Columns

The Cushing’s Symptoms I Shouldn’t Have Ignored

Communication involves a message being delivered and a message being received. Experiencing symptoms of a pituitary gland tumor or Cushing’s disease is an example of our body communicating with us, telling us something isn’t right. The worst thing we can do is ignore our body when it is trying…

What Could Have Caused My Pituitary Tumor?

Usually, when we ask a question, we receive an answer. But for those of us dealing with pituitary tumors and Cushing’s disease, one of the hardest parts is that there often aren’t answers. While struggling with my pituitary adenoma in 2015, I constantly asked myself, “How did this happen?”…

Resilience Is Built Into Our DNA

Everyone faces adversity, trauma, and tragedy at some point in their lives. But does it always show up in the same way? No. Do these life events affect us all in different ways? Absolutely, but something else also takes place. Some of us experience the drive and determination that comes…

A Positive Attitude Helped Me Prepare for My Illness

One of the earliest lessons I learned as a former competitive athlete was how to deal with adversity and make adjustments during a game. Playing sports taught me about the importance of maintaining a positive attitude and what being pessimistic does. The combination of these lessons helped me…

Not All Cushing’s Disease Cases Are Alike

It’s not uncommon when dealing with a rare disease diagnosis to want to draw comparisons to another person’s disease experience. But that’s not always helpful. In my junior year of college, I took a class on criminal investigations. During one of the classes, the professor staged a fight between two…

Compassion Fatigue Is More Common Than We Realize

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the year 2020 was unprecedented, not only for the U.S., but for the entire world as well. So many things have happened, but none were more difficult to respond to than the pandemic. And we’re still dealing with it. The coronavirus has affected every industry…

My Experience Treating Low Testosterone With Cannabis

The potential benefits and risks of cannabis have long been a topic of discussion. There are various stigmas attached to the plant because people have different opinions about it. Is cannabis a drug? Can it be used as an alternative to Western medicine? Is it dangerous? The answers are frequently…