![]() |
![]() |
![]()
My name is Bob. In 1995, I began having health problems. The doctor I was seeing at the time insisted that nothing was wrong with me. My arms were bruising; a deep purple color and sometimes with just the lightest bump, they would bleed. All the doctor said was “your skin is ageing before it’s time.” My personality was beginning to change as well. I had high and low points all in the matter of minutes. I gained a lot of weight, my face turned red and became round. I was also tired all the time.
I was finally referred to a couple of specialists. One of those doctors was an endocrinologist, Dr. Linarelli. He ran a few tests on me and thought he knew what could be wrong! I was in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico at the time the results came back. Dr. Linarelli called me in Cabo, as he was leaving for Italy in a few days and wanted to see me before he left. My wife and I packed up, drove straight back to San Diego and met with Dr. Linarelli. He tried to explain Cushing’s to us. He said he had one last test to perform on me, an MRI, and if a tumor showed up in the pituitary, it was Cushing’s Disease. When the results came back he had already left for Italy so I saw another doctor who was filling in part time. Sadly to say, this doctor knew nothing except to tell us that I did have Cushing’s Disease and he knew of no one who could help me. I felt alone and depressed.
My daughter went on-line and we found Dr. Wilson at the University of California, San Francisco. We went up, met with him and got his opinions. Unfortunately, my insurance would not cover the operation I needed in San Francisco. When Dr. Linarelli returned from his trip we again met with him, and once again he was helpful. He knew of a few surgeons in San Diego and one in particular, Dr. Randall Smith, who specialized in operating on pituitary tumors. We met with Dr Smith and he immediately put me at ease. He said not to worry about anything at all. I was to think about getting better and everything else was his job.
My surgery was on September 22, 1998. The surgery went well, however I stayed in the ICU longer then expected. My blood pressure would not stabilize for a few days and I had a couple of minor problems. Not long after the surgery, I went through six weeks of radiation to shrink the rest of the tumor that could not be removed during surgery. The radiation was five days a week, for six weeks. When this was all over, Dr. Linarelli turned me over to Dr. Eric Gold, another endocrinologist in San Diego.
Dr Gold was one of the best doctors I ever had the pleasure of knowing. He spent a lot of time with me and helped me a lot until his untimely death this past New Year’s Eve. Ironically when I heard of Dr Gold’s passing, I also heard that Dr Linarelli had passed away as well. At this writing, I am just starting with a new endocrinologist.
In April of 1999 I began to have double vision. I was referred to Leah Levi, M.D., Clinical Professor of Ophthalmology and Neurosciences. She is a wonderful doctor and spent a lot of time with me. The muscles in my left eye were damaged when I had the radiation treatments. In July, I had surgery on both eyes and I am thrilled to report that it has dramatically helped the problem. I do wish I’d had the surgery years ago! Since my Cushing’s, I’ve had colon surgery, some teeth removed and gum surgery; all related to Cushing’s. I keep up on all my doctor’s visits, take my medications, and do all the testing that goes with having had Cushing’s.
San Diego hosted the Endocrine Society’s annual convention in June. I helped at the Cushing’s Support and Research Foundation booth, and learned a lot. I also met Karen Campbell, Director, and Louise Pace, Founding President of the foundation. They are both very hard workers for the Cushing’s Foundation and it was a pleasure to meet and work with both of them. I hope to keep up periodic local meetings here in San Diego. Please do let me know if you are interested.
|
|
comment on this page
email this page
print friendly
