Living with Stripes

so, I have thought about from time to time, starting a blog to share with my friends and family my journey on this road called Cushing's disease...but normally i just figure life is busy and hectic and really, who wants to read a depressing blog on my chronic illness.  But today on a private facebook group page, an online Cushing's support group, somone posted and encouraged us fellow Cushies to keep blogging about our disease.  It has been an avenue for those undiagnosed, untreated, unfamiliar with this 'rare endocrine disorder' of education and awareness.  So, tonight i sit here buying time until I go to the lab for my midnight blood draw, and i'm inspired to do this.  If nothing else it will serve as therapy for me, and if you are reading I hope I can shed some light on Cushings to you

first off, you may be confused by the title I choose for my blog.  maybe this will help explain:

"Zebra is a medical slang term for a surprising diagnosis.  Although rare diseases are, in general, surprising when they are encountered, ..... "When you hear hoofbeats behind you, don't expect to see a zebra",... Since horses are the most commonly encountered hoofed animal and zebras are very rare, logically you could confidently guess that the animal making the hoofbeats is probably a horse. ....
Three master diagnosticians have noted, however, that cautions against making surprising diagnoses (e.g. of a rare disease) are not valid in practitioners with greater knowledge and experience:

In making the diagnosis of the cause of illness in an individual case, calculations of probability have no meaning. The pertinent question is whether the disease is present or not. Whether it is rare or common does not change the odds in a single patient. ... If the diagnosis can be made on the basis of specific criteria, then these criteria are either fulfilled or not fulfilled. -- "

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zebra_(medicine)

Cushies have adopted the zebra as a mascot for just those reasons.

There is so much to share and I'm not sure where to start, I guess at the beginning.....