Paint and Sip (Wine)

I had never been to a Paint N Sip before in my life. Its one of those things though that you look on Groupon and think hey maybe I can go and do that someday. Well in our little town things like that dont usually happen close by so I just sort of put it on the back burner for one day. Then I got an invite and our local Big Valley Nursery was hosting an event to taste tomatoes (I thought of Lo's Bisque and how I wished she didnt live 5 hours away from me) and having a Paint N Sip! I was so excited I clicked ACCEPT on my Facebook invite before I even looked at the time or date ha! Then once I slowed my mind down I actually saw yes I could go on that time and invited a friend! It was going to be so fun!

Once my friend and I arrived we were so excited. Maybe I was a little more than my friend but she came to spend time with me anyways so I loved that. We were able to taste tomatoes and eat a catered event by Robin Hoj who was also running the class.

Laura at Big Valley Nursery had a great sale going on with her plants and was so gracious to have it at her nursery. I am all about shopping locally and helping small businesses!

Then the painting began. We were to paint our own version of this painting. It didn't have to be anything alike. My favorite part of the whole experience is just seeing what others did. Everyone has their own way and they were all beautiful. I am more of a right brain person so I just paint and having fun and enjoy getting dirty. My poor friend was having a harder time as she is more of a left brain. She loved it starting it, hated it during the middle and almost stopped but loved it again at the end. I was so proud of her because it's not the easiest taste for someone who is left brained. She doesn't like to paint or drink so just coming to the event with me was such a blessing to me. At the end, we had a great time! We all made it through and all took home our works of art!

I can't wait till they have another one. I got to meet people I didn't even though which is crazy since we are a very small town of 250 people. We all laughed and had fun. Got some great instruction and just had fun! I hope that Big Valley Nursery has more events like this. What a great thing to do to get a group together. I am even thinking of doing it at my own place and inviting my friends! I am sure Robin would love that! It was nice to meet her in person too! And to find out she is a subscriber to our blog already. Here are some great pictures of the night! I think we all should have more events like this in our lives. A little fun away for a while where your mind can just wonder while you laugh at how you are painting compared to everyone else. Thank you to my good friend who came with me! Thank you for being such a good sport and getting out of your comfort zone for me. I will forever be grateful!

                                                                               Love, Ro

*How fun!! I have never been to one just like this but similar.  Is this the modern-day equivalent of the quilting circle, you think? Anyone wanna learn to quilt? cause.... how fun! AND I know I would never finish one on my own..... -Lo

Top Ten Family Movie Night Movies

Top Ten Family Movie Night Movies 

(for kids of all ages)

In no particular order..........

1.  Escape to Witch Mountain (1975)

2. In Search of the Castaways (1962)

3. Swiss Family Robinson (1960)

4. Pollyanna (1960)

5. Matilda ( 1996)

6. Penelope (2007)

7. Parent Trap (1961)

8. Freaky Friday (1976)

9. The Love Bug (1968)

10. Enchanted (2007)

My children have begrudgingly watched these movies (they hate when I pick!)

AND loved every one, seriously, per them!  In making this list I thought of others that are good for just a bit older kids too (some peril or mild language) I'll post that next! Make sure to pay attention to the years the movies were produced, some have remakes (fun to show the kids the difference in successive movie nights, however, the remakes aren't quite as family friendly.) Plus, I think its great for kids to enjoy and appreciate classics.

                -Lo



***I remember watching Parent Trap and Pollyanna growing up they were my favorites and still classics!  Love, Ro

Mochi Ice Cream Recipe that will change your life

I am in LOVE with Mochi Ice Cream! So much so I even named my dog Mochi. Not even kidding either. I lived in Japan for two years during High School. Moved away from Lo (that's another story) in 11th grade to move there. My dad was in the military. One fond memory I have is going to the Mochisuki Festival in  Japan where you pound rice to make Mochi for a rice cake. This type of Mochi that we are making is a little different. It's way easier! I don't have time for hard, so easy is my thing.

1994 Mochisuki Festival in Japan

Let's start with the ingredients:
2/3 cup sweet rice flour (I like mochiko which you can find on Amazon)
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup water
Ice cream of your choice
cornstarch

1. Use a small ice cream scoop and scoop 8 round scoops of your favorite ice cream. I happen to love more zingy types like mango but chocolate or strawberry is great too. Put each scoop individually on a plate or silicone cups to freeze while making the Mochi.

2. Use a microwave safe bowl. Take your sweet rice flour, sugar, and whisk. Add the water and whisk again.

3. Plastic wrap bowl and microwave for 2 minutes. Stir, cover and microwave again for 40 seconds. Stir again.

2 minutes later

Then an extra 40 seconds later

4. On a large cookie sheet put 1/2 cup cornstarch. Spread around. Put the contents of the mochi from the bowl onto the cornstarch. Dust top of mochi with more cornstarch. Press with hands into a 6 by 12-inch rectangle.

5. Chill mochi for 35 minutes in the freezer.

6. Take out of the freezer. Cut into 8 equal pieces.

7. Put each piece of mochi on saran wrap square. Layer each piece on top of each other with saran wrap until you have 8 pieces of mochi on each other with saran wrap in between. Freeze for an additional 30 minutes.

8. Wrap Mochi squares around each ice cream scoop until covered. Use saran wrap to wrap around each one after covered. Twist till tight. When all 8 are done put back in the freezer for 40-60 minutes or when ready to eat.

9. Take out of the wrap and Enjoy! I like to cut them in half or fourths and eat with my hands or toothpicks.

 It may take some time but its super easy. Once you make this you can make it over and over or double or triple the recipe. I like to triple the recipe and do 24 Ice Cream Mochi at a time as I have a large family. I mean let's be real I would probably eat all those on my own during the week. So yummy! My kids love Mochi Ice Cream! Tell me if you make this and how it turned out for you. If you have any tips or tricks I would love to know! Enjoy!

                                                                                                     Love, Ro

P.s. This is my dog Mochi:)

* and so perfect because store-bought Mochi (ice cream not the dog) always has egg, so this is egg allergy safe when you use the correct ice cream. My favorite flavors are coffee, blueberry, now I'm hungry, RO, come to make me mochi! WAIT what if we put in daiquiri ice?????
now lets take it to the next level and I'll make homemade ice cream to use! -Lo

Mother 911

My daughter, who is in sixth grade, came home from school having learned more about the attacks on 9/11 then she ever had.  We had a discussion based on things she said they had viewed and spoken about at school.  I love that she came home and further discussed it with me.    What I wasn't ready for were questions the eight-year-old had.  He is sensitive about people and animals being harmed and hearing some of the things his sister had said really caused some turmoil in him.  Of course, all of this was just while driving home from picking them up at school (I think some of these mundane, everyday moments are the ones we need to stay present for).  I saw the hurt in his face and could feel some anger building in him as we spoke further.  I stopped and said " yes there are some terrible people and some people do terrible things AND I heard a quote from Mr. Rodgers once, upon seeing some truly scary things his mother had said look for the helpers, there are always helpers.  So have you guys ever heard about the boat evacuation that happened after the attacks, I saw a great video online about the people who came in to help?  Let's go home and watch it, and yes I will cry.....and we will look for the helpers".  We went home and immediately pulled up the story, we talked through it (and I cried as promised) and I got to have the conversation that ALL these people chose to help, they didn't know if they were putting themselves in danger or who they were helping but they helped.  It was in fact, the video states, the largest marine evacuation of all time.   I'm so grateful this quote had been shared and I could call upon it when I needed it.   

And as mom's we all ruminate on the mistakes we make parenting, what we could have said, could have done,  should have said, should have done, let's all take the time to think of a parenting moment that made you proud.  Write it down, just for you, for you to read when you're having doubts about your parenting.  Read your parenting proudest moments and know that if you're worried about being a good parent ...you probably are.  

This is one of the moments I felt like I did what I wanted to and I was grateful for the teachable moment, for them and for me.

-LO

****just to keep it real, I also had told the children I had heard a story of an amazing service dog, we were all set to look at those videos too AND they turned out to be false, thank you Snopes for reminding us that not everything we read on the internet is true.

“When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, "Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.”

― Fred Rogers


https://www.youtube.com/watch?reload=9&v=MDOrzF7B2Kg


***Mr. Roger's mom rocked! And so do you my friend! Love, Ro

Death Row? Last Meal Ever

As you probably know by now I am intrigued with Serial Killers and people who do crazy things (you must be too because you did click on this ha). I want to know why they did it and how they could think that was okay. I really think I should of been an FBI agent. I remember when I was in college Psychology was always my favorite because I wanted to know WHY people do what they do!   Last night I started watching Castle Rock with my husband and youngest son. I had already seen the season with Lo when I was visiting there for work. In the show there was a death row lawyer. Somehow we got into the topic of our last meal and what would it be. I decided that my OTHER bff (Google) could tell me what others last meals were. We looked up some that were simple like Reeses and a Dr. Pepper (Christopher Brooks) to way excessive like 20 pieces of fried catfish, hush puppies, two triple deluxe hamburgers with bacon, two pints of vanilla ice cream and a sliced raw onion (John Wayne Conner).  As we were talking I think most of us agreed that we probably couldn't eat anything if under those circumstances. So I said what if we knew it was our last meal but all was fine in our lives what we would choose. This is what we chose:

My husband: Steak (medium rare), Lobster, Salad with Ranch, Potato, 3 Musketeer Bar and a Pint of Mint Chip Ice Cream

My youngest son: Steak (medium rare), Lobster, Mashed Potatoes and Gravy and a Bucket of KFC Chicken

Me: Steak (medium rare), Shrimp Scampi, Green beans and Bacon, and Daiquiri Ice from Baskin Robbins

So as I look at this it pretty much tells me that we love meat. We do live in a ranch town but maybe we should move closer to the Ocean for some seafood. It's interesting the weird things that come up sometimes in conversation when watching shows. What I love most is that when I asked they weren't weirded out. They were trying to think of what they would want if under better circumstances than that in the show. I honestly thought they didn't even give last meals but apparently, they still do in some states. I personally really like food so I wish that every meal was the best meal we have had. I guess if we had our last meal all the time it wouldn't be that great though. Having it for special moments in our lives makes it so much more worthwhile. If you had a last meal, what would it be??
                                                                                           Love, Ro
                                                                                         
*My last meal would be a pardon! no? ok....is it all made by the prison staff, or do they order out? brown sugar breakfast roll, coffee, Pepsi, green or hibiscus tea, sushi, yah, I just can't decide....-Lo

Amazing Tomato Bisque

I'm surprised it took me this long to get to a post about food of some sort....I love food.  I love cooking and I love baking, I love talking about food and making you try food, I love tweaking recipes and doing taste tests and... yes my kids can be picky and refuse to even try.  I also abhor cooking dinner every night.  In a perfect world, I plan and shop on Saturday and cook happily on Sunday whilst the children flit about like angels,  in and out of the kitchen, bringing smiles to my face with humorous and clever quips.  This leaves me with a gorgeous Sunday dinner and two to three meals for the week ready to be cooked or reheated.  AND my world isn't perfect, the kids typically only make appearances to complain about each other or turn up their nose at the vegetable I'm chopping asking "Is that what we are eating? "(you hear the incredulous, unappreciative tone don't you?)
Just for reference, I feed those who appreciate being fed, those I want to show love/support to AND my children.  The kitchen is where I can share two love languages, gifts, and acts of service.  I feel like acts of service is an area I can work on (and thankfully neither child has that as a top two!), so I love that my obsession for food can help me in expressing my love (I linked the children's love language quiz below.)   Let's remember to take people food when they have a baby or surgery or -insert huge life event good or bad that requires extra time/energy/emotion-and share a meal.  Food is intimate, food expresses love, ok... it can express love.  And speaking of food for those in need or overwhelmed, let's try and express our needs,  to ask for help (I am admittingly horrible about this and trying to get better....work in progress.)  We ALL need help sometimes, gosh I'd say most of the time (I know that's not just me!)  People don't know when we don't tell them or ask them.  I recently ran across the street to ask my neighbors a quick question (yay to neighbors who you can run barefoot across the street in your jammies to!)  Well, the wife had just had back surgery 10 days earlier and could only tolerate 20-30 minutes out of bed. I don't even remember what my quick question was because it was so inconsequential in comparison.  They invited me in for dinner that someone had brought (I of course refused but I'm also working on being a gracious recipient, not taking that joy from people, so I finally agreed to a small bowl).  The dinner was delicious and a tomato bisque.  I make a great tomato bisque and despite my love for cooking and sharing I don't typically say I make something great......but, I do make a GREAT tomato bisque.  I politely asked if they enjoyed tomato bisque,  to which they replied yes.  I said I have a great recipe and I'd love to bring it to you.  So 4 days later I got to run across the street (barefoot) with the pot I made the soup in and bring them tomato bisque.  They have helped me so many times and I loved bringing them food.  Now, it also happens that I got a text that that was the BEST SOUP they had ever had and needed the recipe.  That made me light up even more that they had enjoyed it so much (and absolutely there is pride involved here, I love to hear rave reviews about my dishes and yet I can honestly say it's not why I make food for people, it's truly a bonus.)
so here is my most amazing "recipe" yah.... it's not really a recipe, sorry...I think its just two tips.....

FRESH Tomatoes (not canned, yummy fresh, different colors, mix and match types, from your neighbors? yes to it all)
I'll say 5-6 large, remove stem and quarter (don't need to do more)
I have used a ton of cherry tomatoes and pear tomatoes fresh from a garden with some giant heirloom also, don't be afraid
roughly chop a handful of fresh basil
*yes the tip is fresh tomatoes and fresh basil
cook this down with water (enough to keep it wet, not dry)
add Better than Bullion chicken stock (3 Tablespoons, bigger pot? add more)  (tip #2 Better than Bouillon has great flavor and I buy the organic and it takes up very little precious space in the refrigerator)
Possibly tip #3 cook the tomatoes and bullion on med (or med/high if you are around to keep an eye on it) making sure to add water as necessary until you don't need to blend it (in a hurry, feel free to pull out the immersion blender) the cooking down of the tomatoes happens over time, they will turn to a soup on their own. Yes, I'm talking about cooking down the tomatoes for hours.
when this happens, add half and half or heavy cream slowly until  a beautiful bisque color (start with 1/2 cup increments if nervous- I pour from container now)
add another handful finely chopped fresh basil and salt and pepper to taste ( heavy cream requires more salt to taste)
so the main thing is, take your time and cook those tomatoes down, use fresh basil and fresh tomatoes, and make food for someone who may be in need!
Make delicious grilled cheese with brie, or sharp cheddar and dip....yummmmm

https://www.5lovelanguages.com/profile/children/

                                                                               -Lo


***THIS IS THE MOST AMAZING STUFF. Yes I yelled on purpose! So fresh and so good! And I dont even like tomato soups! Love, Ro

Cushings: My Story 2018 (Caution Pics)

BEFORE CUSHINGS /REMISSION

This is my story. Its not a story of remission and recovery.......its a story of fighting for my body to finally be in remission. For listening and learning. For finding my true friends and the family members that truly have helped to make it possible for me to be in remission.

 My story started many years ago. 2 Pituitary Surgeries and a BLA later and I am now in remission. I had Cushings Disease and now have Addison's. I will always have it but I am in remission now. This is my Story. How I came to know what it was, how I was diagnosed, and my path along the way. Please share this story. So more people will be educated with Cushings. Its a Rare Disease but more people are affected with it than we think. It takes an average of 8 years usually before people are diagnosed. Mostly because people have had it longer than they thought and also because of misdiagnosis. With pictures along the way. Its not the easiest thing to talk about or to show pictures of my journey. I share this with you because I want others to know about it, to help with quicker diagnosis and to educate others because I had that help through my process.

This is me....8 years ago. Its when I first started noticing my symptoms. I wasn't sleeping at night and started gaining weight. . Even though I was dieting somehow I wasn't losing weight. Well I would lose 15 pounds and then stall for months which never happened before. I started to feel anxiety and depression too but again that seemed normal as my mother had cancer and was at the end of her days. So depression, not losing weight and not sleeping seemed to be a normal thing for what my life was entailing at the moment.

BEFORE CUSHINGS

A year later those things continued but I started bruising easily and I felt like my skin hurt sometimes or was getting thin. Weird thing to think though. I ended up having a hysterectomy that year so figured all the hormone changes I started having after that was all about my hysterectomy. Weight gain started. I didn't eat junk and I was pretty active with work, kids, running around with my  husband and visiting family. I did eat popcorn at the movies but we ate pretty normal stuff at the time. I tried a couple other diets like weight watchers so you know I was eating good. I wasn't losing. I was gaining. I just didn't know what to think. I started getting stretch marks on my stomach. More than the ones I got when I had kids. I even got them on the top part of my breasts into my armpits. What was wrong with me? I felt anxiety which I had never felt in my life. I am a happy go lucky type of person. Everyone always said that I was so happy but they noticed me being not as happy. Maybe even a little pissy. Everyone chalked it up to my mother passing away.

BRUISING EASY

Fast forward to my first surgery in July 2014. Wait lets back up a little. About a year before that I had now been to 4-5 doctors to find out what was wrong with me. Bruising, Crying, Couldn't sleep, Stretch marks, losing hair, gaining facial hair, depression, anxiety and the such. Tried Depression pills for the first time in my life. They seemed to work for a month then they didn't work anymore. More estrogen. Less estrogen. Take this. Take that. Nothing was working. Then finally my last straw was when I got a call saying "We would like you to see a psychologist as we are fearful your home life isn't good because of the bruising". WHAT!!! They thought I was being beat? I was so angry by that as my home life is actually pretty fabulous and one of the reasons I didn't understand why I felt depressed. I told my husband who actually laughed as he said if anyone was going to beat up someone it would be me beating him up haha! I left that clinic and decided to go to the next towns clinic. That was the BEST thing I ever did! EVER!I set an appointment up to see Dr. Edmonds MD. I told him everything and he said can I look at your neck. MY NECK? What is that about lol. He looked at the back of my neck and said I have a buffalo hump. I told him I just figured it was being I was obese. He looked at my belly, my stretch marks and what I told him. I had gained 120 pounds in 2 years. I wasn't at home eating bon bons or sneaking food like some would of liked to believe. He said I think you might have Cushings. Its really rare though so lets get you tested. Cushings? What is that? I mean it sounded like a cute little animal or something. By now my symptoms were weight gain, muscle loss, stretch marks, big stomach, thin legs, bruising, days of insomnia, my blood pressure was now high, anxiety, depression, loss of hair on my head, chin hairs I plucked daily, tired all the time, buffalo hump,fat clavicles and I was sick all the time. I had bronchitis 5 times in one year, everyone's colds and walking pneumonia twice all in one year. I was always sick with something.

MY BUFFALO HUMP DURING CUSHINGS (NOW GONE)

 I was ordered a 24 hour urine test, and a dex test to see if I suppressed or not. He told me that I would have to suppress to have Cushings. I did not suppress actually but my 24 hour urine was elevated. Not super high but elevated. He tried sending me to an Endo here in our county. That endo looked at the two tests and said nope doesn't have Cushings. He hadn't even seen me. Tells you what he knew huh? I did a lot of research and had some help from friends in a group who helped me find a great Endo named Dr. Friedman in L.A.

GAINED 100 POUNDS (MY SON AND I)

ROUND FACE (HUSBAND AND I)

SUPER ROUND FACE (MY BFF LO AND I)

By now I knew after researching that I just had to have Cushings. How could I not? It explained everything. I was sent in for a T3 Mri (that is very important the kind) on my Pituitary while I waited to get in with Dr. Friedman Endo. My MD still believed I had Cushings. It took awhile to get my MRI but once I did I found that I had a 2mm tumor on my pituitary. Doesn't seem like much but this little mm tumor was reeking havoc on my body. My mind and well I felt my family. I didn't want them to have to have a sick mom or wife. I wanted to be the OLD me. Not the one that never slept and was always tired. I pushed myself to do more as I didn't want to let anyone down. Which therefor really probably caused more anxiety. I didn't miss any of my kids functions even though most of the time I just wanted to try and sleep when I could. I got into Dr.F and he sent me so many tests to do. I did probably 5 24 hour urines, 5 salivas, 5-8 midnight serums, and I tested and tested and tested. I tested for 4 months, maybe even 6 I don't really remember now. I had highs, I had normal...I was all over the place. The problem was I didn't know when to test. I thought  I should test when I felt at my worst. The problem was your suppose to test when you feel your best. When you have that energy at night and feel less pain, when your not sleeping. Once I figured that out my tests were coming back high, high, high. Dr. Friedman put me on Keto for awhile though to relieve some symptoms. We didn't go straight into surgery as I did have normal and highs. He is an amazing busy doctor who wanted to make sure. After two months of upping my Keto it wasn't working anymore. I got off keto, started testing again. All my tests came back high this time. I was scheduled for surgery.

1ST PITUITARY SURGERY

 July 2014 I had my first of two pituitary surgeries. I went to MD Anderson and my neurosurgeon was Dr. McCutcheon. He is amazing, personable doctor who I love. I had my surgery. They found two tumors and took them out. By then they were 4mm and 5mm and within a couple weeks was told I was in remission. My prayers were answered. I had a long recovery of taking HC. I was healed. I started to gain muscle back, lost 35 pounds total, started growing my hair back, wasn't bruising and depression was gone. My blood pressure didn't drop like I had hoped but it was manageable. I was going to be ok! Usually it takes 6 months to a year to get off HC. HC is synthetic cortisol. When they take the tumor out your pituitary has to wake up. The tumor has been the one that has been sending out so much Cortisol in your body. So no tumor....no cortisol. Thing is everyone has cortisol in their body and you need that hormone. So we take HC until our pituitary wakes up and produces the normal amount again. Like I said it takes 6-12 months to ween off of it. Sadly by month 3 I was weened. I didn't need it anymore. I should of known that was going to be a problem but I was in remission right?

ALWAYS SUPPORTING. FOREVER GREATFUL

 Month 8 post op I knew I wasn't in remission. For a couple months I had been telling myself that its probably day to day stress of getting my four teens everywhere they needed to be. That's why I am not sleeping. I started gaining weight again. My blood pressure was now sky high. I knew in my heart I wasn't in remission anymore. I told my husband but he didn't want to believe it either. Who would, right? By month 9 I went back to Friedman to retest. It didn't take me months this time. It took me a week. Every single test I took that week came back high. Some sky high. I cried. I cried and cried and cried. Surgery was set again. Back to Texas I was going to go in just 4 weeks. I knew more this time so I wasn't as scared.

 Fast forward to 4 weeks. We are loading up the car to travel from California to Texas by plane. I get a call from MD Anderson saying my insurance will not cover out of state this time. My world collapsed on that phone call. We were already set to go, we already had plane tickets, hotels, MIL here to watch all the kids. I literally felt my heart stop. What just happened. I cried and cried but KNEW in my heart there was a reason. In each tragic thing in my story it has lead to a Dr or a place that I really needed to go. God knew. He was going to stand by my side and help me. I wanted to fall into bed but instead MIL and I started researching. Dr. F told me of 3 surgeons I could go to in California. I looked up and researched them all. Asked others what they thought of their surgeries with them. I decided against all three. Not because they weren't good but they weren't for me. I contacted someone I knew who knew a Neurosurgeon in Santa Monica that I had heard good things about. His name was Dr. Kelly. I contacted him directly and told him what had just happened, that I had diagnosis and this was my second surgery. We set a date for me to come to him. He was a very thorough doctor who wanted me to see his person Endo Dr. Cohan. My husband and I got all our money back and decided to go to Santa Monica. Thank God above for my MIL who stayed to watch the kids. This was going to be my chance at remission. Everyone I talked to loved him and talked about how his staff was beyond thorough. His ratings were excellent and I just couldn't find anything negative on him. He also knew and respected my first Neurosurgeon which was important to me.

 A week later I spent that whole week, testing, seeing Dr Kelly and his staff. He wanted to give me his own diagnosis if his Endo Dr. Cohan decided I also had Cushings. They did everything within their own trusted staff which I liked. I wasn't expecting to go into surgery as of yet. I knew I had to do all these things first. Dr. Kelly was amazing. Very knowledgeable and when he looked at me said yes I look like a person with Cushings. He looked at every lab and every detail of my surgery from before. He was worried because my first surgery didn't smear with ACTH. He knew that it didn't always but that was concerning to him. I got another MRI, also cat scan of my adrenals just in case. I had another 3mm tumor but they weren't sure if was tumor or scar tissue. Dr. Kelly was so kind to my husband and I. I had one more appointment and that was to see Dr. Cohan before they would decide anything. Dr. Cohan is amazing. I seriously don't know what else to say there. Ok with my big mouth I will of course talk. He went over every lab and the new labs that I had just taken. He checked my body and saw that I had Cushings. I cried telling him what had happened to us. I should be having surgery by now and it should of been over with already. He told me with my Cortisol levels that he is surprised that I was holding it together as well. Four times he told me I wasn't crazy. Four times. Each time I felt better. Cortisol reeks havoc not only on your body but also your mental state. Makes you feel like  your losing it somehow. It can mess with your mind. I left his office having learned even more on Cushings. He was kind and listened. I had decided at that point that if I had surgery here I would be changing to him as an endo. Not because I didn't love Dr. Friedman because I do but because Dr. Cohans bedside manner was amazing and in just one appointment I had learned more than I had in awhile. Mind you....I felt like I knew a lot ha!


The next day I got the Call. I was to have surgery in a week with Dr. Kelly. I knew I was in great hands. Dr. Cohan had even told me that after this surgery I should be in remission as I have had literally the two best surgeons in the country. If I didn't go into remission though we would have other options. I had a 50/50 chance with remission my second surgery. I knew it, they knew it but I had hope. October 1 three years ago this week I went into surgery. I was sitting with my husband and actually joking. Nurses were amazed I was so chill. I knew in my heart though that I was in the best hands. I knew it. They had a team of amazing doctors who were going to be there. Even had some extras to learn. I signed off to have it be a teaching thing for others. The more people who knew the better I thought. I felt Gods hands would cover all those who were operating on me. I don't even remember recovery this time. I remember nothing about it. I woke the next day.

SECOND PIT SURGERY

 I knew we wanted my cortisol to drop below 2.0. Hours after surgery it had already dropped to 5.6. They told my husband they believe they got everything and that most of my pituitary was still intact. They were being CAUTIOUSLY optimistic. I knew it would be critical that it dropped in the first 48 hours for long term remission. My first surgery I had only dropped to a 4.3 and ended in short term remission. I didn't want another surgery. I had had two of the best neurosurgeons in the USA....this had to work. Sadly it didnt. I had that 50/50 chance and no matter the wonderful doctors that were working with me my body just wouldnt give up. In the next month I had a huge decision to make. Have my adrenals taken out and live with Addisons for the rest of my life or take medicine to slow the cortisol. After a long time of my husband and I talking we decided together on Addisons. I had a BLA 3 months later. It was the best decision I ever made!

I am in remission and will always be in remission now. I had to go through all of what I did to learn and to grow. I have now lost over 100 pounds. My muscle has grown from not being able to lift 10 pounds to now being able to lift 65 or more depending on the day. I have other issues now that I have to take care of for sure. I will have to take medicine for the rest of my life. I might not live as long as others but I know that the I will live will be the best that it can be. I feel happy again. I feel like I am in control of what I have to deal with now. My hair has grown back, I bruise less, I am still sick a lot but nothing like I was before! I have lost a lot of weight.

HAPPY!!!

VISITING LO

TAKING MY CHILD TO COLLEGE!

I used to never sleep and now I love my sleep! Addison's is a thing of its own but if I had to chose again Cushings over Addison's I would chose Addison's time and time again. You have to go through it all though to get there. A lot of my friends have been in remission after their first Cushings Surgery which was such a blessing! I have my life back! Its been a long journey but now my family has their Mom, Wife, Daughter, Friend back! If you ever want to reach out to me comment below and I will try my best to definitely reach back out to you! I am not a doctor but I have been through a lot! I am here for you too~!

YOUNGEST IS A SENIOR!

STILL SUPPORTING ME

                                                                                      Love, Ro

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