and then what happened?

The next day I talked to an endocrinologist and then on Friday we went to see the neuro-opthimologist. I had some vision tests and for the first time ever I actually couldn’t see the letters on the screen. They had to roll it up a few times for me and it was super tough. I also had a hard time finding the numbers made of colored circles in the bigger circle.

So then the doctor came in and he showed us the MRI since we hadn’t seen it yet. He told us what was going on in there, but with a lot of, “we don’t know for sure”’s and “we won’t know until we get in there” type of disclaimers. The first thing I said when I saw it and he said it was right behind my sinus’s, I was just like “uh, you think it could be full of baby spiders waiting to hatch?”. Eric and I chuckled, the doctor did not. Then he explained what was going on with my optic nerve and how it was bowing around the tumor. He said I had some permanent nerve damage and some field of vision loss too. He said he thinks that most of my vision would likely return after surgery.

Then I went to work.

Friday Sirus went to Grandmas since Seamus had her turn the other week. We had a lovely evening with Seamus and then in the morning she and I did a bunch of errands and she rode a horse and we had all kinds of fun! Then I took a nap. I was beat. Sunday we went to a bday party where the kids ran wild for a few hours, then we took the top off of the jeep and we went for a drive then I took a nap.

At no point during any of this did I do any training. Not allowed, they told me to stop. Things weren’t looking so great for ITU Worlds.

Monday went to the neuroscience place and met face to face with the endocrinologist. She told us a ton about the pituitary gland and everything it does. Eric and I argued with her, trying to get her to commit to how long the tumor had been in there. if it was less than 10yrs, Eric totally gave it to me. If it was 15 or so years, then Eric was in the clear. She said it could be either. so non-committal!!! I am pretty sure that ATT gave it to me with all the drama there was with trying to get my new phone set up. Sheesh!! And I suspect that watching this video too many times of my boyfriend Dan Hugo swimming maybe have possibly been too much for my mere mortal brain to handle, or maybe it is what gave me the vision problems? Proceed with caution if you plan to watch it. It is lovely.

After that doctor came the neurosurgeon. He did not have a sense of humor at all. But everyone tells me that is probably a good thing. The endocrinologist totally did, this guy not so much. So he told us all kinds of stuff as well. He was easy to follow and everything he said make sense. He was saying that it isn’t a pituitary tumor at all, but instead sits on top of the pituitary. he showed us how it was pushing the optic chiasm or whatever (where the optic nerves cross) to the back and bowing them behind the tumor – I had thot they were bowing up but apparently not. He showed us the carotid artery, a major artery in the brain and how the tumor was pushing on it or squishing it or something, sorta missed that part. He showed us how the tumor is pushing on the pituitary stalk that connects the pituitary gland to the brain and he showed us how it is pushing on the frontal lobes of my brains.

Then he told us how he could go in through my nose, yes, just like the Egyptians. This is apparently the preferred option for pituitary tumors because they just go right in there and pull them out. But, my tumor looks to be in that brain sack. Yeah, sack. In my brain. So they would have to pop that sack and let all the spinal fluid drip out my head and apparently it’s really hard to get that to close back up. Although they take some fat off you somewhere else and plug it all in there – liposuction as a bonus, who knew!! He talked about other complications, more about how the tumor was close to stuff and he wouldn’t be able to tell how anything was actually attached to anything until he was in there and it would be tricky to see with that approach.

So the other option is through my head. Craniotomy. Eric and I had already discussed this as a possibility many times, I even discussed it with my mom and xtie and I had decided if they had to do it would totally shave my whole head. First a little Mohawk pre-shave and then the whole thing. But as the nurse put it, it would just be a haircut. They shave as little as possible. But she did warn, he is a neurosurgeon and not a hairstylist! So I guess I should be prepared for anything.

then i had blood work and a CT scan. CT scans are SO much easier that MRIs!

that was monday.