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Remember that time I had Cushing's Disease?

My Cushing's Dreams are finally coming true - in 2 days (!!!) I get to speak at HARVARD Medical School!  My endocrinologist teaches a session on pituitary disorders each year, and this year asked me to come along.  I have a brief presentation prepared, mostly pictures of me over the years, gaining more and more weight and becoming more symptomatic.  I will answer questions at the end also!  I have done this once before, as you may recall, but other people did the speaking for me.  My friend in PA school did her final group project on my Cushing's journey, so it's nice to have a little experience under my belt.

I mean, really though, I talk about Cushing's all the time.  It's not like there's a week that goes by where someone doesn't ask me about it, or I talk to someone about how I was once 285lbs.  I find myself mentioning it all the time.  Just recently, I showed a coworker a picture of myself close to my highest weight, and she couldn't believe it.  My mom was even surprised at the pictures in my presentation, now that I look like myself again, she forgot how big I once was.

If you remember, I had that same reaction to the first photos of myself as a 160lb person.  I couldn't believe that was me!  I still saw this 285lb person when I looked in the mirror, but the reality was much different to everyone around me.

Let's look back.  I'm sure some of my loyal readers won't remember how Cushie I looked just a few years ago.













Crazy, right?  That last one was about a week after my adrenalectomy.  SO swollen from steroids.  I'm excited to enlighten all these 2nd year medical students on the horror of Cushing's and the value of a physician that doesn't dismiss your complaints of "something is definitely wrong".  Just one endocrinologist made a huge difference in my life by believing me when I knew something was wrong, she saved my life!

Wish me luck on Tuesday, I'll talk to you after Harvard!



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