Saturday, July 12, 2008

Coming Thursday, July 17

An interview with Kate (Fairley).

Kate Kate (Fairley) has had symptoms since 1991. She has had two pituitary surgeries and another recurrence. She is not yet cured and her current diagnoses are Idiopathic Intracranial Hypertension, panhypopituiarism and a CSF leak. Kate writes in her message board signature:

  • 1991 - Symptoms began
  • Oct. 4, 2006 - Testing begins with Dr. F
  • Dec. 24, 2006 - Dx of Episodic Cushing's Disease
  • Jan. 5, 2007 - 1st pit surgery with Dr. J in P'burgh
  • April 3, 2007 - Confirmation of path-proven ACTH-secreting adenoma
  • June 18-22, 2007 - Testing with Dr. L for recurrence at Swedish in Seattle
  • July 13, 2007 - Dx of Recurrence of Episodic Cushing's Disease
  • July 26, 2007 - Dr. McC @ MD Anderson confirms existence of recurrent tumor on right side
  • July 27, 2007 - 2nd pit surgery with Dr. J in P'burgh; removal of tumor from right side of pit
  • Oct. 10, 2007 - CSF leak repair surgery
  • March 2008 - recurrence suspected but cannot test due to cortisol-lowering narcotics for suspected osteonecrosis of left hip.
  • Idiopathic Intracranial Hypertension, panhypopituiarism, CSF leak, and, for now....
  • No cure for me. :(

Pituitary Cushings: Kate and Dr. Ted Friedman on National Geographic TV were featured on the National Geographic channel. The show, called the Science of Obesity, has a segment on Cushing's syndrome.

Today, 127 million adult Americans are considered overweight, but few reach the extreme proportions of the exceptionally obese. What are the physical stresses of weighing more than 500 pounds and what steps can reverse it? NGC provides an understanding of what happens inside the bodies of these massive people & why a person can pack on hundreds more pounds than those with typical weight challenges. The show explores the genetics behind weight gain & medical advances available to help prevent it.

I hope that all of you can watch this. Please consider contacting your local media about doing your story! There is still much work to do to increase Cushing's awareness.

Discuss this TV show.

More about Dr Ted Friedman

Read Kate's articles:

Attend Kate's Interview on July 17, 2008, 7:30PM Eastern

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