Join us as Mary O'Connor (MaryO) interviews Gracie again. Gracie (fatnsassy) has been dealing with Cushing's symptoms for about 14 years.

She began testing in California with Dr. Ted Friedman June, 2007 and she was diagnosed in May, 2008 with cyclical Cushing's disease. She saw Dr. Hae-Dong Jho and arranged for her pituitary surgery in Philadelphia, Pa, in August, 2008. This is her first post-op interview.

Keywords: pituitary, cyclical, Cushing's, Dr. Ted Friedman, Dr. Hae-Dong Jho, surgery, pituitary, wean, cortisol, adrenal crisis

Join us as Mary O'Connor (MaryO) and Robin Smith (staticnrg) interview Stacey.  Stacey will be one year post-op at the time of the interview.  She will have been to her 1 year appointment and will give a full update of her recovery.

Join us as Mary O'Connor (MaryO) and Robin Smith (staticnrg) interview long time Cushing's patient Susan (SusanM).

Susan writes: Susan writes: As you may have read in my other post, I retired from a 28-year career at a major health insurance company (one of the big five) on March 31. 2008. I am happy with this achievement, however, much more proud of the actions I took to reach that achievement. Why so? For 27 of those 28 years, I had faced Cushings and we all know what difficulty that may bring.

In 2003, I had the pit surgery and became quite ill in 2004. It wasn't until November, of 2005 that I had the BLA which brought about some relief. During all of this, I worked full time consistently until 2004 when I had to take some time off of work. I was GH deficient and had the episode of congestive heart failure.

Once back at work, I applied for a work accommodation to work at home on Monday and Friday under the Americans with Disabilities Act. It was granted and I was provided with a full computer set up at home as well as the one at work. This made a great difference in my being able to work or not. Not driving the 26 miles each way to work as well as being at home continued my work.

Another thing I did was to work with my PCP to be accepted into the Physical Rehab at the local hospital. It provided medically-monitored exercise (up to 5 days a week) and my muscles recovered well during this time. I had difficulty with shortness of breath due to the weak muscles around my lungs and this was a positive step to correct that situation.

What else did I do to keep myself working during this timeframe? I worked incredibly hard on achieving a positive mental attitude! I meditated, performed self-hypnosis, and found a support system that worked for me. This foundation made the better days better and difficult days a bit less difficult.

Can someone with Cushings continue working? In my opinion, YES.

Interview with "Dr. Rob".

Listen as Robin Smith (staticnrg) interviews "Dr. Rob". Mary O'Connor (MaryO) cohosts

Dr Rob writes in his very popular blog: "I am a practicing primary care physician in the Southeastern US, caring for patients of all ages (Board Certified in both Internal Medicine and Pediatrics). This blog covers a wide variety of issues, including the following: What it is like to be a physician, dogs driving cars, what troubles are in our system, toddlers with flame-throwers, what would it take to fix that system, llamas, death and dying issues, mutants, and accordions. Maybe I need to write about mutant dying accordions with flame-throwers. Hmmm....I feel a post coming. Anyhow, I like variety. Life is always lived with both laughter and tears. If you are a regular reader of this blog, it is also filled with nausea and nightmares. Thanks for stopping by. -Dr. Rob"

Listen to this archived Interview with "Dr. Rob" October 2, 2008

Keywords: blog, Cushing's, diagnosis, doctors, hormones, insurance, specialist, tumor