Signs of Change

Medically speaking, a sign is something you can see (pimples, stretch marks, weight gain or loss,…), a symptom is something you don’t see (fevers, nausea, pain,…).  I have blogged more about symptoms than I have about signs.

Cushies learn to pay attention to every little change in their bodies and health to monitor disease progression.  You'd think we'd be used to seeing changes.  But watching for signs of improved health is a very slow process—a process that is about as mind-numbing as intently watching toe nails grow. And because the changes are so very slow, they can be missed even while we’re watching and praying for them.  Missing those changes, not recognizing the progress is discouraging, disheartening, depressing.

Especially when post-Cushing’s symptoms can be so variable and miserable.

That’s why it’s really important to document visible changes over time.  Looking back to what we looked like with Cushing’s and comparing that to our current appearance makes slow change so much easier to see.  And seeing it documented brings hope and joy.

Bearing in mind that my scales are not showing much weight lost, here are my recent small changes.
This is me with Cushing’s.  My neck is swallowed up in fat.  So are my necklaces.

 

This is me 28 months after surgery.My fat neck has been reduced to a wattle.  And Look! My collar bones are beginning to show themselves!



And here’s a different angle that shows off my neck muscles. 

 

The fat pads that look like a horse collar around my neck are more defined now, but only because I’ve lost so much of the fat around them.  That “horse collar” is a sign of Cushing’s.  Maybe, in time, it will go away too.

Looking at these pictures together is so much better than just looking in the mirror and focusing on how far I have yet to go.  The pictures tell me the truth about how far I have come.

And that makes all the difference.