Hannah’s nominators said:
“Hannah has recently started the Coventry support group with so much care, love and skill. Hannah constantly tries to come up with new and supportive ideas for everyone, is super welcoming and very engaged in her community. She has also presented her personal story at the Cushing’s Day in March 2024 which inspired many people present and led to lovely conversations throughout the day. She is also a fundraiser and she singlehandedly has raised over £600 for the group which she partly uses to get good catering, book warm and comfortable rooms among other things. She has truly done so much more than you would expect from one volunteer and absolutely deserves to be recognised for all the hard work and commitment she selflessly dedicates to the cause.”
This is what Hannah told us:
What’s your story? Why did you start doing what you’re doing, how long have you been doing it?
I started to get poorly when I was 30 years old I gained a lot of weight, my mental health deteriorated I had severe acne and my bones were brittle. It took me 2.5 years to get diagnosed with Cushing’s Disease, after having numerous doctors’ appointments with no help I eventually diagnosed myself after googling my symptoms and got referred to an endocrinologist at University Hospital Coventry and Warwickshire.
I gained nearly ten stone in weight by the time I had my surgery and was extremely unwell.
I had transsphenoidal surgery in 2021 to remove the tumour which was a success and then had adrenal insufficiency for 2 years.
I’m still in remission and I’m healing myself each day. I finally feel happy again.
Now I run the Coventry support group to help others with pituitary conditions, I have been running the group since October last year and we have had 6 group meetings already and walks in the park which people really enjoyed.
I’m currently planning the next event a Picnic in the park a chance for us all to get together, these groups not only help people from our community they also help me too.
- Why you got involved?
Meeting others going through such life changing conditions really makes me feel grateful and I am inspired by their strength and resilience it’s an honour for me to be able to meet them!
I chose to run this group as I want to give back and share my experiences with everyone to try to help. I know how isolated you can feel with a pituitary condition, a rare disease and by running this group and building a community we can help each other and not feel so alone!
The pituitary foundation is such a wonderful charity and I know that the support, the groups and all the hard work they do really is so beneficial to everyone with a pituitary condition I am grateful I get to work with them and get to meet such wonderful people throughout my journey.
- What would you like to see happen in The Pituitary Foundation for next 30 years?
Over the next few years I hope to continue to grow this group and even go further afield and help others that don’t have a support group in their area. I plan to work closely with the Pituitary Foundation and help with raising money, I also would love to host a Gala event too to help raise money for such a wonderful cause.
I would love to see the pituitary foundation continue to grow and to raise more awareness for pituitary conditions, the work they do is commendable and truly amazing!
