AcroTales
AcroTales
Episode 18 - Jill
In Episode 18 of AcroTales we speak to Jill from from Oklahoma in the USA. Jill was diagnosed with Acromegaly in 2005 and it was quite a struggle for her to get a diagnosis. Jill is shining example of turning a negative into a positive. For over ten years she has been at the helm of the Acromegaly Community and leading a mission to support people with Acromegaly, whatever the stage of their journey. We chat about her complex diagnosis, the role of being an advocate and the changes she's seen over the years.
Hello and welcome to AcroTales, the podcast that explores the fascinating world of Acromegaly. Acromegaly is a rare condition caused by a benign tumour in the potroche gland, causing an excessive release of growth hormones. My name's Diane Jeffries and I was diagnosed with Acromegaly in 2007. In each episode of AcroTales, I'll be talking to fellow acromegalics from around the world about their journey with this unique condition. So for those of you who tuned in regularly, apologies for the rather large gap between episodes, two years to be precise. I've been busy working on other projects, but I made the decision over Christmas to start capturing the lived experience again. And what a way to kick things off with episodes 18. I am really pleased to welcome Jill from Oklahoma in the USA. Jill was diagnosed with Acromegaly in 2005. Jill is also the president of the Acromegaly community, which is also based in the States and worldwide. Jill, welcome. A real honor to have you on the show. Thank you for taking some time out to do this.
SPEAKER_02:Thank you for having me. And I can't applaud you enough for doing this, trying to help raise awareness regarding this condition. Not just with patients, but with medical, and we we truly need more awareness out there regarding this condition.
SPEAKER_00:100%. And um and that's exactly why we do this podcast. And it's had um, you know, thousands of listens. And if it helps one person, then it's completely worth it.
SPEAKER_01:Yep.
SPEAKER_00:So this is all about the human story. Jill, um, tell us, you know, how and when, and you know, all of the odd things that happened leading up to a diagnosis. Tell us how it happened for you.
SPEAKER_02:So my case, of course, like so many others, had a long time prior to diagnosis. When I was in my early 20s, I started to exhibit symptoms. My first symptom was actually weight gain. I went on a 600-calorie diet and still continued to gain weight.
SPEAKER_01:Wow.
SPEAKER_02:And I was working out, I was, I was doing my best to try to lead a healthy life, but the pounds were packing on. And um, you know, I the first thing was weight gain. I started to develop gastrointestinal issues, um, which I now know, I believe is a part of this disease. A lot of it is blamed on our the medications that we take, but I I I think that it is disease progression with everything that I've learned throughout the course of this. Um, I also started, I had loss of menses.
SPEAKER_00:Um, sorry?
SPEAKER_02:Loss of menses. My my monthly cycle stopped.
SPEAKER_00:Oh, I see. Right, okay completely.
SPEAKER_02:I went to the OBGYN and he said, Oh, you've you, I'm sure you have PCOS, which I didn't, which I never had, which a lot of females are misdiagnosed with. Um there were there were many issues. Uh, you know, acromegaly is a disease that affects the entire body and every single organ. Um, one of my most profound issues, um I had had an ectopic pregnancy, and they told me that it would take years to if I was able to carry another child, and but I was able to get pregnant relatively quickly quickly afterwards. But after my daughter was born, um my symptoms were much worse. And we see that a lot in female acromegaly patients. And um when my daughter was probably three, I um started developing uh like it seemed like gallbladder issues. But I had my gallbladder tested and they said that they didn't see any stones, but I was getting pains up in my up in my shoulders and such. And they did a uh some kind of nuclear scan, and they said that my gallbladder worked fine for the first 20 minutes and then stopped. And so they said, we're gonna remove that gallbladder and you're gonna feel better. And I was all ready, you know, to feel better. And actually, after I left that surgery, I felt a million times worse.
SPEAKER_01:Right.
SPEAKER_02:And um in 2003, I had three colonoscopies, which I wouldn't recommend to anyone that they can avoid.
SPEAKER_00:We have to have them as part of our uh as part of our treatment over here, right?
SPEAKER_02:Um, but I mean, three colonoscopies in one year um is not pleasant. Um, but they on the on the last one they had noticed that something was very enlarged, and they said, you know, if if her condition doesn't improve, we're gonna do something called an ERCP just to go up and check to see if anything's going on in that area. And sure enough, I didn't improve. I kept on getting worse. And whenever they did do the ERCP, the surgeon came back and he said, you know, I have done thousands of these procedures, and with you, normally we go in and we remove stones and sludge from the biliary, but with you, it was as if the area had grown shut.
SPEAKER_00:Really?
SPEAKER_02:And um literally, whenever I woke up from that surgery, I knew that I was better. Um, but it was roughly a year and a half later that I was diagnosed with acromegaly, and it all you know came into play. I have a growing condition. It made sense as to why, you know, um, you know, I was having, he said he had never seen it before and as if it had grown shut. And I've heard of other patients with acromegaly that have never taken our medications and have the same biliary issues. So that's why I personally believe that it's part of the disease process. Um, when my daughter was four, I also started lactating. This was about a year after. And I had a cyst in one of my breasts that was huge. And um I have had contacted the doctor about it. And um, at that time I had been going, you know, I had seen the doctor so much regarding the gallbladder issue. The last thing I wanted to do is have to have to see another doctor, which I hear from a lot of patients a lot.
SPEAKER_00:Don't want to be a burden.
SPEAKER_02:Yes. And and but he looked at it on a Friday and he said, you know, next week we need to get you in to um have the scanned on Monday, and he even set up an appointment with the with a surgeon. Well, um, whatever was going on in my breast tissue that weekend burst.
SPEAKER_00:Wow.
SPEAKER_02:Literally, I felt it. And it burst, and they said, Well, if it was a normal cyst in 10 to 14 days, it would be gone. And whatever it was, which I have my suspicions as to what it was, um, but um it continued to pump out fluid to my body, and my symptoms of acromegly went tenfold.
SPEAKER_00:Wow.
SPEAKER_02:Um, and even I'll submit to you some photographs, but even in my photographs, um I have a picture of me in February of that year. And whenever I was diagnosed in um oh October, November, um, I look considerably worse. Consider the soft tissue swelling. I mean, I I people I've shown the picture to people and they say, um, that's not you. And I'm not you, yeah. And um I it's it's it's actually one that I don't typically put out there in the public because it is so it's it was my passport photo for 10 years, and I would have to see every time you go traveling. Yeah, and and they would say they would and I'd have to explain to them, listen, I have a rare condition and it's changed my appearance.
SPEAKER_01:It is me.
SPEAKER_02:It is me. So um, you know, once I was diagnosed, you know, it was a long road to getting diagnosed, but it it it literally took me seeing. Um I I probably saw upwards of 10 physicians prior to being seen. My local um surgeon, one of my local surgeons, uh, told my um nurse that it was all in my head. And I went back to the city.
SPEAKER_00:Well, it literally was.
SPEAKER_02:And I said, if you knew that I had a pituitary tumor, why didn't you help me back then? And um when it once I was diagnosed, um I had at the time of diagnosis, I had almost a three centimeter according to MRI scans um tumor. And um I went to the first uh neurosurgeon in my small little area of the world that I live in, and he said, I could probably do this surgery, but um, I've done one before in the past, but you should probably see someone with more experience. And I'm so thankful for for that advice because now as a as a leader in Acromegaly, you know, the surgeon up. Yeah, it's it makes such a difference the quality of surgeon that you have regarding the outcomes. I ended up traveling to the number one cancer treatment center within the US, which is 11 hours away from my home, and I had my surgery. And the surgeon there met our criteria that we now have within our community, which is um how many we we were we asked the surgeons how many surgeries have you done? And he needs to have done at least 500 surgeries for the amount of skill that they need. Um, they need to do at least 50 per year to keep up that skill set. And they need to have good outcomes and low complications. And he met all of that criteria. And so I know um several, about a handful of patients, uh, whatever was going on with my breast tissue made my pituitary um tumor extremely aggressive. The the surgeon there that had had a ton of experience said he had never seen one so aggressive, that it had grown about a third in size and in such a short time, it shocked him. And um, you know, I know of a handful of people that that has happened to, and I'm so thankful that I was diagnosed whenever I was because uh every single one of those other patients are no longer with us. The tumor spread throughout the brain, and um they're no longer with us. I I you know it's extremely rare for that to happen. I don't want people to think, oh, this is gonna happen to me.
SPEAKER_00:No, no.
SPEAKER_02:Um, but I do want to make people aware that it does happen. Um because I'm not the only one, and I know other people that it has happened to. So so patients need to make sure that they're you know, find the best care teams possible.
unknown:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Find your corner.
SPEAKER_02:Correct, correct.
SPEAKER_00:When you when you know that something's not right, you must stand up and shout because uh if you don't, yeah, you know, the longer the the longer these things take, the worse they can get, can't they?
SPEAKER_02:So and the squeaky wheel gets the grease.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:They need to remember that. And and you know, post-surger, you know, I'm like I said, I'm so thankful for the for this surgical skill of my surgeon. And he thought that he had removed it, removed all of my pituitary tumor. Um, but whenever you see it at a macro state, typically um, you know, you don't get surgical cure. It just helps the situation. And roughly um three months post-surger, all my symptoms were back. And um I at that time, my the the endocrinologist that diagnosed me had actually moved away. And so I just looked up on my insurance and tried to find another endocrinologist. I wasn't a very good advocate for myself back then.
SPEAKER_01:Okay.
SPEAKER_02:Um, but um I went to another endocrinologist and I went and I complained and I said, listen, you know, every single one of my symptoms are back. What what should I do? And he told me to go to Weight Watchers.
SPEAKER_00:Thanks for that.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. He he literally it has shown me the value of a what a good care team makes. Um, because I am someone that does speak up, and I was going to that endocrinologist monthly. And at the time he had given me the right test to check to see if my acromangaly was still active, which is an oral glucose tolerance test for growth hormone. But over the years, the criteria for cure has been lowered to where you know your levels can't be over this and and still considered to be a cure. And um years and years ago, it was at 10 10 points, and then it was lowered to five, and then it was lowered um, you know, like two and a half, and then it was lowered to um 1.0, and now it's actually 0.4. And I flunked that test miserably, but that endocrinologist um wasn't up to date with you know current acromegaly treatments. And in July of that year, I'd had my pituitary surgery in in December, and by July I said I cannot continue to keep doing this. So I scheduled with a different endocrinologist. And um on my first meeting with him, you know, there's a there's a backlog um for to get into endocrinologist, probably like the same that there is in the UK. And it took four months for me to get in to see this physician. And his first question to me was, how does Dr. Such and Such say that you're doing? And I looked at him and I said, He says I'm fine, but I am telling you right now, I am not fine. Every one of my symptoms are back. I am not good. And he looked at me and he said, According to the oral glucose tolerance test that you took in February, mind you, this is November. You should have been on medication to treat this this entire time. And so I here I am an advocate now. Yes, but I can relate with so many other patients. Um because it's a whole new world, isn't it?
SPEAKER_00:And it's a world that you're you're just thrust into, you had no decision or desire to do this. You know, you you go and always trust the knowledge of medical people. Correct. But actually, that's not always uh the best thing. And you do have to go around and jump around until you find that the answer you want, or the answer that's right, let's say. Um so yeah, uh, I I completely hear you. And and you know, Gio, this was 15, 17 years ago. So you you know, your wealth of experience and your your experience then now leads you to be in the position that you're in.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:So so I'm guessing then once you once you had had that, that was the light bulb moment really, uh, or the you know, okay, now we can now we can fix things.
SPEAKER_02:What the light bulb moment for me was, I think, as as far as being an advocate for myself. Post surgery, I came home and I had a couple questions. And I went to one of the only sites in the US for pituitary. I'm not gonna name that site because I don't I don't want to. Um, but it was supposed to be a protected site. And I went on to ask a question. Whenever um, you know, my surgery was 11 hours away from my house. I had just flown home. I had a huge nosebleed, and I wanted to know if that was normal. And I had signed on to this site, and the first thing that I saw was where someone had gotten on and said, Big hands, big feet sounds like a bunch of big fugglies to me.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:And as a female with this con with this disease, and I'm I mean, even now, it's been it's damaging. I mean, it was so hurtful. Yes, it's supposed to be and you know, that was supposed to be a protected space.
SPEAKER_00:Okay.
SPEAKER_02:And and um I was so upset, I turned off my computer, didn't even ask my question. And two days later I got on and it was still there. And so I messaged the and admin of that group and said, Will you please remove this? And he said, Oh, I'm sorry, sometimes the crazies won't get by me. And I said to myself, if I'm ever in a position of authority, I will never let people harm other patients within my care. You know, um, that should have never happened in my no, of course not.
SPEAKER_00:And the internet was a bit more naive back then, and uh yeah, not not always a great place to be.
SPEAKER_02:Well, but I think that he must have known because his response was, you know, oh sorry, sometimes the crazies get by me.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Um, but you know, that's why within our groups that we have, we interview each and every person just to make sure, you know, to try to provide that protected space.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, subsidy.
SPEAKER_02:I because not everyone in the world has the same heart as you. That's what I've learned in this journey. Um, and it should always be about acromegaly and the mission and trying to help others. It's it's not about uh me or you or no, 100%. It's it's about helping people now and in the future.
SPEAKER_00:And what I've always found really fascinating is that people often come on scared, seeking help and advice. Like I said, they're this is brand new to them. You know, uh they may have undergone you know the issues of feeling ugly and uh you know their family not rejecting necessarily, but it causing issues. They go through the treatment, they come out of the other side, and once they're through that, they start to become the advocate.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:So at what point uh did you engage with advocacy or or you know, how did you get involved with Acromegaly community?
SPEAKER_02:So whenever that had happened, um I literally went on MySpace at that time, if you remember MySpace. I'm basically my telephone. Um and I said, Listen, I'm an Acromegaly patient, and anyone that wishes to reach out to me, here is my telephone number. Please reach out to me. And I started getting calls literally from around the world. People would call me and say, I was just diagnosed, am I gonna die? And I would, you know, say, Listen, you know, you need to find a good care team, you know, you need to, you know, this is these are the things that I know regarding this disease. And then whenever whenever Facebook came about, the first thing that I did was type in Acromegaly. And Wayne Brown had set up Acromegaly support. And um, it was a tiny little group at that time. Um and um in 20 uh 10, we uh he decided to um try to get nonprofit status for the uh for the organization, which he was granted. In 2011, we had our first educational conference um in Las Vegas. And, you know, it wasn't until that first conference, even though I I had had all these friends online with the disease, um, you know, I never changed my social media pictures or anything like that because I didn't want people to see the changes that had happened to me. I didn't want people to say, my gosh, what happened to her? And um, it was the first night of that first meeting that I attended in Las Vegas that I had the courage to say, you know what, if people don't like me for the way I look, well then they're not my friends anyway. And I don't need them in my life. And I put on uh current picture and I've been posting pictures ever since. Um but um around that same time, I knew um very well that I didn't want to talk about loss of menses, loss of my like or facial hair, or some of the things that some of the women deal with in front of all the guys. And so we started up a women's only discussion group, and um it became extremely um popular, it's uh you know, especially with the women. And um around 2012, uh Wayne Brown was ready to step down from his position, and he had asked me actually um several times if I would take over because he knew that I had ran the women's group and um he he felt like I would be a good replacement for him, and so I've been running this group ever since. And you know, um I can't say that um, you know, I'm perfect, but I do my best.
SPEAKER_00:But you're but with all with all the respect in the world, Joe, you're just a normal person that developed a pituitary tumor, and and then you find yourself in a position of support and authority in inverted commas. And you make it a bit of a a sort of life mission to want to help and raise awareness, and then you find yourself involved with pharma and medical organizations, and suddenly you you're now in quite a big uh you know, world that's brand new to you. So I don't think anyone would ever expect you to be perfect. Um, we rarely expect our surgeons to be perfect, and they've had years and years and years of training. So, you know, I I think any support is always appreciated, and and the community, I think, you know, would undoubtedly thank you for for what you've done. I would ask you, what do you what what have you what's the changes you've seen in the last five, ten years whilst you've been doing this?
SPEAKER_02:Well, you know, I've gone to the FDA several times, you know, to try to fight for, you know, um patients, them understanding to be able to make more uh better informed choices regarding us. Um, you know, pharma, in my opinion, is more patient-centric. Um, you know, we have new drugs on the horizon. I literally went to the FDA and tried all of our uh years ago, um, which especially in rare, we are lucky to have any drugs to treat us. If it weren't for the Orphan Drug Act in the 1970s, at least here in the US, um, you know, most companies don't have any incentives to help rare patients because there's typically not profits in rare disease.
SPEAKER_00:Because of the numbers.
SPEAKER_02:Correct, correct. Um, you know, but but because of um, you know, we started out with uh three times a day instant octriatide shots, and then we went to the longer acting, you know, supposed to be 28 days, but there were issues with those, with with those where people would experience breakthrough symptoms and you know, some patients had needle phobia, and and you know, not every um product is perfect for everyone. And and um we were I was brought in to I think that we need more tools in our arsenal in order to fight this disease, no matter what. And throughout the years, I participated in several clinical trials. One of the most interesting ones was an implant, an octide implant that was put in my arm that lasted for six months at a time.
SPEAKER_00:Wow.
SPEAKER_02:And for years, I I had been getting injections, and before the next injection was due, every single one of my symptoms were we're back. And whenever I did that clinical trial, it showed me that if I got a continuous dose of medicine every single day, that you didn't have these breakthrough symptoms. And so when companies came and and told me about oral medications, I was, you know, thrilled to try to help support oral medications. Literally, any company that tries to um develop an acromegaline medication, um, as long as it's safe and effective, I am their biggest cheerleaders. I am not I I tell people I'm not team pharma anyone, I am team patient. And you know, in in my experiences, I have dealt with um presenting in front of thousands of physicians. And you know, we we you were at our New Orleans conference where we combined with the pituitary um society, and that had about the top 500 endocrinologists in the world in that room. And I don't know if you remember or not, but we did a presentation in front of them, and Dr. Melmed, the the but probably the top endocrinologist in the world had said, you know, how many acromegulate patients are here? Yeah, and he had asked people to stand up and there were gas.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, it was climate, wasn't it?
SPEAKER_02:It was, it was, but that also speaks to you know the need for education regarding this disease.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:And um, you know, I don't know so many people look at acromegaly as such a negative, but at the same time, I have met some of the finest people in the world because of acromegaly, including yourself. I mean, you took it upon yourself to to um make a difference in this disease.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, because why why uh nobody wants to feel defeated. And and and and I really think if you've if you are I was gonna say lucky, that's not the right word. If you have a successful procedure, which I think happens most of the time, it's very rare do I do do we hear a story where something has gone terribly wrong, or you know, it's generally very, very successful. There is definitely, and I always use the the the line, it's like a plug being lifted from your soul, and you're suddenly alive again, and and you want to do stuff and you want to help, and and you and and I understand some people just want to sort of carry on with their lives, but a lot of people actually, you know, they will join the Facebook group and they will offer some advice or they will hold someone's hand virtually, you know, through those early stages. So yeah, I I you know I think it's uh I think it's a great thing that we do, and I think the community really is very strong. And I have no doubt other conditions have uh go through exactly the same as well. But there is definitely something I think unique about Acromegaly because of the the impact it has, I think um visually and um and uh and and everything that goes with that, it's it is a difficult one to deal with.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. I tell people Acromegaly hits us from at least here in the US, which you are fortunate. You know, your medical care system is so much different than what it is here in the US.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:But Acromegaly hits us physically, financially.
SPEAKER_00:Financially, yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Uh you know, mentally, it literally hits us from every single side.
SPEAKER_00:Um and emo emotionally, I think, is a big one as well.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Um because you because You're not who you were.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. I mean, you know, high high growth hormone makes people quick to anger to begin with.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:And and not just, you know, you hear and and not only that, some people with acromegaly also have higher cortisol levels. You know, everything goes in a feedback um mechanism. And um it's it's not the easiest disease to manage, but I'd like to put out to everyone that I have been on medication since 2016. And excuse me, since since 2006, um, which is a lot of years.
SPEAKER_00:Yes.
SPEAKER_02:And there were times um that I didn't know if I was gonna make it, but I never saw myself being as well as what I am today.
SPEAKER_00:You look fab. You you look really good. And you know, uh uh I always think, especially maybe as the older you get as well, the the the facial signs start to ease off a bit. I've noticed that in myself, and I can see that in yourself as well. But but sometimes it's hard to tell yourself that because we always have to look we have to look at each ourselves in the mirror every day, don't we?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, you look at yourself and you don't see the person you were before. And then even whenever you're you know in trying to recover, you're still seeing the way that you had looked for so many years. You know, I don't have many pictures of myself throughout that time. And literally the photo that was taken um in February prior to my diagnosis, that what my my husband forced me to take because I literally avoided the camera because um my endocrinologist asked me, have you noticed a change in your whenever she suspected acromegalate? She said, Have you noticed a change in your appearance? And I literally just started to cry. And I said, It's like I'm getting uglier and uglier every day. And she said, Sweetie, I don't think that it is you, I think it's this condition that I suspect that you have. And um I feel more now like I look like I should have if acromedally had never occurred. Yes, you know, there'll always be the excess growth here in my jaw. Um, you know, but I don't think that whenever people look at me, they think you have acromedally. Yeah, yeah. So I'm I'm I'm very thankful. Um, I think that if anything, acromedally has built in me resilience. And it's not something that I would wish on anyone else, but um I think it is it has taught me resiliency, and I think that's something that every single person should have in their life.
SPEAKER_00:So we have March coming up. I believe there's an event happening in March, Jill. There is. Do you want to tell us about that?
SPEAKER_02:So we are having um our international Acromegaly meeting. Right now, we have patients coming from Australia, um, from India, from the UK. Yes, from France, from Ireland, from the Philippines. We have patients coming from all over. And um, you know, this uh meeting is going to be even bigger than normal. We we we have it hybrid, so people that can attend can also watch it virtually. Um, but we're meeting with all sorts of different specialists. You've attended one of our past meetings where we have a pretty full schedule.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Um, but um uh this time we are going to um block up our Saturday afternoon into different tracks. So patients get to choose what they want to, such as weight control, you know, um, or um rheumatology. Or um are you are you doing a male and female workshop? We are, we are, yeah. We do that on we're gonna do that Sunday. Um oh Catherine Jonas, our mental health um oh she therapist is gonna be talking, doing a small talk, and then we're gonna break out into our breakout groups. And um, you know, there is just so much more going on with this one that we've never done. We're gonna have a headache specialist, which you know, we we have so many issues.
SPEAKER_01:That's a big thing.
SPEAKER_02:Physiatrist, we're gonna have a fit um a physical therapist, um, a dermatologist. Literally, we tried to think of every specialist that the whole body covers and and we're gonna have three hours worth of people just choosing which which ones they want to choose so that we could fit more in.
SPEAKER_00:And um and also the opportunity for patient stories as well. I think you uh you were mentioning people being able to tell their story.
SPEAKER_02:Correct. So um Friday night, um, we're it's it's our normal meet and greet time, but we're gonna do a tell your story workshop. And great, you know, hopefully it will give you the opportunity to also grab some patients to to um help fill some acro tales. And it will it will give us some good content for awareness day to use because we're gonna we're gonna have a video booth. Okay, patients to be able to pop in and out and tell their stories in order to help raise awareness for um for for others. Um November 1st is our Acromegaly Awareness Day, and hopefully it'll give us a lot of good content. At least for someone to say, you know, it it's if they're a novice, they could maybe see themselves if they have this disease and say, maybe I should go see an endopreneologist.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Um, I had a I had a really interesting story recently. There was a person that it was a bartender, and he had someone walk up to him and hand him a note. And he didn't look at it, he was busy, and that night he went home, and it was the the person who handed him a note was a neurosurgeon. It was his card. Oh, okay, and it said, You I'm a neurosurgeon. Please go have your IDF one checked. And sure enough, that gentleman has acrymantaline. And um it's caught at a microstate, and um he contacted me. I told him the best surgeon um that has the best surgical record in his area, and hopefully he will have a really good outcome.
SPEAKER_00:He'll change his life.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Uh and and kudos, kudos to that guy who had the guts to go up and say I I've seen that conversation pop up a few times. I think I've seen some of that cremegarely, but I don't know what to say. Yep. Say someone can be wrong and embarrassed, or say something and potentially help someone, you know.
SPEAKER_02:No one's it's I I understand it's all wish that we had been diagnosed sooner because the outcomes are typically better the earlier that you're diagnosed.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:So okay, Joe, look, it's been absolutely fantastic talking to you. And um, I I'm sure you've told your story uh a hundred times before. Uh, but you know, we've got it as a permanent record now.
SPEAKER_01:Thank you.
SPEAKER_00:And and also obviously, you know, the work you're doing and the support you're giving the Acromegan community is huge. Can't wait to see you in March and uh hopefully see some faces that I saw back in New Orleans.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Um uh yeah, I'm hoping to avoid any big nosebleeds and hospital hospital issues like I've had before. I'm not gonna drink on the flight, I'm gonna be very good, boy. So thank you so much, Jill. And if you found Jill's story interesting and you want to hear other AcroTales, you know what to do. Head over to Acrotales.com where you can find the ever-expanding library of interviews. And of course, you can subscribe to the podcast to receive the latest updates on iTunes and Spotify. And also on uh my own website as well. More info on that later. So thank you once again, Joe, and over and out. Speak to you soon.
SPEAKER_02:Thank you, and see you soon.