Happy 21st Birthday!

Posted on July 21, 2021 by MaryO

happybirthday-2015

It’s unbelievable but the idea for Cushing’s Help and Support arrived 21 years ago last night.  That’s a long time for anything online.

I was talking with my dear friend Alice, who ran a wonderful menopause site called Power Surge, wondering why there weren’t many support groups online (OR off!) for Cushing’s and I wondered if I could start one myself and we decided that I could.

The first website (http://www.cushings-help.com) first went “live” July 21, 2000 and the message boards September 30, 2000. Hopefully, with these sites, I’m making some helpful differences in someone else’s life!

The message boards are very active and we have weekly online text chats, occasional live interviews, local meetings, email newsletters, a clothing exchange, a Cushing’s Awareness Day Forum, podcasts, phone support and much more.

Whenever one of the members of the boards gets into NIH, I try to go to visit them there. Other board members participate in the “Cushie Helper” program where they support others with one-on-one support, doctor/hospital visits, transportation issues and more.

Of course, we now have a Facebook page and 2 groups.  Both are secret, so if you want to join, please email  or PM me for an invitation.

Other sites in the Cushing’s Help “Family”

maryo colorful zebra

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Day 11, Cushing’s Awareness Challenge 2016

Posted on April 11, 2016 by MaryO

Blue and Yellow – we have those colors on ribbons, websites, T-shirts, Cushing’s Awareness Challenge logos and even cars.

This is the yellow PT cruiser I had rented for the Columbus, OH meeting in 2007.  I didn’t ask for yellow.  That’s just what the rental company gave me.  Somehow, they knew.

This meeting is the one when we all met at Hoggy’s for dinner although some of us travelers stayed at this hotel.

I’m the one in yellow and blue.

Later in 2007, I bought my own truly Cushie Car.  I even managed to get a butterfly on the tags.

So, where did all this blue and yellow come from, anyway?  The answer is so easy and without any thought that it will amaze you!

In July of 2000, I was talking with my dear friend Alice, who ran a wonderful menopause site, Power Surge.  We wondering why there weren’t many support groups online (OR off!) for Cushing’s and I wondered if I could start one myself and we decided that maybe I could.

This website (http://www.cushings-help.com) first went “live” July 21, 2000.  It was a one-page bit of information about Cushing’s.  Nothing fancy.  No message boards, no blogs, no wiki, no image galleries…  Certainly no Cushing’s Awareness Challenges.

I didn’t know much about HTML (yet!) but I knew a little from what Alice had taught me and I used on my music studio site.  I didn’t want to put as much work <COUGH!> into the Cushing’s site as I had on the music studio site so I used a now defunct  WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) web editor called Microsoft FrontPage.

One of their standard templates was – you guessed it! – blue and yellow.

TaDa!  Instant Cushie color scheme forever.  Turns out that the HTML that this software churned out was really awful and had to be entirely redone as the site grew.  But the colors stuck.

Now, in this day of mobile web browsers and people going online on their cellphones, the website is being redone yet again.  But the colors are still, and always, blue and yellow.

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Cushing’s Help is 14 Today!

Posted on July 21, 2014 by MaryO

14-years

 

Who’d have believed it?  Today, July 21, 2014 is our 14th birthday!

It’s unbelievable but the idea for Cushing’s Help and Support arrived 14 years ago last night. I was talking with my dear friend Alice, who ran a wonderful menopause site called Power Surge, wondering why there weren’t many support groups online (OR off!) for Cushing’s and I wondered if I could start one myself and we decided that I could.

The first website (http://www.cushings-help.com) first went “live” July 21, 2000 and the message boards September 30, 2000. Hopefully, with these sites, I’m going to make some helpful differences in someone else’s life!

The message boards are very active and we have weekly online text chats, weekly live interviews, local meetings, email newsletters, a clothing exchange, a Cushing’s Awareness Day Forum, podcasts, phone support and much more.

Whenever one of the members of the boards gets into NIH, I try to go to visit them there. Other board members participate in the “Cushie Helper” program where they support others with one-on-one support, doctor/hospital visits, transportation issues and more.

5d4c9-woohoo-scaled800

 

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40 Days of Thankfulness: Days Twenty-Two to Thirty

Posted on November 22, 2010 by MaryO

I haven’t been too great on keeping this list up online but I have been keeping up on my computer so there will be a few catchup posts like this one.

Day 22 (November 5): Jack Canfield’s book Chicken Soup for the Surviving Soul: 101 Healing Stories About Those Who Have Survived Cancer.  There is a great piece in there called The Best Day of my Life.  I’ve written about it before on http://cushingshelp.blogspot.com

Day 23 (November 6): Lou Argow.  She’s been my counselor for many years, starting with my terrifyingly real dreams of death. Thanks, Lou!

Day 24 (November 7): SusanM on the message boards.  She did something so wonderful for me a few years ago, words can’t even describe it.  Fortunately, I have described it before. 🙂  Read more here!  People on the message boards can check this thread out.  Thanks again, Susan!

Day 25 (November 8): Travel.  I’ve been fortunate to be able to travel to several interesting places.  Some, like Iceland, we just lucked in to.  We’ wanted to go to Ireland but the travel agent couldn’t get us in at any time over that summer.  She did get us a deal where, if we flew Iceland Air, they’d give us a free week in a hotel in Iceland before flying us to London.  Duh!  Wonderful trip.

Day 26 (November 9): My dear friend, and sister I never had, Alice.  We’ve only met twice in person but we talk for several hours about every other day.  We’re closer than any of my local friends.  Happy Birthday, Alice!

Day 27 (November 10): TiVo.  I love that I can fast forward through commercials and have all my favorite shows waiting for me when I lie down on the sofa (and fall asleep!)  I probably wouldn’t have gotten one of these when we did but our son got us one for Christmas.  He had it all set up and ready to go on Christmas morning.  At that time, I had no idea of its capabilities but now, I don’t think I could live without it!

Day 28 (November 11): Veteran’s Day.  I am thankful for those who have served and are serving now.  My husband served during the Vietnam-era although he never had to go to Vietnam.

Day 29 (November 12): Crockpot.  Yay!

Day 30 (November 13): Rainbows. I have a special affinity for them.  To me, a rainbow is a sign that things are going to be ok.  Years ago, our little family was in Florida.  I felt guilty about going because my dad was terminally ill with his second bout of colon cancer.  I was worried about him and said a little prayer for him.  I was lying on the beach while DH and our son were in the ocean and I looked up and saw a rainbow.  It was a perfectly clear, sunny afternon.   I even called the people out of the water, in case it was something I wanted to see that didn’t really exist.  They saw it, too.

Where in the world did that rainbow come from, if it wasn’t a sign?

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