Perpetually Cushie – a Column by Kat Rees

Having a rare disease is a struggle, and sometimes I feel alone, like nobody understands me. Luckily, when I was going through Cushing’s disease, my fiancé and now husband, Logan, provided me with emotional support. It was difficult on both of us. While I was experiencing physical pain, my hormones…

Most people I talk to who have Cushing’s disease describe their experience with it as the worst time of their life. But I actually had the most trouble with my physical and mental health after my struggle with Cushing’s disease. I have seen many of my “Cushy” friends return to…

Before receiving treatment, navigating Cushing’s disease was extremely difficult for me, not only because of the painful and fatiguing symptoms, but also because I started to gain weight like never before in my life. I was always a thin person, so this aspect of the disease left me feeling embarrassed.

Have you ever thought that your phone could play a vital role in your journey to a medical diagnosis? There’s so much information to be utilized from such a small device, including its internet capability, its camera, and the apps. Surprisingly, an app helped me significantly in my Cushing’s…

Getting diagnosed with Cushing’s disease was a tricky process for me, and it often can take a long time. While some in my community have been struggling with symptoms for years, a few of us received our diagnoses rather quickly. Here’s a bit of history to preface my advice.

When I tell people I had Cushing’s disease, I usually receive a broad range of responses. They aren’t always the replies I want to hear, but they are genuine reactions from people who want…

In the midst of my disease, I felt very alone. Invisible diseases like Cushing’s tend to make life harder, because one shows no outward signs of an illness. Those who haven’t been through something similar may have a hard time relating to the hardships. Therefore, I believe being friends with…

There’s more to people than meets the eye, although the first thing we often notice about someone is how large or small they are. When I was younger, I was always thin and in shape. I never had to try to maintain my weight, and well into college, I still…

Thinking back over the last few years following my recovery from Cushing’s disease, I still deal with some painful thoughts. To help process those thoughts, I wrote a letter to the person I was before my recovery, from the perspective of the person I currently am. In it,…

When I hear the word “trauma,” I think about car accidents, fires, military deployments, and abuse. I think of movies with sad music and loud explosions, not the quiet hours at night trying to fall asleep despite the pain. Trauma has affected my mental health in a major way, but…