CALIFORNIA HERE I COME!!

 Remember my respect for those who have gone before me….well they all gave the same advice.  ‘Stop beating your head against the wall and go see a Cushing’s expert’…..at this time there were 2 recommeneded, equally respected as experts but each with pros and cons.  I decided to go see Dr Theodore Friedman in LA, more info at www.goodhormonehealth.com.   Booked my appointment, booked my flights and started compiling papers and pictures and charts in my binder.  My bestie Tami was going with me and we’d take a couple days in LA to play after the appointment and MRI.  Yes, you read that correctly…Dr Friedman was going to order a pituitary MRI for me!  oh joy!  The one request I couldn’t seem to get fulfilled here at home.  I know God’s hand was in this, as up to this point I didn’t know how very critical it was that specific protocol be followed for scanning this pea-sized gland, and so had it been done prior I may not have had it done correctly. 

My appointment was March 1, 2011.  .  Eight and half months after my belly swelled up without explanation.  I had a CT of the abdomen and pelvis, a pelvic ultrasound, a consultation with a rheumatologist and my gynecologist, and numerous visits with my PCP.   Seven months after the word “Cushing’s” had been first uttered to me by endo #1.  Six and a half months after endo #2 dictated his suspicion for Cushings was ‘quite low’.

I didn’t want to tell people what I was doing.  After all I had gone through extensive tests and appointments and nothing was found wrong that couldn’t be fixed with some diet and exercise, or so I was told.  I knew my body, I had been an avid exerciser for 15 years!  I had completed 10 half-marathons!  Something was wrong!  And yet the judgment I felt, whether it real or perceived, kept me from shouting out loud that I was going to see the man who was going to figure it out!!  People mean well, but don’t know what I say.  I actually had a friend say to me ‘you just want to go to California’.  For real?  Yes I want an illness that no doctor here is willing to properly evaluate me for, or have the courage to diagnose it, so I’m going to travel across the country to see a doctor who doesn’t take insurance but actually researches the disease I “think” I have. 

Maybe that’s a bit harsh….i really did believe that if I didn’t have Cushings, then Dr Friedman would still be able to figure it out.  He is the master of diagnosing difficult endocrine cases.