I’ve kept this to myself for quite a while.  Not because I was hiding it but because after I being diagnosed with it when I was 11 and I thought my world was crumbling.. I decided to never let it hold me back.  I didn’t want pity or special treatment I just wanted to do me.  And I have done my best to keep that true to this day.  Yes I have a brain tumor. Lucky for me it is Benign but still has its kicks.

The symptoms started when I was 11.  Severe migraines, weight gain, and some other very

Not mine but what it is about the same

embarrassing things for an 11 year old.  After invasive questions, countless tests, bloodwork, and MRIs, there it was a tumor….A PITUITARY BRAIN TUMOR.  Nowadays they’re pretty common as about 20% of people have them but back then, in a small town, finding out you have a brain tumor, you think its the end of the world.  For a few days, I gave up.  I cried. I got mad. I gave up on everything.  The diagnosis came out that it was just a benign pituitary adenoma a little larger than a pea. Its never just a “Tumor” its all that happens with it and now it would now mess with me my whole life. Surgery was the last option and we opted or medicine to shrink and keep it in check.

Flash forward to now and I have been neglectful.  Not on purpose but when you don’t have health insurance, specialists and expensive tests and medications are not always in the budget.  For me they fell out of my budget and just hadn’t worked its way back in yet.  I was doing great for last few years without it..so I thought.

The signs were there and I should have caught it.

Symptoms caused by pressure from a larger pituitary tumor may include:

  • Changes in vision such as double vision, visual field loss, drooping eyelids
  • Headache
  • Lethargy
  • Nasal drainage of clear fluid
  • Nausea and vomiting
  • Problems with the sense of smell
  • Fatigue
  • Depression
  • and the list goes on and on

And I had all of those.  Although I don’t know the severity of the flare up just yet, I am already feeling lots better after getting back on my medicine.  Thankfully its just benign but that’s still not an acceptable reason to not pay more attention to it.

So now I start over the process again of lab work, MRIs, and medicine, which will hopefully shrink it down and I won’t need surgery.  It’s scary but apparently it’s a scare I needed to kick my butt and get me back on a healthy path.

Stick around as I’ll keep you posted!

 


Update: 10/2017

We are still searching our way through  the crazy world of hormonal imbalance.  Over the last year, we moved to Humboldt County where doctors are few and far between and finding one that is taking new patients was even more difficult.  But I did it! So began the restart of blood work, MRI, scans, and medications.

Try this, take this, adjust your diet, drink more water, eat more beans….

Another 40lbs packed on and it seems no closer to stop.  Luckily I am always my Go Do Be motivating self and have been staying active and positive. “Anything you can do …I can do as a big girl” is kinda my mantra as I navigate through this.

Spirits up and ready for the next adventure!

Stay tuned for updates