Life with Chronic Illness

I had pretty bad skin when I was first diagnosed with Cushing's.  My skin was pretty uneven, and I always had one major pimple that I would pick at and it would never heal.  Now, my skin is the opposite.  I never breakout, and don't have to cover up or treat anything, other than some moles and redness. I almost never wear foundation or concealer, when I do wear makeup it's usually mascara and lip balm.  So, for comparison, I will go through my morning and night skincare routines while I had Cushing's, and what I do now.

Cushings: When I showered in the morning, I washed my face with Philosophy's Purity Made Simple face wash. This stuff is so gentle, you can rub it into your eyes and it doesn't sting at all!  Next, I applied Aveeno Ultracalming Moisturizer SPF 15. This didn't really help with my redness, but is definitely made for sensitive skin.  The SPF is also a necessity year round!
If that pimple on my chin was acting up, I would apply Epiduo, prescribe…

I spent a few days on Martha's Vineyard with friends, as I have pretty much every summer since we were in High School and college. I wasn't feeling my best, but didn't want to slow anyone down, so I think I pushed myself a little bit too hard.  I had a wonderful time, but when it was time to go back to work last Wednesday, I was feeling awful.

It seemed as if the same shortness of breath and high heart rate that happened in January 2015 was happening again.  Just to clarify, there is a "daily" level of shortness of breath that I've sort of gotten used to, and then there's the shortness of breath that happens occasionally that prevents me from even standing for more than a few seconds.  This time, it was the second.

I decided to try to go to work as usual, because maybe it would get better as the day went on.  Instead, I ended up leaving work at 11:30 to drive myself to MGH.  I spent most of the day in the ER, but they didn't figure anything out or tr…