am over 10 years out and dealing with deficiencies.
Over the past couple months, I have been loosing energy and gaining weight. I am so tired. I sleep so much. I am certain that something is out but it will be another month until my levels are checked again. The day that not feeling well and counting that…
