Peace

I didn't get a lot of sleep last night. I think I finally fell asleep around 2am and was up again around 5. Too much was rolling around in my head. The more I thought about what I needed to decide, the further away from making a decision I got. I prayed and I just let it all out. I needed something. Shortly after my appointment with the neurosurgeon, I started thinking I wanted to talk to my endocrinologist. I just wanted to hear his thoughts on what the neurosurgeon had said. My endocrinologist is extremely busy. I wasn't sure how soon I could get in to talk to him if I made an appointment. I thought about just calling and talking to his nurse but I really wanted to talk to him personally. I decided I would actually go to his office and see what I could get to happen but wasn't sure what to even say to the receptionist. I keep trying different scenarios out in my head as I was getting ready for work this morning. Suddenly my phone rang. I looked down and saw the clinic name my endocrinologist is at (as well as most of my family's other doctors). It was 7:35am. I immediately thought, is that him? And quickly thought, no way! But why would anyone from the clinic be calling me this early, they're not even open? I picked up and IT WAS HIM!! I couldn't believe it! He knew I had had the lumbar puncture done but didn't even know I had been in again yesterday. He just called me out of the blue. But I knew, it wasn't out of the blue. God is so good. I updated him on everything and then asked him his thoughts. He said he would start with the steroids. He also said he would give me a glucometer so I could track my blood sugar and report it back to him. If necessary, he could put me on medication if my blood sugar got too high. He seemed very optimistic that it wouldn't be a problem. He told me to let him know which way I decide and that was that. I am still in shock but really shouldn't be. God is so aware of each one of us.

I have talked to several other people including my gynecologist, and one of my most favorite nurses (my sister in law). Obviously, I have also prayed a lot and came to the decision to go ahead and try a round of steroids. I will be on them for three weeks and then we will do another MRI to see if it has shrunk at all. I also have a date of December 10th for a biopsy IF the steroids do not work and we need to do one. I still don't like the idea but I feel at peace that this is what I need to do right now. So if I look a little fluffier the next time you see me, you'll know why.

1 step forward, 3 steps back

Neurosurgeon visit #2. Lumbar puncture that resulted in headache from hell came up with no helpful information. Just to recap, the growth of my pituitary stalk could be an array of different things that fit into two categories, inflammatory autoimmune OR pituitary tumor. Therefore, the doctor presented me with two options:

Option #1: Try a round of steroids for a few weeks and then do an MRI. If the growth shrinks, we know it is inflammatory. If it doesn't we know it is a tumor but we don't know what kind of tumor. 

PROS - cost less, less invasive, can start right away

CONS - will gain weight, will raise blood sugar that would potentially send me into the diabetic range (recap from a previous post: I am considered prediabetic. Nobody knows why because I have ZERO risk factors.)

Option #2: Do a biopsy which entails going through my nose, through the actual pituitary to the stalk. Fat from my stomach will then be taken to patch the hole that this would create so that cerebral fluid does not continue to leak out. As I have found out cerebral fluid leaks are BAD NEWS. I will then stay in the hospital for a couple of days. 

PROS - I will know exactly what it is. 

CONS - I will most likely lose my thyroid function and cortisol. I cannot schedule it until the middle of November. Costly, I'm sure. 

Now, it is possible that I may have to do both options. For example, if I chose to do steroids first and they don't work, I would then have to to do the biopsy to see what kind of tumor I have because you treat them differently depending on the type. And vice versa, if I chose to do the biopsy first I could find out the growth is, in fact, inflammatory which would mean steroid treatment. The doctor says he could go either way and it's up to me. He doesn't feel like one is better than the other.   

Here is one of my biggest frustrations, my endocrinologist had already mentioned these two options but knowing the cons of both, he didn't know which way to go. He referred me to the neurosurgeon to basically make that decision. So, in reality, going to the neurosurgeon really didn't give me any more answers because he came up with the same options and left it up to me. The only thing he did say is not to wait, that I should pick one of these two options. 

So, if anybody has an opinion, either way, I'd love to hear it.