Undiagnosed Cushing’s Disease Led to a Search for the Truth

I worked as a child protective investigator for the state of Florida some years ago. The job was extremely demanding. I had to acquire information, analyze it, and make a decision about a child’s safety and the capacity of a caregiver to provide that safety.

Being an investigator was a big responsibility, and I understood that the decisions I made had an impact on someone’s life. I knew I needed to be able to separate the facts from the truth.

For example, a child may have been injured or harmed by a caregiver’s action. Facts could support that observation. But the caregiver might not have intended to hurt the child — it might’ve been an accident.

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That’s what I mean by separating the facts from the truth. A child might have been harmed, but that didn’t mean the caregiver was a bad parent or a bad person.

Facts don’t always point to the truth of a situation. Facts don’t necessarily reveal the underlying truth.

That’s the fact, but not the truth

I use this example because I was confronted with a similar situation on my way to being diagnosed with a pituitary tumor and Cushing’s disease.

At the time, I was experiencing a number of symptoms — loss of libido, weight gain, deterioration of my body, mood changes, exhaustion, nausea, and constant headaches and body aches. But these changes were attributed by medical professionals I saw to me needing to lose weight and live a more healthy lifestyle. I knew I needed to lose weight, but I felt then that there was an underlying issue that the doctors weren’t seeing.

Having my concerns dismissed was disheartening to me. I had been a world-class athlete in my teens and early 20s, and I remained in excellent shape as I got older. But none of this was taken into consideration. I was only told I needed to improve my diet.

Know your truth

The fact was that I had a pituitary tumor and undiagnosed Cushing’s disease. In my opinion, the professionals I was seeking help from were only looking at the surface facts and not seeing the truth about what was going on.

I am in an online support group, and every day someone new joins. They share their stories about how they are dealing with a lot of symptoms associated with a pituitary tumor, and I can relate to the frustration they feel about knowing the truth about themselves, but being made to feel like their worries were all in their head.

New information is being uncovered all the time. For this reason, my hope is that wisdom, knowledge, and understanding will always be applied to the facts, to reveal the truth.

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