I wish I was joking, but unfortunately I'm not. I went in for my annual physical (a couple years late) and while I was there I mentioned that my menstrual cycle had suddenly shifted from 45 days to 90 days pretty much overnight nearly 2 years ago. I'm only 38 but was wondering if there was any chance I might be in some early stage of menopause. So my doc said she would run some extra blood tests.

First the nurse calls me back and says everything looks normal, I think great but that still doesn't explain my change in cycle (Mind you I wasn't complaining) Then a couple days later my doc calls me and drops the bombshell and tells me she thinks I may have a tumor in my pituitary gland and to come in for an MRI to make sure. She said not to worry they are almost always non-cancerous and that I should be able to treat it with drug therapy.

Well, I had the MRI on Friday and I finally get through to my doctor today on the phone. Turns out she hadn't seen my test results yet as they were physically sitting on her desk rather than in her computer. (What a novel concept!) So she looked at them while talking to me and confirmed that not only do I have a tumor but it has grown large enough that it is now pressing on my left optical nerve and is no longer a candidate for drug therapy. UHGGHH!!!

I'm still not terribly worried but I wasn't thrilled when she said she was going to get me scheduled with a neurosurgeon as quickly as possible and call me back later today to tell me the when/where's.

Not sure why I'm posting this. I'm really not trying to play a pity party I just wanted to vent my frustrations.

Diane, I am so sorry you are going through this. My thoughts and prayers are definitely with you. Keep us posted.

This is no pity party at all!, you need to vent in a moment like this! I'm so sorry, and please know that I'm praying for you, the good thing is that you went for a physical and they were able to find it now on time, please keep us updated.

Diane,

so sorry to hear this. you are in my thoughts.

My prayers are with you! We serve an awesome God that can do ANYTHING!! We will be praying for you!!

Diane, that must have been shocking and very upsetting news. I am impressed by your strength and how well you seem to be handling this. My thoughts are with you, keep us posted on how things go.

sorry to hear this. hope you are doing well and i will keep you in my thoughts and prayers.

Diane,

it sounds like a pituitary prolactanoma (sp) my husband has one. they did not find it until his mid 20's but it started growing at the start of puberty for him. he has to be injected with testosterone every other week ( they have tried different forms but he tends to be allergic to many of them) he also has to take bromocriptine (sp) daily for his prolactin levels which are high. right now he is on maintainence doses. the neurosurgeon 8 years ago did not recommend removal as it would cause him more trouble than the problems he already has, his new on says that things have changed enough over the years that it could be safely removed through the nose, but as she can no longer see it on the scans, she does not think we should mess with it.

good luck and my prayers are with you

by the way he has been banded and has lost 94 lbs can be a slower loss but still he is losing. the only thing that the surgeon wanted to make sure is that there was no cushings disease also.

Wow, you seem to be handling this so well! A friend of mine went to the Dr., they did blood work on her and told her she was pregnant! She didn't have a boyfriend or anything. Come to find out, she had the same thing you did. She had surgery and lost a TON of weight. Apparently hers was causing some major hormones that were causing her to gain weight. I think she is on some sort of hormone replacement, similar to after menapause. She is doing great and so Happy with the surprising weight loss!

Good Luck and keep us informed.

Ghost, that sucks. I'm sorry to hear it. I'll pray for you.

ghost,

Sounds like everyone has your back, I'll keep you in my prayers too, brandyII.

Quick update.

I have no update. The doctor told me yesterday morning she would be having a neurosurgeon contact me "as quickly as possible" her words. Then her nurse called back at 4:30pm (nearly 6 hours later) to tell me that a "Stat" referral had been requested. I remember thinking WTF?! Wasn't that already done 6 hours ago! Sure doesn't sound Stat to me.

Now here I am well over 24 hours since I spoke to the doctor yesterday morning and still no call from a neurosurgeon's office and I can't reach anyone of any use at the doctors office to even ask who it was they were trying to get to call me so I can call them myself.

Come on people, you don't just drop a bombshell like this on someone and just leave them hanging. Who knows what I would have done if it hadn't been for the age of the internet. At least I've been able to get some answers from Google and it doesn't sound all that bad. I keep telling everyone I'm not freaked out about this whole thing but I'd really like to get a move on and figure out where I go from here.

Diane, I am so sorry to hear this news. All my thoughts and hopes are with you at this time. Please do keep us updated on your situation. Remember that we are your support group and that we are pulling for you.

I just saw this thread today and I want you to know I immediately started praying for you. I don't have any words of wisdom about this type of tumor but you are and will remain in my prayers.

I too just found this thread today Diane----I have been trying to deal with health issues my DD is having and not getting Dr. response either---so it is Not just your Dr.'s

I was thinking the same thing mentioned by a poster above---you are concerned about weight loss---this might be part of the problem that led you to need to be banded!

I had the isthmus (center) and entire right lobe of my thyroid removed last November----and am doing so much better since the removal of the tumors!

A small pill is nothing, you will feel so much better to get things regulated again.

Feel free to vent anytime.....we will be here in any way we can!

Please keep us updated....we care.

Kat

UPDATE:

Got tired of my DH calling every hour yesterday asking if I the refferal clerk had called with an appointment time yet so I bounced from person to person until I finally found someone who would even try to help. Then all she could tell me is that she saw I already had an appointment set up in the system with a neurosurgeon. Only no one had called to tell me this. And get this the "STAT" appointment my doc requested is set for JULY!!! Can anyone tell me on what planet 9 weeks is Stat?

The gal I was talking to couldn't explain why it was so long, couldn't/wouldn't give me a direct number to the neurosurgeon's office and said I'd have to wait until the referral clerk called me to officially tell me when the appointment was to find out why it was going to take so long. I AM STILL WAITING FOR THAT CALL!!!!!

THEN, I went online to do a little background check on the doctor they had scheduled me with. After all maybe he was so good it took that long to see him. Who knows that may still be true but according to the internet he only graduated just under 2 years ago and he doesn't even specialize in Brain tumors or Pituitary disorders.

Needless to say this didn't sit to well with me or my DH. So when he got off work he started making phone calls to the insurance company as well as neurosurgeons off our in-network list. And within a couple hours he had 2 different appointments with neurosurgeons who both specialize in pituitary disorders one of them in the same group as the appointment my doc's office has yet to tell me they set. And get this both appointments are for next week! Kind of interesting how my husband was able to get an appointment 8 weeks sooner than the doctor's referral clerk who was told to get a STAT appointment, and they work at the same university hospital.