🦓 Day 3: Cushing’s Awareness Challenge

Sleep.  Naps.  Fatigue, Exhaustion.  I still have them all.  I wrote on my bio in 1987 after my pituitary surgery “I am still and always tired and need a nap most days. I do not, however, still need to take whole days off just to sleep.”

That seems to be changing back, at least on the weekends.  A recent weekend, both days, I took 7-hour naps each day and I still woke up tired. That’s awfully close to taking a whole day off to sleep again.

In 2006, I flew to Chicago, IL for a Cushing’s weekend in Rockford.  Someone else drove us to Lake Geneva, Wisconsin for the day.  Too much travel, too Cushie, whatever, I was too tired to stay awake.  I actually had put my head down on the dining room table and fallen asleep but our hostess suggested the sofa instead.  Amazing that I traveled that whole distance – and missed the main event 🙁

This sleeping thing really impacts my life.  Between piano lessons, I take a nap.  I sleep as late as possible in the mornings and afternoons are pretty much taken up by naps.  I nod off at night during TV. One time I came home between church services and missed the third service because I fell asleep.

I only TiVo old tv shows that I can watch and fall asleep to since I already know the ending.

A few years ago I was doing physical therapy twice a week for 2 hours at a time for a knee injury (read more about that in Bees Knees).  I come home from that exhausted – and in more pain than when I went.  I knew it was working and my knee got better for a while, but it’s such a time and energy sapper.  Neither of which I can really spare.

Maybe now that I’m nearly 19  years out from my kidney cancer (May 9, 2006) I’ve been back on Growth Hormone again.  My surgeon says he “thought” it’s ok.  I was sort of afraid to ask my endo about it, though but he gave me the go-ahead.  I want to feel better and get the benefits of the GH again but I don’t want any type of cancer again and I certainly can’t afford to lose another kidney.

I always laugh when I see that commercial online for something called Serovital.  I saw it in Costco the other day and it mentions pituitary right on the package.  I wish I could take the people buying this, sit them down and tell them not to mess with their pituitary glands.  But I won’t.  I’ll take a nap instead because I’m feeling so old and weary today, and yesterday.

Eventually, I did restart the GH, this time Omnitrope.

And tomorrow…

❓What do YOU Think?

 

Do you think allergies are worse post-op?

I posted on Facebook that I’ve learned the hard way that I had an allergic reaction to blackberries. I’ve known about my strawberry allergy for decades and have avoided them mostly successfully. Apparently, they’re both in the same class of allergens 🙁

These blackberries were in an ice cream. And it was a good ice cream. Drat!

I have a lot more steroids to take for a few days. Oh, joy! And, another wean at the end.

Someone responded: “The further we get from Cushings, the more allergies surface. So glad you got help. Scary stuff!

I said: “I guess it’s because we don’t have so much cortisone already running in our bodies.”

Someone else asked: “Is that true? I seem to be allergic to pollen amd mold now?“
And I responded: “I don’t know but it makes sense now that I think of it. I’m definitely allergic to more things than I was Before Cushing’s“
After my second knee surgery in 2025, I developed a terrible itchy rash which spread to both legs and abdomen but the cause was never discovered. Pain block? Glue? Stitches? Medications? Bandages? The implants themselves?
I sent photos to the surgeon every other day.  He finally got approval from my endo – Dr. Roberto Salvatori – to tale a Medrol Dose pack.  The concern was steroid overdose.  I was also taking Benadryl and slathering on hydrocortisone cream.  It turns out that amazon sells 1-pound tubs of the stuff.  Much easier than those tiny tubes.

 

So, in my informal poll – what do you think?  Are your allergies worse or are you having new ones after Cushing’s?

🦓 Day 3: Cushing’s Awareness Challenge 2020

 

Sleep.  Naps.  Fatigue, Exhaustion.  I still have them all.  I wrote on my bio in 1987 after my pituitary surgery “I am still and always tired and need a nap most days. I do not, however, still need to take whole days off just to sleep.”

That seems to be changing back, at least on the weekends.  A recent weekend, both days, I took 7-hour naps each day and I still woke up tired. That’s awfully close to taking a whole day off to sleep again.

In 2006, I flew to Chicago, IL for a Cushing’s weekend in Rockford.  Someone else drove us to Lake Geneva, Wisconsin for the day.  Too much travel, too Cushie, whatever, I was too tired to stay awake.  I actually had put my head down on the dining room table and fallen asleep but our hostess suggested the sofa instead.  Amazing that I traveled that whole distance – and missed the main event 🙁

 

This sleeping thing really impacts my life.  Between piano lessons, I take a nap.  I sleep as late as possible in the mornings and afternoons are pretty much taken up by naps.  I nod off at night during TV. One time I came home between church services and missed the third service because I fell asleep.

I only TiVo old tv shows that I can watch and fall asleep to since I already know the ending.

A few years ago I was doing physical therapy twice a week for 2 hours at a time for a knee injury (read more about that in Bees Knees).  I come home from that exhausted – and in more pain than I went.  I know it’s working and my knee is getting better, but it’s such a time and energy sapper.  Neither of which I can really spare.

Maybe now that I’m nearly 14  years out from my kidney cancer (May 9, 2006) I’ve been back on Growth Hormone again.  My surgeon says he “thought” it’s ok.  I was sort of afraid to ask my endo about it, though but he gave me the go-ahead.  I want to feel better and get the benefits of the GH again but I don’t want any type of cancer again and I certainly can’t afford to lose another kidney.

I’ll probably just muddle through without it.  I always laugh when I see that commercial online for something called Serovital.  I saw it in Costco the other day and it mentions pituitary right on the package.  I wish I could take the people buying this, sit them down and tell them not to mess with their pituitary glands.  But I won’t.  I’ll take a nap instead because I’m feeling so old and weary today, and yesterday.

And tomorrow…

 

🎤Archived Interview: Terry G, pituitary patient

Terry (Terry) is a long time pituitary Cushing’s survivor.

Terry had a pituitary surgery (in LA) in October of 2003 which did not cure her Cushing’s Disease. Then, Dec 13th, 2003 she had her BLA in a Wisconsin hospital. She also had an infection in her sphenoid sinus. It originated at the site of her pituitary surgery from October 2003. She had to be on a lot of antibiotics and narcotic pain relievers.

In Sept 2005 the surgeon removed the infection from one area, making another area clear…..

Listen at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/cushingshelp/2008/04/17/interview-with-terry-g-pituitary-patient

HOME | Sitemap | Abbreviations | Adrenal Crisis! | Glossary | Forums | Bios | Add Your Bio | Add Your Doctor | MemberMap | CushieWiki

🎤 Archived Interview with Terry G, pituitary patient

Terry (Terry) is a long time pituitary Cushing’s survivor. Terry had a pituitary surgery (in LA) in October of 2003 which did not cure her Cushing’s Disease. Then, Dec 13th, 2003 she had her BLA in a Wisconsin hospital. She also had an infection in her sphenoid sinus. It originated at the site of her pituitary surgery from October 2003. She had to be on a lot of antibiotics and narcotic pain relievers. In Sept 2005 the surgeon remove the infection from one area, making another area clear…..

Listen at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/cushingshelp/2008/04/17/interview-with-terry-g-pituitary-patient

HOME | Sitemap | Adrenal Crisis! | Abbreviations | Glossary | Forums | Donate | Bios | Add Your Bio | Add Your Doctor | MemberMap | CushieWiki

Interview with Terry G, pituitary patient

Terry (Terry) is a long time pituitary Cushing’s survivor. Terry had a pituitary surgery (in LA) in October of 2003 which did not cure her Cushing’s Disease. Then, Dec 13th, 2003 she had her BLA in a Wisconsin hospital. She also had an infection in her sphenoid sinus. It originated at the site of her pituitary surgery from October 2003. She had to be on a lot of antibiotics and narcotic pain relievers. In Sept 2005 the surgeon remove the infection from one area, making another area clear…..

Listen at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/cushingshelp/2008/04/17/interview-with-terry-g-pituitary-patient

HOME | Sitemap | Adrenal Crisis! | Abbreviations | Glossary | Forums | Donate | Bios | Add Your Bio | Add Your Doctor | MemberMap | CushieWiki