This challenging but extremely rewarding year culminated in a 3 day workshop in which we were encouraged to explore our inner selves and get in touch with our strengths and weaknesses. We did several very interesting exercises which I will go into in a different post. Sufficed to say that I realised that I'm stronger than I thought and that no matter how much others try to break me down, I will still keep going. The title of this post are actually the initials I can now add after my name! They stand for Bachelor of Science, Graduate member of the British Psychological Society and Master of Social Science. I achieved all of these in the last 2 years whilst simultaneously being diagnosed with Cushing's, undergoing neurosurgery and moving 6000 miles across the globe. Not too shabby if you ask me....
I can't believe how quickly this year in HK studying has gone by. It seems like only last month I was packing up my things in London and getting all excited about being back in the city I grew up in. And now, here I am, making a blog to sell all the stuff I bought when I moved here. If any of you happen to live in HK and are interested in some cheap items check out the blog: stephstuff4sale.blogspot.com
Apart from finishing my Masters and planning my move back to London, I have also been organising my trip to the States. I will be visiting the USA in September as a friend of mine is getting married and my sister is also moving there. I hope that when I'm there I am able to meet up with some fellow Cushie friends I have made online. I only wish I could have attended the conference that is happening in July in Las Vegas, but never mind. Another year perhaps.
If you're interested in meeting up with me during my USA road trip, please feel free to add yourself to my map! I would love to meet as many of my online friends as I can.
Just click on this link: http://www.zeemaps.com/Cushies_in_the_USA and enter your information.
Lastly, I have been attending a couple of appointments at the local hospitals. I have had some follow ups with the neurosurgeon and endocrinologist. Some good and bad news. The good news is that most of my hormones are fine and my levels are good however, my cortisol is still high and I also have high cholesterol now.
The neuro was really nice and when I asked about what lifestyle changes I needed to make he actually pointed out that it was probably due to my hormones rather than my lifestyle. It's nice that for once, the doctor didn't just assume that I spend all my time stuffing my face and being lazy. In fact, today the endo confirmed that the high cholesterol was normal since I had/have Cushing's.
That being said, I definitely have not been exercising much and my diet could do with some adjusting. So I'm trying hard to cut back on saturated fats and walk more. It's been hard as the weather is very hot here in HK and my energy is extremely low but that's no excuse. This week I am going to push myself to go to the pool and do a few laps. I think it will do me a lot of good.
The endocrinologist confirmed today that I am having a recurrence. In order to locate the source of the recurrence (it could be pituitary again or maybe my adrenals this time) I have to do more tests. But because I'm moving back to London soon there isn't much they can do in the short time I have left. Nevertheless, she has scheduled for me to do the high dose dexamethasone suppression test. Next week I will have to take steroids everyday for 5 days at 9am, 3pm, 9pm and 3am!! And have my blood drawn on days 1, 3 and 5. The doctor was very concerned about me doing this at home saying there were serious possible side effects and that I should be extremely cautious. I told her that I would be staying with my parents and that they would keep an eye on me. Apparently the side effects can range from excessive hunger to insomnia to suicidal thoughts. Needless to say, I'm telling my parents to keep a close eye on me!
The last announcement I want to make is that I am working on a follow up music video. I was so pleased with the response I got from my Cushie song that I've decided to make another.
I'm hoping to release it next Friday, June 15th. So stay tuned and don't forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel CushieSteph if you haven't already done so.
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