Hey there my friends and readers!
This is just a short post to let you know what is going on. This coming Monday, Dec. 3, 2012 I will have my first cataract surgery. Then on the 17th of December I'm supposed to have the other one done. So I am going to stay clear of the net for at least a few days after surgery to give each eye a chance to heal properly.
Once I'm past the surgeries I will be back. My wishes for a blessed holiday season to all!
Stanley Loper
Thursday, November 29, 2012
Thursday, November 22, 2012
The Moon Face
Greetings from the Original Zebra!
Take a look
at the following picture of my mother in her teenage years:
This is
probably one of the best examples of another symptom typical of Cushing’s
syndrome, the round, or “moon” face. The
moon face is another phenomenon which often accompanies exposure to high levels
of cortisols and is a sign which differentiates the victim of Cushing’s from
other morbidly obese people. Here is a
picture of one of my friends on Facebook who has given me permission to use her
images:
Here she is
now as a confirmed victim of Cushing’s:
This is more
typical of how the round face will appear.
This lady gained over a hundred pounds in a matter of months when she developed
Cushing’s. When you contrast it with my
mother’s:
It is easy
to see how Cushing’s can be a little hard to spot in some stages. Yet my friend, unlike my mother, is a
confirmed Cushie. So we can see how this
symptom of Cushing’s can fall in quite a range.
Yet it is still recognizable wherever it falls within its range. Mother went untreated and from the first picture of her she suffered from "Mild" Cushing's all her life. Yet she died at age 65 from the ravages of the disease.
Today’s post
was composed on Thanksgiving Day, so here’s to all my friends and readers from
this moon face.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Wednesday, November 7, 2012
Cataracts and Cushing’s
Circumstances
force me to interrupt my planned series for a short discussion on Cushies and
cataracts. I’ve been having growing
problems with my sight lately and suffered from eye strain and headaches as
well. One day I noticed that when I
closed one eye type on the monitor screen and in printed material simply
disappeared. I already knew I had
cataracts in both eyes in the early stages and feared one of them had
accelerated its development. My fear was
confirmed and my doctor wants me to have the cataract removed as soon as we can
get it done while my eyes are stable.
Cataracts
are a condition where the lens of the eyes becomes opaque. As cataracts develop the patient experiences
increasing difficulty seeing. It will
probably be things like not being able to read type which or an eye exam which will
be the first clue that something’s wrong.
However, the cataract will eventually cause complete blindness in the
eye if left untreated.
The
formation of cataracts in cases of steroid treatment and exogenous Cushing’s
syndrome (Cushing’s caused by medical therapy) is a well known side
affect. However, research seems to
document that cataracts are not a common side effect in endogenous, or Cushing’s
caused by tumors. I didn’t find anything
on it, but I imagine that cataract formation or acceleration would be a likely danger
with the use of glucocortical steroids such as prednisone for the treatment of inflammation or injury with a patient who already has exposure to elevated
levels of cortical steroids to begin with because of Cushing’s syndrome. That is another reason steroids should be
used with care to treat Cushies.
The treatment
for advanced cataracts is removal and replacement with an artificial lens. While reading through the brochure I was
given I found out that great strides in advancement in both the surgery and the
lenses have taken place since my days as a practicing nurse. It is now possible in people with no
astigmatism, or even certain cases of astigmatism to have such sight
improvement after surgery that eyeglasses are no longer needed. However, most cases of people with
astigmatism will still require eyeglasses.
As with any
other surgery there are risks. According
to the patient plan I was given they include cornea/retina injury,
hemorrhaging, pain, blurred vision, double vision and loss of vision. Since I’m on clotting therapy the risk of hemorrhaging
is especially pronounced and I will probably have to go on a heparin bridge to
reduce the likelihood of that complication.
That requires an added week before the surgery can be done.
Naturally I
will not be in a position to write for awhile after the surgery and don’t know
how long my recovery to the point I can resume writing will be. But I will be back and will continue with the
series I started.
Helpful links:
Friday, November 2, 2012
Truncal Obesity
Yes, that’s
a brand new picture of me taken just this week.
That makes it among the most recent in ten years. But let’s take a look at the rest of me:
As you can
see I’m playing a guitar. Flamenco
guitar is one of my hobbies and I do enjoy playing it. But the important thing to focus on is the
fat. My fat is concentrated mainly in my
trunk area. Look at how thin my arms
are, almost like skinny sticks. That is the
classic portrait of what is called Truncal
Obesity, the rather distinctive trait of Cushing’s syndrome. Normally the morbidly obese have plenty of
fat on their arms and legs as well as the trunk of the body. However, those with Cushing’s syndrome, or a
few other disorders such as PCOs (Polycystic Ovarian Tumors) will display
truncal obesity to varying degrees.
Anytime one sees the pattern one should consider endocrine problems.
In the
following picture you’ll see that my mother displayed the pattern as well:
Once again,
we see morbid obesity combined with a relative lack of fat in the
extremities. With both my mother and me
you could see the individual muscles in the forearm clearly. It was the same with both our lower legs and
my thigh muscles stand out really well.
In my case both my arms and legs are free of fat until I reach the joint
with my torso, then some shows up. Next
I repost the picture of my friend:
I her case
the differences in the trunk and extremities aren’t so pronounced. Yet she does suffer the disease. Look more closely at her forearms, though,
and you will see the difference. Finally
I will repost another picture I’ve used:
In this picture
which was posted on Facebook the woman shows the clearly distinct truncal
obesity which is often the first big sign of Cushing’s.
This is the
first in a series of posts on the things those with Cushing’s can see for themselves or which may be
noticed by friends and family. For some
of those the clothes will come off, or the pictures themselves may be shocking. I’m choosing the photos and getting
permission to use them. There are folks
out there who are willing to expose themselves that those who are seeking to
know what is going on with their own bodies, or those of loved ones. They have my hearty thanks!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)