Here's to all my homies who have/had temporary disabilities. It's hard to know where you are and where you stand. You don't want to step over people who have your problem permanently, but you know there is a place for you somewhere. Even when a disability is temporary, it exists in a moment in time. In that moment, you need help, accessibility, even if it won't matter forever. You can't walk up those stairs, read that picture, hold that pencil, whatever it is. And it matters. And you matter.
~ someone whose cushing's decided to thrust what felt like a million different temporary disabilities onto them last year
It turns out my sweet baby does have Cushing’s. Fortunately there’s a treatment, although my poor angel doesn’t deserve to have anything else wrong since she just had treatment for cancer. It’s about two thousand dollars a month for testing and medication, which is a great deal if you ask me. My dad used to say that any problem you can fix with money isn’t a problem, it’s an expense. I’m so relieved this is just an expense. I love my puppy more than anything.
I haven't written anything in a few days, mostly because things are getting entirely worse over the past few days and I have spent a lot of time in and out of the emergency room and rapidly deteriorating due to my superfun illness. However, some good news on this front. Under the cut to keep it from cluttering up the feed.
Had an appointment with an Endocrinologist today (who RULES, by the way) and she gave me what was, in my eyes, my first official Cushing Disease diagnosis. Interestingly enough, the thing that was tell-tale for her were the stretch marks on my stomach. She asked me to pick up my shirt to see the stretch marks I confirmed that I had and no sooner than the shirt started coming up she said "Yeah, you have Cushing." Interestingly, the color and width of the stretch marks is specifically indicative of Cushing rather than "normal" stretch marks. Mine are purple-ish and very wide, the ones that pregnant women or people with larger stomachs may get are not. I had just attributed the marks to me being just a regular fat guy, but apparently not. Dunno, I found that interesting.
The doctor had a lot of good things to say, asked a lot of good questions of me, and gave a very solid path forward as far as next steps in this whole process. I have my MRI to scan my noggin for the pituitary tumor on 10/30 and then, according to the Endo, if there is a tumor there, I will meet with a Neurosurgeon in the next few weeks. From there, it's schedule the surgery, get it done, and then recover. Hopefully that means the surgery could be before end-of-year, maybe even before Crimmus. It'll most likely be the surgery where they go in through my nose, nab the thing, and get out. There is a chance, depending on what is found in the MRI, that they may have to actually cut into my head, so we're hoping for NOT that. If there is no pituitary tumor present, I'll have to get a scan of my chest to check for a lung tumor, so we're hoping for NOT THAT. Either way, with these docs at the tiller, I'm excited, hopeful, and confident in a way I haven't been for a bit. I'm very lucky to have not only access to these doctors and this care bu also for lucking into a good team that continues to actually get work done for me and get me the care I need. I really wish everyone had access to this kind of stuff.
We're getting back into it and this is the first day back. I guess the streak resets? I don't know how to handle that and I'm thinking I also don't give a shit. I'm doing this for me anyway and when you have a streak of pretty bad days, this is just gonna happen. But we're back on the horse and ready to rumble.
This morning, I had planned to say goodbye to my Holly Golightly (put her to sleep), and I was writing this a few minutes before I took Holly to the vet’s office.
She’s been battling Cushing’s Disease for a few years and she is now totally deaf and almost blind.
I had been up with her all night and had to give her some Trazadone to calm her down but it had little effect.
She was spinning out…
There is no known cure for cushing's disease in dogs. However, there are treatments available that can help to improve the overall health and well-being of your dog. Some of these treatments include surgery to remove the extra weight around the neck, treatment with steroids or other medications, and diet changes. If you are considering any of these treatments, be sure to talk to your veterinarian first.
When I said I would sit down and write a year in review, I didn’t realize was how much had happened this year.
Let’s start with the blog. We are now followed in 107 countries with followings on Link-In, Facebook, Tumblr WordPress and I’m sure I’m forgetting a few others, adding up to over 10,000 readers. I am still in awe that the little blog encouraged by my writing class a few years back has…
