Columns

Recently, I saw a tweet that responded to the old saying “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger” by urging people to “stop glorifying trauma as a life lesson we’ve been blessed with.” This challenged me. If you’ve been reading my columns, you know I often talk about how…

In the Cushing’s disease and pituitary tumor community, families, friends, and significant others sometimes provide limited support, if any, to patients. There are many reasons for this, such as a patient’s lack of physical symptoms or even a misdiagnosis. But the main issue, I believe, is…

Diagnosing Cushing’s disease is a tough task, and I’m sure anyone who has gone through the diagnostic process can attest to that. Cushing’s can be cunning because its symptoms can appear as though they’re separate issues, rather than part of a bigger problem. Unfortunately, many social media…

My grandma always said there were two things that mattered in life: God, and finding a rich husband. While I don’t necessarily agree with the latter, religion certainly was a core element of my life — until I was diagnosed with Cushing’s disease. I grew up in a…

How do I lose weight? What is the best diet for Cushing’s disease? How long until I start to see weight loss? Why do I lose a little bit of weight, plateau, then put it back on? These questions are frequently asked in the Cushing’s community. The answer is…

As a child, I always envisioned myself helping people. This is reflected in some of my earliest memories of getting ready for Halloween: I always wanted to be a doctor or a ninja. As I grew older, my career aspirations changed, but they always centered around saving lives or helping…

Eight is the number of doctors who didn’t listen.  Five is the number of diagnoses that were wrong. Two is the number of doctors who referred me to a psychiatrist for “making up” too many symptoms. Four is the number of new doctors who finally listened to me and…

Since battling a pituitary tumor and Cushing’s disease, I have noticed that many other patients share similar concerns about types of support that are limited or unavailable. I believe there should be a program for Cushing’s patients that addresses these issues and provides us with assistance. Three key…

Our bodies hold memories — memories that are sometimes represented by visible scars. These memories can also be invisible, but they leave an everlasting imprint, too, through heavy emotions. Our bodies are keepsakes of the things we’ve experienced, and sometimes it’s hard for us to feel proud of these…

I used to think happiness was being skinny, in both sickness and in health. Beauty meant pain, and I was willing to suffer for it. Perhaps this superficial outlook on life was caused by my childhood experience of growing up as an ethnic minority and not having anyone that looked…