Cushing's Disease Debt Relief
Greetings friends! As many of you already know, I had brain surgery back in February of this year to address my 12 year struggle with Cushing's Disease. To summarize, Cushing's Disease is caused by a tumor (non-cancerous) on the pituitary gland. On the surface it is a simple disease because it is only causing the increase of one hormone called ACTH in the body. However, that hormone is actually very far reaching in its effects and the impact on the body is devastating. Before the advent of modern brain surgery, the diagnosis of Cushing's Disease was basically terminal, so obviously I am grateful to be living in the modern era! Haha.
I first found out about having Cushing's Disease 2 years ago after my health was greatly diminished and a myriad of tests. As soon as I found out about it, I knew that it was something that I had been dealing with for many years. But I never knew that it was something I had, so I never sought out treatment. I instead sought out treatment for the many individual symptoms as things steadily got worse. So finding out that I had Cushing's was a huge load off of my mind.
However, it turns out that getting from my initial diagnosis to actual treatment would be a nightmarish process. My doctors kept testing and testing and TESTING me for over a year without giving me the go-ahead for the surgery that would actually fix me. The testing was basically all positive, but for some reason they just kept testing. Meanwhile I kept getting sicker and sicker. Finally I got the tests I needed to prove that I needed the surgery! But my doctor promptly retired and I had to start over...
At this point I was desperate, which is why I sought out the best Cushing's expert in the nation to see. This was the turning point, he was able to get me to surgery and we believe that in time I will recover. However, it costs $500/hr to see him since he is out of network. Fortunately we were able to raise the money we needed before the surgery which is again a huge answer to prayer.
At this point I am passed the surgery and in recovery. However, the recovery for the type of surgery is actually quite lengthy because of the years of damage done by Cushing's before I had the surgery. Typically those with Cushing's take 10-18 months to recover from the surgery even though the surgery itself is pretty mild. During that time I will still need to stay in touch with my doctors with regular testing. Also I have been on disability for nearly 2 years at this point and probably will continue to be for the rest of 2021. This has made things financially difficult for us which is why we are hoping to get some assistance. So thanks in advance for any help you are willing to offer!!!