Columns

Fighting for My Cushing’s Diagnosis

You can tell a lot about a person within the first seven seconds of meeting them. I am a Cushing’s disease warrior. Whew, now that that’s out of the way, allow me to delve deeper into what it means to be a warrior of this disease. I’ve carried 179 pounds…

Never Make a Fatal Decision to Fix a Temporary Problem

Editor’s note: This column discusses suicide. Please find resources for help at the end of the column. Living with a disability or an illness is difficult, not only for the patient, but for his family and his caregivers, as well, and it’s not uncommon for those dealing with a chronic…

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…