Welcome to my blog! You can start by getting to know a bit more About me or for a more detailed explanation of how I was diagnosed, have a read of my posts The Journey to Cushing's Syndrome and Part II the saga continues. Bienvenue sur mon blog! Vous pouvez commencez par decouvrir Mon Histoire avec Cushing's

Monday, 20 August 2012

Back in London town

It's been over a month since I last posted and a few things have happened since then. Firstly, I flew back to London on the 15th of July to attend my endocrinology appointment on the 17th. But after finding out that I was suffering from recurrence I had pretty much decided that I was moving back to London anyway. Although this was slightly disappointing as I'd hoped to stay in Hong Kong a little longer, I just felt more comfortable being treated in London where they have most of my medical history and more importantly, I speak the language (i.e. English).

Though I was unable to see my usual endo and had to wait for about an hour, the doctor I met with was very friendly, understanding and took the time to listen to me. He also confirmed (again) that he agreed with the diagnosis of Cushing's recurrence. He then went on to inform me that he wanted to act on it fairly quickly for 2 reasons. 1) Medication to treat Cushing's is toxic for your liver and very difficult to dose accurately therefore it is highly discouraged and 2) the neurosurgeon that did my first surgery and is arguably the best neuro in the UK is retiring soon. In fact, he told me he was retiring in 3 months which kinda freaked me out because I knew that I had my trips to France and the US planned and I really didn't want to have to cancel them. Luckily it turns out he isn't retiring until December but I only found that out a couple of days ago so until then I was stressing wondering whether I'd have to cancel my US trip and miss out on my friend's wedding.

So on the health front, the next step is a T3 MRI which is happening at the end of the month and if the tumour still isn't visible then I'll probably have to undergo IPSS which I think I've explained before. Basically it's a test where they thread a catheter up your thigh all the way to your brain so that they can take blood samples along the way and see where your body is excreting the cortisol. Apparently the procedure is as nasty as it sounds because you have to be awake for it! Needless to say, I pray I won't have to go through it...

Apart from the health worries (which have become part and parcel of my life), everything else is going pretty well. I am so proud to have been accepted on a Counselling Psychology course. I was supposed to start in September but which everything going on I think that I will be requesting for a January start instead. I think it's more sensible because I'm likely to have surgery in the next few months and recovery is no joke.