I’m taking a little detour from my story to talk about feet. I had always taken my feet for granted. After my Cushing’s onset (of which I was unaware) I started having a lot of trouble with my feet. I liked to wear sandals and my feet were always very dry and cracked. I started having regular pedicures to try to keep up with it.

After my son was born, that was the end of my job and therefore my pedicures. That was then also the end of sandals. As my Cushing’s got worse and worse, so did my feet. Then as I swelled and accumulated organ fat, I couldn’t reach my feet adequately to care for them. For the last year before my diagnosis, my feet were always caked in a crust of dead skin.

From my surgery until about 11 weeks later, I could not sleep through the night. I also ached from any sight activity I had attempted during the day. I received considerable relief from Epsom salts soaks. A welcome side effect of these soaks is that I could spend a little time on my feet that after surgery I could reach. After a while of soaking in the tub, I would just rub them with a washcloth and easily remove any dead skin.

It seems like such a simple thing, but to someone who had no access to her feet for months, it was an amazing luxury. It felt so clean and soothing to have maintained feet. I don’t think I will soon take my feet for granted again.