Sara's Recovery Case Study

Sara’s Recovery

Brandie M. West

Columbia Southern University

Abstract

Sara is at the beginning of adulthood. She seems to have always remained focused on doing something with her life. Her position in the Peace Corps speaks volumes about her personality and willingness to help others (which is beneficial to her own health). She has always been active and social and excelled in her endeavors. She is described as enjoyable to be around but may not be totally aware of how highly others think about her. We take a look at Sara since she was diagnosed with Cushing’s syndrome, and look at the effects of the disease on her as well as any role that her lifestyle might be helping or impairing her recovery.

Sara’s Recovery

Cushing’s

This is a rare disorder that is typically seen in adults only (age range of 20-50). Sara’s case is even rarer as her disease developed from a tumor on the pituitary gland. Sara’s inability to shed weight as she entered into adulthood could very well have stemmed from her disease as this is one of the symptoms. As stated typical onset has the designated age range, however depending on how long she had the tumor the excessive amounts of cortisol that were being released not only triggered her disease but created added stress on her physically as well as emotionally. Additional symptoms that we see in Sara’s case are the increased anxiety and depression. Cortisol regulation is critical in any case, and an imbalance as in Sara’s case could affect numerous areas

That being said, we can see how outside of this circumstance, it may have been difficult to single out Cushing’s for Sara. For starters, we see she is a very optimistic young lady, and prior to isolating herself from them, she also has/had a very supportive set of family and friends (which also is extremely important). She also unbeknownst to herself was inadvertently giving herself therapy in a way, by choosing a career with a volunteerism component (Taylor, 2012).

While the reality of the stress of the disease and everything that she was going to, Sara was already maintaining a somewhat emotionally balanced lifestyle that could adequately support her through this, as well as set the stage for more resiliency after her surgery was completed. Some of Sara’s decline could have very well been the initial separation from people that came from the assignment in Ethiopia. While Sara may have always struggled from the inability to loss the weight for the most part she was a highly social and engaged girl, and this transition could have helped spawn the divide (Taylor,