Huh.

So, I guess it's about a little over a year ago. I'm in pain. Like all of the time. My head feels like a ticking time bomb. So, I do what normal people do. I ignore it at first and take Tylenol. That goes on for about a week and then I make an appointment with my GP. She says, "well, looks like it's probably a sinus infection. I'm going to write you this prescription. If it's isn't better in another week or two, call me." Well, it wasn't. It was worse.
So, I call back. "It's not better. It's worse." Huh. She's perplexed. "Like in what way worse?" Well, I tell her that I'm blacking out a bit and that I'm hearing a ringing in my ears that is constant. "You're not throwing up, are you?" I tell her that I'm not and she seems relieved by that. I guess that I am too... seeing that she is. Anyway, she gives me another prescription and out I go. Here goes another week and a half. Ringing gets louder. I go to work and do my job and sit there and act like nothing is bothering me. People stand across from me and ask me questions... "can you send this to the Lafayette address instead of local? I really don't think he's going to be around this Thursday..." and I nod my head and say "yeah, sounds great," all the time wanting to rip the back of my skull off, just so that I can stop the buzzing. This goes on for a week or so and I call the doc back. She says, "well, I don't know... we should probably get a scan."
So, we do. A week later, a lab calls with a scheduled appointment. You do the math... my ears have been ringing for a solid month now. Anyway, I'm scheduled and I go in for an MRI. Scan taken... Tuesday afternoon. Results... Friday. My doc calls and she is usually pretty cool. This time, she's kind of acting strange and asks me if I have a few minutes to talk. Uh oh. Anyway, she tells me that they saw a "spot." Now, she doesn't want to "alarm" me, but she wants me to come in again "as soon as possible" and do another scan. Like "tomorrow or the next day" if I could. Shit. Well, alright. So, Monday it is. We do another one. This time, they get close up on the area that they saw the spot. They need to focus in and make sure that it is what they think it is. And, what do you know? It is. So, she calls me back. It is what the doctors like to refer to as a pituitary microadenoma. It is not cancer (my first question). Now, this is pretty cool in my case because, you will notice, I called it "micro." Pituitary is just the type (basically location) and adenoma is a pretty word for tumor. If a tumor in this area is over 7mm, it is considered a "macroadenoma." If it is under 7mm, it is considered a microadenoma. Luckily, mine measured out at 5.5mm. Now, what this means is just that basically, this bitch is uncomfortable and putting a lot of pressure on my pituitary gland and making my life a living hell and we need to shrink it a bit just to make things a little more comfortable for my every day life. So, there are options.
There are surgical options. I was sent to a neurologist specializing in this kind of tumor... he says thumbs down. He thinks surgery should always be the last option. So, boo on that.
There is radiation. He says... meh. Another last resort.
He thinks it's best to shrink through medication. So, for the past year and a half, I have been in medication la la land. I feel like you could poke me with a stick and green gel would come out of me. However, no one tells you how frightened you'll be... especially when you don't even know if it's working.
My next MRI is in a few days and they will tell me if this medication has even worked 1cm. If it hasn't, we have to go another route and I am kind of freaking out a little.
No one ever promised us a rose garden, right? It's just a little tumor. I just watched my uncle go through the shittiest 3 years of his life to cancer and that guy lived like a rock star and never complained. So, boo hoo to me. Let's do this.