Shawn Lane: Cushing’s Syndrome - The Pain of Shawn Lane by Jessie Baker 2008



Unfortunately, Lane was limited in many ways by a congenital illness that ultimately hampered his playing– Psoriatic arthritis.

Psoriatic arthritis is a chronic disease characterized by inflammation of the skin (psoriasis) and joints (arthritis). Approximately 10% of patients who have psoriasis also develop an associated inflammation of their joints. Patients who have inflammatory arthritis and psoriasis are diagnosed as having psoriatic arthritis. According to Lane, he had this condition since he was a young boy, and it was virulent.

“This arthritis attacked everywhere, all in my hands, my neck, my arms and every bone in my body. I couldn’t even move and I had to take lots of pain medicines to try to live. It hasn’t really got any better because there’s not really a cure for arthritis or psoriasis.”

Though Lane was not one to complain about his condition, the effects of psoriatic arthritis were painfully apparent. In order to control his pain, Lane was given cortisone (steroid) injections which gave him temporary relief and allowed him to play live gigs, but these treatments caused him to gain a lot of weight.


“It’s really painful. The only thing you can use for it is Cortisone. But I had it so much over every part of my body and I used Cortisone treatment so much I got Cortisone poison and developed what’s called ‘Cushing’s Syndrome’ from too much Cortisone in the body.”

Full article: http://www.fogmagazine.com/the-pain-of-shawn-lane/

Comments