Comprehensive patient care (yes it’s true!)

by Kristin

I met with a new doctor last Friday in search for answers and some relief from my never ending recovery from Cushing’s syndrome. I’ll admit, I was a little skeptical when she came into the exam room and asked me to tell her my history with Cushing’s. I had prepared myself for the worst and hoped for the best, so my initial reaction was to ask her if she knew much about Cushing’s. She quickly put my fears to rest and assured me she had extensive experience and knowledge about Cushing’s and endocrine disorders. (mental checklist, CHECK!)

She gave me an overview of how her practice and methods differ from let’s say, traditional medicine. She practices naturpathic and holistic methods of medicine. And went on to explain that a patient needs to be treated as a whole and the goal is to bring the body back into balance naturally. It’s not to say that traditional prescription medicines don’t have a place, but there are often times natural alternatives that achieve the same, if not better results in recovery from certain illnesses and diseases.

She shed light on a new piece of the recovery puzzle that no other doctor has mentioned. When I was sick with Cushing’s syndrome and developed a benign tumor on my right adrenal gland, that was strictly a pathological disease - meaning there was a disruption of normal bodily function due to disease. Once I had surgery to remove the tumor and was cured from Cushing’s syndrome, I no longer suffered from a pathological disease. Now I’m left with the aftermath - imbalances - as a result of Cushing’s. This was the fist time a doctor did not solely rely on numbers from a test. (I’m so tired of hearing ‘You’re tests came back and you’re within the normal range.’ What does normal mean anyway? Because it’s within the normal for the average population doesn’t necessarily mean it’s normal for my body.)

I’m not saying that test results aren’t a valid source of information, but I think patient feedback should be taken into consideration when trying to identify the underlying cause for poor health (and no, it’s not all my head thank you very much!).

So my doctor went on to explain that although I’ve been cured from Cushing’s, there may be issues to address as a result of the exposure to excess amounts of cortisol - such as dysfunctional neurotranmitter(s). ‘Neurotransmitters are the chemicals that allow communication to occur in the brain. Different neurotransmitters allow and/or produce different functions.‘ So if all of my neurotransmitters aren’t functioning at self-sustaining normal levels, that would explain my inability to loose my Cushing’s weight (despite a low-carb diet & exercise), memory lapses and loss of focus to name a couple.

Since this was a meet & greet appointment, my doctor ordered a urine test, along with a 12-hr salivatory test to get a better idea of what the playing field is like (her words, not mine!). Once she gets the results back, we’ll have another appointment to discuss various naturopathic treatments (herbs & supplements) to get my body back in balance.

I was sick with Cushing’s syndrome for more than 4 & 1/2 years and have been in recovery for 16 & 1/2 months now - I AM SO ready to have some balance and to put this thing called Cushing’s behind me.

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