Day 6: What new goals did Cushing's bring to you

What new goals did Cushing's bring to you

At the same time as I was embarking on my Cushing's journey, I was going through some major life changes. Going back to university, studying psychology and trying to figure out what I wanted to do with my life now that I had realised I no longer wanted a career in the Performing Arts.
As I started gaining more insight into psychology and started learning more about things like illness behaviours, locus of control, health belief models etc (don't worry if you don't understand these terms, they aren't relevant to this post per se) I realised that everything in my life was pointing me into the direction of health psychology/behavioural health. Basically, the psychological aspects of health and illness.
In my second work placement at university I worked for a charity which represents patient organisations and I got to meet many extraordinary people who advocate for patient's rights. I learned about the value of patient support groups and was part of a movement to raise awareness of the government and general public about rare diseases. At the time I did not even know that I would soon be able to call myself a rare disease patient as I wasn't yet diagnosed.

Coming to HK to do my masters and having to try and receive follow-up treatment here, I've also been able to compare the UK and HK health systems. It's made me appreciate and realise the impact of many things. For example, in London during my MRIs I was given headphones so that the radiographer could speak to me and I could also listen to some music during the test. It never drowned out the horrible MRI sounds completely but it was still much more relaxing. In HK, you are only given ear plugs which don't really drown out the MRI sounds but prevent you from hearing if the nurse is talking to you or not. And once they're in, you have no idea what's going on and it feels very claustrophobic. I nearly started to have a panic attack at my last MRI even though I've had plenty done before.

All these personal experiences have given me more direction and focus. I now know which direction I want my life to take and not just in relation to my own health, but professionally. I want to become a counselling psychologist but I would also like to focus on helping those dealing with illness. For example, I would like to help women who have self-esteem issues following breast cancer. Or helping people adjust to being diagnosed with a chronic illness such as diabetes. I would also like to start up a support group for people who's physical appearance has been affected by their disease and who consequently suffer from body image issues.

It's funny but when I think about it, Cushing's has actually given me MORE goals rather than less. I have always been ambitious therefore I always had/have goals so all I've done is readjust them a bit to take into consideration my limitations but I've also added some.

Tomorrow's post will be "Where do you see yourself in the future", taking into consideration these goals and how and when I'd like to achieve them.