My Story
Hi there - my name is Kristin Wall and this is my story about my battle with Cushing’s syndrome.
I’m a 33 year old artistic geek and have a 7 year old son named Mason. I developed Cushing’s syndrome during my last trimester of pregnancy. Before getting pregnant, I was an active, healthy, fit person. I spent all lot of my free time outdoors and was addicted to endurance sports, particularly biking and triathlons. I treated my body well and it had always treated me well in return.
I gained nearly 60 lbs during my pregnancy. My ob-gyn didn’t show much concern - just thought it was a healthy pregnancy and thought my body would rebound quickly after giving birth because I had been so fit prior to getting pregnant. Wrong. In fact, my body never rebounded. I also developed reddish purple stretch marks not only on my stomach, but under my arms and on my inner thighs that went all the way down to the inside of my knees.
In the first two weeks after giving birth, I lost about 20lbs - most of which was water weight. Then my weight stalled and my body just didn’t feel right. I felt like I was trapped inside a fat suit. I brushed it off, thinking this was how all women felt after giving birth.
When my son was about 6 months old, I started loosing handfuls of hair - and I mean handfuls. I had also developed hot sweats, severe insomnia and strange skin rashes. I went to the doctor and he brushed it off, saying I needed to eat better and get more exercise. The thing was, I had been exercising and eating right.
Over the next year and a half, I managed loose 20 lbs. (through much starvation and many hours in the gym). But my body was disproportionate - skinny arms and legs and a full face & stomach. No matter what I did, I couldn’t get rid of my stomach. And my stretch marks didn’t fade, if anything, they got worse. The hot flashes continued and a good night’s sleep was a thing of the past. I was averaging maybe 4 or 5 hours of restless sleep a night. By body wouldn’t stop and was unable to rest. I would get surges that would pulsate throughout my entire body - it was almost like little bits of electricity were running through me.
When my son was almost four years old, my symptoms were out of control - and I had developed new ones. My face was getting rounder and more full by the day. To the point that my eyes starting burning and felt like they were going to pop out of my head. I had developed serve, debilitating migraines. I was averaging about 2 -3 migraines a week. And no matter how little I ate or how much I exercised, I continued to gain weight.
I decided to give weight loss one last try and started working out with a personal trainer. If that didn’t work, then I had resided to the fact that my body would never change.
About 2 months into my new workouts, my trainer was concerned that I hadn’t lost any weight and suggested that I see my doctor to have some tests done. I was a bit leary, because every doctor up until then had told me I just needed to eat better and exercise more to loose the weight.
I made an appointment (the appointment that would change my life) to see my primary care physician in the beginning of November 2007- there had to be an answer as to why my body was acting this way. I will never forget the moment when the nurse took my blood pressure, became very nervous and immediately left the room to get my doctor. And then my doctor took my blood pressure a second time - it was 180/120. Holy shit, I was a walking stroke victim waiting to happen. My doctor took blood to run some tests and sent me home with blood pressure medication.
I left my doctor’s office that evening feeling scared and depressed. I was only 30 years old - and thought to myself I’m too young for this, what happened - I’ve always taken good care of my body.
Two days later I received a call from my doctor - my test results were in and she suspected I might have Cushing’s. What? Huh? What the hell is Cushing’s? I’d never heard of this illness and didn’t know what to think. She asked me to come in for additional testing to confirm her initial diagnosis. Two weeks later - and after a multitude of tests (including an MRI), it was confirmed that I had ATCH independent Cushing’s syndrome.
My primary referred me to an endocrinologist, as well as a surgeon who had treated many Cushing’s patients over the years. I had surgery in January 2008 to remove my right adrenal gland that had developed a 3cm benign tumor.
It’s been a long and difficult journey since being diagnosed with Cushing’s syndrome and the recovery journey has proven to be far more difficult than anyone prepared me for. So my hope is that by sharing some of my ups and downs through the recovery process it will help shed some light for others who are struggling on the road back from Cushing’s.
Sharing my journey with all of you eases the really hard days and makes the good days all that much sweeter. Thank you for reading and thank you for sharing your stories with me. Now here is my story.
