Skip to main content

Tests, tests, and more tests

I will need to have a second surgery sometime in the near future, but before they will schedule it I need to prove that I still have Cushing's by testing some more.  This means daily midnight salivary tests and a couple 24 hour urine tests.  The salivary tests are nice because they are quick and easy, but they are NOT fun!  You have to chew on a cotton tube for 3-5 minutes.  I've probably done at least 50 by now and still can't do it without gagging the whole time!  The urine tests are a pain, but for me they have been the best diagnostic test.

To make sure I test when my cortisol levels are highest, I've started tracking my symptoms the last few weeks.  The week after surgery, when I felt like I had been cured, I realized what having low cortisol felt like.  It's now crystal clear to me what my highs and lows are.  I had cyclical cushing's for probably 10 years, and I realize NOW that I was always testing when I had low cortisol because I felt worse!  I am pretty sure that I'm cycling again, which can make diagnosis difficult to say the last.  Last time it took 4 years.  Right now I've had a couple low days in a row, so I'm still waiting for a high to do some more tests and get this surgery on the books.

I'm really anxious to get it all over with at this point.  I've kept busy the past month that I've been post-op and out of work, and the last week or so I've really had a hard time coming to terms with the fact that this isn't over yet.  I was so relieved to finally get a diagnosis and remember saying right before they wheeled me into surgery "This seems too easy!" I must've jinxed myself :)  Nothing is ever that easy when it comes to my health!  I had such high hopes that by the end of January I would be back at work and on the way to feeling normal again, whatever that is.  Unfortunately I am right back where we started.  Waiting for test results!


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Talk About the Sh*t you Don't Want to Talk About

I haven't updated this blog in a very long time.  I actually deleted a ton of posts while I was applying for social security disability. I posted about Cushing's Awareness day earlier this week on facebook, so I guess I'm in a sharing mood.

Anyway, for anyone who even reads this, I was watching a documentary on Netflix about a teenager with anorexia and mental illness who found meaning in her life through yoga. (It's called I Am Maris). It's kind of the reason for this post.

To start - let's go back to June 2018. My grandmother died.  She lived a wonderful long life, but it was especially hard on me.  She was the reason I got out of bed every day, my best friend, and so much more. I actually don't remember how I got through most of the summer.

In the span of two weeks at the end of August, my mom turned 60, we went on a family vacation to the vineyard, my best friend got married, and I wanted to kill myself.  Yeah, you read that right. The day after return…
Post a Comment
Read more

The Challenges of Getting a Diagnosis

I have been asked about this so many times, and talk about it a lot, whenever someone asks me about Cushing's.  So many people have the same experience - KNOWING you have Cushing's, and seeing 5, 10, 20, or more doctors over the course of many years before you officially have a diagnosis.  I would say this is one of the most common links I have with other "Cushies".  We all fought for a diagnosis, heard we were just fat and depressed, waited with hope after every test, until a day came when one test came back high, or a brain MRI showed a tumor in the pituitary gland.

I think the reason I haven't written about it is because it's one of the hardest things to sit down and spend time on.  It's painful, and of course, I can't help but wonder what my life might be like today if I was diagnosed sooner.  Would I have needed an adrenalectomy?  Or for that matter, a second pituitary surgery? Would I have as many health issues after Cushing's?  It's ha…
5 comments
Read more

Cushing's Awareness Challenge - Day 23 - The Diagnosis and Treatment Process of Cushing's Disease

For many people with Cushing's it takes months, years, or even decades before finally getting a diagnosis and help.  For me, it was 5 years from when I thought I had Cushing's until my endocrinologist told me I did indeed, have Cushing's Disease.

Once you read about Cushing's and think it sounds just like you, here's what you will have to do to get rid of the excess ACTH or Cortisol source

1. Find a reputable endocrinologist that other people with Cushing's have had good luck with.  You can find a list on Cushing's Help HERE.  You can also ask someone that has been diagnosed on the Cushing's Help boards or on the Facebook group which doctors they see.

2. Make and appointment, and be patient!  Sometimes the endocrinologist has to do multiple tests over a period of time, and those results can take a while to come back.  Some tests to expect are 24 hr urine free cortisol tests, midnight salivary tests, dexamethasone suppression tests, or random/midnight se…
1 comment
Read more