Cushings

Brenna was tiny when she was a baby. At a year old, she was an active ball of fire at 19 pounds. She danced throught those early years as just a little mite of a child. Then, something happened about the age of 3 1/2. She began to gain weight. No matter what we did, she gained. She never ate junk food so that wasn't a problem. We watched her diet carefully.  She became a charter member of the mall walker's club at 4 years old.

How many 4 year olds do you know who walks a mile each morning, five days a week? Not many. She did. Nothing changed.    

We took her to university pediatric specialists in two states. Nothing. They didn't even test her for anything except for psychological problems. She went to a Children's hospital. No answers. I begged doctors to please find the answer. They shook their heads.

Brenna was DX with juvenile diabetes at the age of six. We learned the term "brittle diabetes". But even by sticking with a rigid diabetic diet, Brenna's weight problems continued.

School was a nightmare for her. She was bullied first because of her weight, then her diabetes, and at last, for being adopted. Many days she ran home from school as neighbor kids tossed rocks at her. Half way through her sixth grade year, I pulled her out of public school and began homeschooling her. She took to that like a baby duck takes to water. 

I begged for answers for her health problems. I could find none. No one suggested anything more than watch her diet and exercise. I was her mother. I KNEW something else had to be wrong. I loved this child of my heart and seeing her suffer because of the mean spirits of those who chose not to understand broke my heart.

After Brenna suffered her brain injury, a day came that she was near death because of a potassium imbalance.  This event is covered in Condemned to Die. The cardiologist who took care of her was very concerned.  He looked at the pictures of her and circled one with his finger. He said, "THAT is when she began to have problems." I said, "That is when I began taking her to doctors, looking for answers."

One comment the cardiologist made that day stuck in my mind. He asked, “Has she ever been tested for Cushing’s? Have you ever taken her to a university hospital to be evaluated?” No, she was never evaluated. Yes, I took her to not one but two university specialists.

This question about Cushing’s was asked again a few months later when Brenna was in the hospital with pneumonia. The question was asked a third time by a nurse evaluator from a local rehab hospital. At no time in Brenna’s life did anyone tell me her sudden weight gain might be caused by untreated Cushing’s. No one looked, and I was not well enough informed to ask.

I began to research Cushing’s and Type I diabetes. I found one study that indicated a correlation between untreated Cushing’s as the cause of Type I diabetes.

My heart sunk as I relived all the hateful comments people had made to her about her weight all her life, the bullying at school from her peers. My heart cried at the uncontrolled tongues of willingly ignorant people, even within the church, who just couldn’t resist judging and commenting. They judged and Brenna suffered.