OT: Health Question
My brothers...
after a week of persistent headaches I was diagnosed with a benign tumor on my pituitary gland. I’m 28 years old with no other health concerns, daily meds, or allergies.
I was just diagnosed yesterday, and am waiting on docs to read my second MRI that was more focused on my pituitary gland. The medication I’m on has made my headaches go away, the believe the headaches started because my gland was bleeding.
Is there any hope I will be able to avoid surgery? Even if I don’t, the surgery sounds very routine, would anyone agree?
I appreciate you all, we are all due for some health scares at some point. Thank you. Go Blue!
I've done two brain MRIs. For me, the trick to getting through is to just close my eyes before they even put me in the machine and keep them closed the entire time. My thinking is if you can't see what is going on, you can't get claustraphobic about it. I try to relax rest as much as possible, though the noise is usually too much. One time they gave me headphones and music--that was nice--I kinda drifted off that time.
I find myself taking a trip down memory lane each time I’ve been in the machine, I actually thought a lot about high school football during my second MRI.
I caught myself moving my hands a lot, but no one ever said anything about it.
March 12th, 2019 at 11:00 PM ^
This is great advice—though most patients roll their eyes when they hear this. Can’t be afraid of a tight space if you can’t see it. Stay mentally focused and keep those eyes shut even before entering the mri suite.
Make sure you see an ophthalmologist to get a visual field test. Your pituitary is below the optic chiasm and, in some cases, the tumor can impinge on the chiasm and cause visual loss. You will need to do this whether or not you have surgery. If you don't have surgery, you will often have to have visual fields checked routinely to confirm lack of progression.
As ophthalmologists, we regularly see and diagnose people with pituitary tumors. In the past decade, we have seen no fatalities from pituitary tumors, even those that are advanced at diagnosis.
How often would you say is routine for these visits? 3 months?
Usually annually, unless there is concern about change (either from you or your neurosurgeon). Definitely get them done before and after surgery (if you have it), there are rare occasions where the surgery can cause damage to the chiasm because of shared blood supply. You need to know what happening with the vision (says the eye gal).
March 12th, 2019 at 11:02 PM ^
Probably a neuro optho though not essential.
March 11th, 2019 at 11:32 PM ^
Thoughts and prayers. Fight and build a network to help you through the pain.
All the best to you and I hope you make a full recovery. It may be good to get a second opinion on any option your neurologist suggest. Nice to see so many doctors out there on the blog giving some good advice. As an engineer, I'm always fascinated to read up on physiology.
My daughter has something possibly similar. She takes a prescription to shrink the tumor which is now almost nonexistent.
Without medication her prognosis would likely include loss of eyesight and worse. With medication it’s completely controllable.
Great to hear!! Glad for your family!!
A buddy of mine has dealt with this for the last 25 years of his life. There are options: radiation, human growth hormone, other medications...I think he had his pituitary gland removed. Either way, based only on my observation of my friend's experience, you have a very good chance of a normal life.
Listen to your doctors, rely on your family for support, and make informed decisions. You got this.
Sign me up for some HGH coach
March 12th, 2019 at 10:55 AM ^
My two cents, make sure you are seen at a major medical center (top 10/20 site...like UM Med) for a second opinion. Local and many decent city hospitals may not have the full breadth of experience that a med center staff can offer.
My girlfriend at the time got the surgery in high school over 15 years ago. It was routine for her, back then. Any other insight I can't give, except get regular screenings afterwards. She got another one in a different part of her a year later. Stay positive, my dude. You got this.