In late January 2016 I was diagnosed with a very large pituitary tumor.\u00a0 For those who don\u2019t know what this is, it is a tumor inside the cranial cavity.\u00a0 I hope you never need a brain surgeon, but if you suffer from one of these surprisingly common afflictions you\u2019ll find you have no choice.\u00a0 So, to protect yourself and your loved ones you need to know more about them \u2013 this series of posts might serve that purpose.\u00a0 It details the events and circumstances that built up to and surrounded mine, please read on.<\/p>\n
My past treatment at various doctor\u2019s hand ensures a deeply defined suspicion of them. \u00a0Thanks to the encouragement of a close friend, I managed to overcome my resentment and found a wonderful personal physician, Dr. Shelley Blackburn, early in 2015.\u00a0 I have no doubt she is the reason I still have my eyesight.<\/p>\n
In 2015 the vision in my left eye began deteriorating.\u00a0 I noticed it soon after it began because it started as a blurred spot directly on the focal point of my left eye.\u00a0 I visited an optometrist for an examination and discussed it with her, but she couldn\u2019t find any optical reason for it \u2013 my eyes seemed healthy.\u00a0 She prescribed new glasses and asked if I\u2019d like to visit an Ophthalmologist for a follow-up exam.\u00a0 I asked if they\u2019d be able to fix the problem, to which she replied \u201cProbably not, but at least you\u2019ll know what is wrong.<\/em>\u201d Since I was on a very high deductible insurance plan I decided not to spend a large chunk of my own money for no results. \u00a0Big mistake<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Over the remainder of 2015 I watched the blurry spot in my left eye expand until over seventy percent of its vision, from the left edge to well past the center, was severally compromised.\u00a0 Foolishly, I shrugged it off as the likely result of a Cavernous Sinus Thrombosis suffered over thirty years previously.\u00a0 {Yes, that incident was a major contributing factor to my distrust of doctors.}\u00a0 How could I be so stupid?\u00a0 Easy.\u00a0 The Cavernous Sinus Thrombosis pinched the optic nerve of my left eye until I lost control over it and could no longer distend it to the left.\u00a0 Some time afterwards I was prescribed spectacles because my left eye was significantly weaker that my right.\u00a0 This blurry vision was simply another ramification of that old injury, right?\u00a0 Wrong.<\/p>\n The way things appear at first glance is not necessarily the way they are\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n In early January 2016 I noticed a blurry spot beginning to form in my right eye.\u00a0 My old injury had not affected my right eye in any discernible way, so I realized I needed to act.\u00a0 Since the optometrist had no idea regarding the cause of the vision loss in my left eye it became clear I needed to see an Ophthalmologist.\u00a0 Ophthalmologists are specialists, in the USA to see one you must have a referral. I made an appointment with my GP.\u00a0 Fortunately, my company\u2019s insurance provider changed for 2016 and I had opted for a lower deductible insurance plan.\u00a0 On the old high deductible plan I would probably have delayed, a hesitation that may well have resulted in me being clinically blind today.<\/p>\n During the visit with my GP I asked for a referral to an Ophthalmologist. \u00a0Fate stepped in.\u00a0 It turned out Dr. Blackburn is blind in one eye.\u00a0 I described my symptoms and she immediately set to work.\u00a0 Here in the USA most specialists are booked up for months in advance.\u00a0 Dr. Blackburn called in a personal favor and secured an appointment for me with an Ophthalmologist associate of hers for the next day.<\/p>\n The Ophthalmologist, Dr. Richard (*), proved to be extremely thorough.\u00a0 Test after test showed no cause for my vision loss \u2013 both my eyes were healthy.\u00a0 Eventually he called for a Visual Acuity test.\u00a0 Bingo.\u00a0 As soon as he read the results, which define clear borders for our peripheral vision, he explained what he\u2019d found.\u00a0 In his opinion I was displaying classic symptoms of a large pituitary tumor.\u00a0 This type of tumor stretches both optic nerves and results in loss of peripheral vision.\u00a0 I needed an MRI performed immediately.<\/p>\n Dr. Richard called Dr. Blackburn, she arranged the MRI, immediately. \u00a0At 8pm that night I went into hospital where I lay inside the Magnetic Resonance Imaging chamber for half an hour, listening to the loud clicking, banging, and crashing of extremely technical and precise machinery mapping out my brain and skull.\u00a0 A word to the wise\u2026 if you ever need an MRI accept the option of loud music to both pass the time and deaden the noise.<\/p>\n The next morning Dr. Blackburn called me to confirm that I did indeed have a pituitary tumor.\u00a0 A very large pituitary tumor.\u00a0 How large?\u00a0 Mine was 24 millimeters.\u00a0 Imagine a one inch diameter marble sitting right inside your skull, pushing against the Frontal Lobes of your brain, distending and crushing your pituitary gland, and stretching both optic nerves.\u00a0 That is essentially what I had \u2013 it turns out I never lost my marbles, the doctors found mine\u2026\u00a0 {Actually, I did lose my marbles, but that came later, when I was in hospital recovering from the surgery. \u00a0I\u2019ll be writing about that in a later installment of this article.}<\/p>\n Again Dr. Blackburn jumped into action to secure an appointment with a Neurologist she knew.\u00a0 Unfortunately Dr. Blackburn\u2019s acquaintance was fully booked, however in turn she took the time to call a Neurosurgeon associate.\u00a0 Once again, instead of having to wait months for an appointment with a specialist, I had one in a couple of days.\u00a0 And what a wonderful person Dr. Brett (*) turned out to be.\u00a0 Calm, measured, thoughtful, and willing to take as long as necessary to explain everything to our satisfaction.\u00a0 Also, though significantly younger than me, Dr. Brett’s temperment strongly reminded me of my deceased oldest brother \u2013 these little things matter.<\/p>\n Dr. Brett explained that before a course of treatment could be determined we had to find out if the tumor was productive or non-productive and whether it was cancerous.\u00a0 A productive tumor produces hormones that generally play havoc, a non-productive tumor doesn’t produce hormones, and a cancerous tumor is bad news of another ilk.\u00a0 To determine the tumor\u2019s type I had to see an Endocrinologist.<\/p>\n Yet another specialist, yet another potentially months long wait…<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n This time it was Dr. Brett who called in a favor by securing an appointment for me.\u00a0 Oh, and in case you doubt this chain of remarkable good fortune, I personally overheard him calling and speaking with the Endocrinologist to explain the urgency of the situation and how much he\u2019d appreciate her seeing me ASAP.\u00a0 This was midway through a Friday afternoon.<\/p>\n The Endocrinologist, Dr. Michelle (*), agreed to see me early the following Tuesday afternoon, but warned I might have to wait as she was scheduling me during her lunch break. She also instructed Dr. Brett as to the specific bloodwork she would need to make a diagnosis.\u00a0 She needed a lot of tests performed.\u00a0 Dr. Brett had his assistant make an appointment for me with him the following Wednesday, then called the bloodwork department and sent me down to have the bloods for a copious number of tests drawn.<\/p>\n How fast was this happening?\u00a0 So fast that when I arrived to have my blood drawn they hadn\u2019t yet received the written orders.\u00a0 I waited the short time necessary, then had multiple vials of blood drawn.\u00a0 The phlebotomist told me I needed to come in first thing on Monday to have another draw made, to test my hormone levels after a night\u2019s sleep.\u00a0 That particular draw took a day to process, its results would be delivered to Dr. Michelle by noon on Tuesday.\u00a0 She would see me in the early afternoon, so there was no time wasted.<\/p>\n Things were rapidly falling into place.\u00a0 Everything was progressing incredibly smoothly, surely this was a good omen<\/em> and an indication of things to come?\u00a0 Unfortunately it was not.<\/p>\n Tuesday afternoon Dr. Michelle gave me the good news.\u00a0 My tumor was both non-cancerous and non-producing.\u00a0 My hormone levels were all within their normal ranges, and she now had a baseline of what we would have to aim for after treatment.\u00a0 She also warned me of likely outcomes and what she would be looking for after the treatment performed by Dr. Brett.<\/p>\n Wednesday came. \u00a0I saw Dr. Brett, who went over the results he\u2019d already received from Dr. Michelle to confirm her prognosis.\u00a0 He explained that surgery to de-bulk the tumor was the best option, possibly followed by some chemotherapy or radiological treatments, should they prove necessary. \u00a0He went over how he performed the surgery, answered all our questions, and we scheduled surgery.\u00a0 A quick skim through his appointment diary showed no openings for weeks, except for a single blank spot on Tuesday, 7th<\/sup> February, which happened to be the following week.\u00a0 I made a joke about spoiling his golf outing to cover my relief at not having weeks to fret over the tumor growing in my skull.<\/p>\n I would be his first case of the day and would have to be checked in, ready for surgery preparation by 6am.\u00a0 The method Dr. Brett uses for this surgery is a transsphenoidal pituitary resection.\u00a0 This procedure involves using an Endoscope, inserted and operated via one of the nostrils to enter the cranium and de-bulk the tumor.\u00a0 He explained that this type of surgery normally takes about two hours, along with an hour\u2019s preparation and another hour post op to wind down.\u00a0 Most patients are released after a one or two-day recovery period in hospital.<\/p>\n In my case this was not to be.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Due to complications, the surgery itself took five hours.\u00a0 My recovery time in hospital wasn\u2019t two days, it was a little over two weeks \u2013 the first six days of which were spent in the Intensive Care Unit, and of which I have only fragmentary recollection.<\/p>\n How do we prepare for a total memory loss?\u00a0 Lest you think we cannot, we can \u2013 though not in ways that easily spring to mind.\u00a0 Since I have firsthand experience of the phenomenon I\u2019ll be addressing this in a following post of this article.\u00a0 For now, let me assure you total memory loss is nothing like it is portrayed in the movies.\u00a0 Nothing at all.<\/p>\n How is our damaged faith restored?\u00a0 Through the efforts of those who care.\u00a0 Everyone involved in my case cared.\u00a0 From the many nurses who looked after me to the doctors who treated me, everyone involved made extraordinary efforts to ensure the best possible outcome for me \u2013 someone of whom they had no personal knowledge.\u00a0 I am humbled and grateful to them all for tending me during this frightening ordeal, and believe me when I say it was frightening.<\/p>\n The end of part one. I hesitate to refer to this post as \u201cmy story\u201d as that indicates fiction, and this is not a fictional account.<\/p>\n Please accept my apologies for not completing this article in a single post.\u00a0 I am unable to do so for several reasons.\u00a0 First, I am still recovering and lack the mental and physical endurance to write it all in a single article.\u00a0 Next, just the introduction is already over 1500 words, which is much longer than a blog post should be.\u00a0 Next, it is not yet over, I am still recovering and have a long way to go till I am back to normal, if indeed I ever get there.<\/p>\n (*) Name obscured to protect individual privacy.<\/p>\n
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