The Cushing's Chronicles - a Column by Jessica Bracy

I’ve been a social worker since 2018. Throughout this journey, I’ve found that working with a therapist was imperative for me. The social work field is both turbulent and relentless at times, and therapy helped me prevent burnout in both my personal and professional life. Yet I don’t think…

As social media has grown over the years, more users have started working as influencers — people who build a following based on their purported level of knowledge and expertise in a specific field. This includes health. Phrases like “weight loss supplements,” “balance your hormones,” and even “lower your cortisol”…

Social workers like me learn the importance of advocacy. We advocate for our clients and strive to help them improve their lives in one way or another. Although we advocate for others, we sometimes forget to advocate for ourselves. When I started experiencing symptoms of Cushing’s disease, I realized…

About three years ago, my body began to change. Movement became more difficult and running long distances was increasingly painful. I watched as the scale slowly ticked upward, purple marks started showing up on my stomach, and my face become noticeably round. I had no idea what was going on…

Three years ago, I started developing symptoms of Cushing’s disease. These symptoms included weight gain, deposits of fat at the base of my neck (called a buffalo hump), striae, bone pain, fatigue, and general weakness, among others. Initially, these symptoms developed slowly but were exacerbated over…