Support Shay's Battle Against Cushing's Disease

Hey, everyone! My name is Shay, and first off, I just want to thank you for taking the time to land on my page! I’m a singer, and a Sunday School Teacher at my local church, and I love being involved in my community.

I’m on here, because I’ve been misdiagnosed for a long time (ever since I was a child around 6 years of age.) I recently was diagnosed CORRECTLY (thank you, God, and thank you to an amazing doctor I’m working with) with something called Cushing’s Disease, caused by either a pituitary micro adenoma or a macro adenoma. This is causing me to have swelling around my joints, brittle bones, hair loss, a lovely large lump on the back of my neck, weight gain, but worst of all, an extremely dangerous, high level of cortisol, ACTH, and DHEA that is now affecting my kidneys and my pancreas. This is upping my chances at having a stroke, or a heart attack.

Cushing's disease (CD) is a rare condition that leads to excess endogenous glucocorticoid (GC) exposure, resulting from an ACTH-secreting pituitary corticotroph adenoma. The incidence of newly diagnosed CD is estimated to be 1.2 to 2.4 per million per year (1, 2). Untreated CD is associated with significant morbidity and mortality, as initially described by Harvey Cushing (3) and confirmed by a later study showing a 5-year survival rate of 50% (Harvard study)

It’s been very difficult to do daily tasks as I have suffered from extreme fatigue, seizures, dizziness, and whacky insulin levels.

Any money donated will be going toward getting an MRI on my brain with pituitary, with and without contrast, a couple medical bills I’m trying to pay off, and cost of travel to and from imaging. My medical insurance that I have will not cover this MRI because of one single suppression test that I had failed. (This can commonly happen with people who have Cushing’s, and diagnoses can take 15-20 years in some people.)

Any amount of funding would be an extreme blessing to help me through this. If you can’t donate, then thank you regardless for taking time to read this! I’m hoping that more people learn about this terrible disease, and I pray that someday I can be an advocate for those struggling with what I’m going through as well!

Please share with friends and family! Thank you, thank you, thank you! I pray many blessings for everyone, and that your health all be blessed as well.