In Her Twenties, Yoselin Needed Pituitary Tumor Surgery for Cushing's Disease to Get Her Life Back

Yoselin Barboza describes her doctors at Cleveland Clinic in Florida as “angels.”

“I will always be grateful for them,” she says. “They gave me so much peace.”

Near the end of 2023, Yoselin, who was 27 years old at the time, had not had a menstrual cycle in 12 months. She went to her gynecologist seeking a diagnosis and help, but that proved unsuccessful. She began gaining weight without a clear explanation, putting on 50 pounds.

Yoselin knew something was not right and went back to her doctor, who then referred her to the Cleveland Clinic in Florida Endocrinology and Metabolism Institute. In January of 2024, Yoselin went to see Alexandra Mikhael, MD, an endocrinologist at Cleveland Clinic Weston Hospital.

“She was an absolute angel,” Yoselin says of Dr. Mikhael. “She told me, ‘We’re going to get to the bottom of this. You are so young to be going through this.’”

After extensive testing of Yoselin’s blood, saliva and urine, it was determined that Yoselin had hypercortisolism/high cortisol. Dr. Mikhael sent Yoselin for an MRI scan, which revealed a small tumor on her pituitary gland. (The pituitary gland is a small, pea-sized endocrine gland located at the base of the brain. It is responsible for making several essential hormones and for telling other endocrine glands to release hormones. Growth, metabolism, reproduction and stress response are just a few of the bodily functions impacted by the pituitary gland). Yoseline's small pituitary tumor was over-producing cortisol (Cushing's disease) and it required removal as a result.

Removing a tumor from the pituitary gland requires a delicate surgical procedure. Further testing of Yoselin’s blood confirmed the tumor was causing her issues, which also now included high blood pressure, fatigue and high levels of cortisol (a steroid hormone that affects the body’s response to stress). The testing also revealed the tumor was benign (noncancerous).

Yoselin decided to go through with the surgery to remove the tumor because leaving it could cause additional complications later.

In October of 2024, Hamid Borghei-Razavi, MD, a neurosurgeon at Weston Hospital, performed a transsphenoidal surgery on Yoselin to remove the tumor. The minimally invasive procedure involves going through the nose and sphenoid sinus, a hollow space in the skull behind the nasal passages and below the brain, to access the pituitary gland.

“Dr. Borghei-Razavi was absolutely amazing and so attentive,” Yoselin says.

She spent two days in the hospital before being released home. She says her recovery was quick and fairly easy, having just some headaches afterward.

“Everything has gotten better,” she says. “It’s crazy how something so tiny as the pituitary gland can affect so much.”

After the procedure her cortisol levels dropped, her blood pressure went down and her menstrual cycle returned. She began losing weight naturally and is now down to her appropriate weight. She is back to work and happy to have returned to a normal life.

“They were, honestly, angels,” Yoselin says of her care team at Cleveland Clinic, “I could feel the love they all put toward my case. They really cared, not just because it was their job. They really wanted me to be okay. They are amazing people.”