It started with a weird disease.  It's likely you've never heard of it.  The first time I was diagnosed I was a 20 year college student and I instinctively ran to the internet to search for an explanation. I was confronted by picture after picture of sick dogs with the same symptoms.

That's right, my disease, Cushing's--also occurs in canines.

Awesome.

It's also called the "obesity tumor" and the "ugly disease".  Throughout the past 17 years from my initial diagnosis and up to this recurrence, Cushing's has brought me countless MRI's, 24 hour urine collections, and as of January 2015, my third brain surgery.  I've likely had this disease for more than half of my life.

I inched closer to the big 4-0 this year and often struggle with age-related aches and pains in addition to those that come with taking the high doses of steroids necessary to persuade my body to function, doing the job of my pituitary gland, which will never "wake-up". And this beast called Cushing's has caused multiple other diseases and disorders. I am navigating my way through these new diagnoses daily, learning how to live with Growth Hormone Deficiency, Trigeminal Neuralgia, Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS), Fibromyalgia, migraine and more.

I am navigating the difficulties that come with living with chronic illness, how one deals with a disease that people (including many doctors and medical professionals) don't fully understand, and how it can be tough to spend a good chunk of your young adult life being sick. It's a learning curve that I work on every day.

So I count my spoons and write. And try to keep humor in everything I do.