January 17, 2008:  Robin Smith (staticnrg) hosts an interview with Judy, the mother of two Cushing's patients, and her daughter, Jess, a high school student diagnosed with Cushing's.

Both children have been diagnosed with pituitary adenomas and are waiting for surgery. 

Items covered include the difficulty in getting a diagnosis; dealing with family and friends; attending school through the diagnostic process and more.

Robin Smith (staticnrg)  hosted as Cushing's message board members called in to talk about their fight for diagnosis and treatment.

Robin opened the show with a brief explanation of what Cushing's is and what the symptoms are.

Listen live to an archived interview from Thursday, January 3, 2008 with MaryO, Robin (staticnrg) hosting.

Robin started with: "Hello, I have with us today Mary O'Connor, founder of the cushings dash help dot com website.  Mary is a 20 plus year survivor of Cushing's Disease.  For those who do not know what Cushing's Disease is, you may want to peruse the Cushings-help website.  Briefly, it is an endocrine-related disease caused by a pituitary tumor (also called an adenoma) which causes life-threatening symptoms.  Cushing's Syndrome is a similar disease caused by an adrenal or other tumor.

MaryO, as she is fondly called by the members of the support board she runs in conjunction with the website, has been instrumental in educating thousands of people about Cushing's.  Through the use of her website and support boards, these same folks have been able to garner support and information invaluable to their diagnosis and treatment.  She has been recognized in Forbes Magazine, many newspaper and journal articles, and is a speaker at Cushing's Awareness events.  She is married to Tom and has a grown son, Michael.

Mary, I know the listeners would love to hear your story.  What can you tell us about your symptoms , diagnosis, and treatment with Cushing's?"...

Questions included:

Why did you decide to start the cushings-help website?

What are some of the things that can be found on the site?

What are the message boards?

How many members are there on the boards?

How much work is involved in keeping up the site and the boards?

How are you doing now?  What has happened since your surgery for Cushing's?
 

As you can see, Mary is a survivor. Not only has she survived, but she has enabled so many others of us to survive, also.  Please stay tuned for more stories from these survivors!  For more information, visit the cushings-help website.