TWELVE-With the start of the new year behind us, we now tackle the dreaded pituitary gland tumour. As time went on the worry around the pituitary glad became less and less. We were still focused on the slight chance that it wasn't a tumour and that it was just a blip on the MRI (which we were told can happen, we had yet to have any confirmation that it was in fact a tumour). February 17th had arrived and we had our video appointment with the endocrinologist at 2pm. He was great and answered all our questions with ease, and most importantly he genuinely cared about us. He asked more questions to learn more about us as a couple, and what we had been dealing with for the last 9 months. I can easily say he was one of the most compassionate doctors I have had to deal with.
The call went as well as it could of, I suppose? He gave us some more information on what he was seeing in the MRI, and asked some questions about possible symptoms that I may be experiencing. Long story short, the pituitary gland is a small gland in your brain where a lot of hormones live. On the MRI it shows a small (2mm) tumour, and these tumours are often slow growing and benign (but not always). As the call went on, it didn't appear as though the tumour was causing any symptoms. He reassured us that it is very small and not overly concerning at this point. He wanted me to get some bloodwork done to get a baseline and see where all of my hormone levels were at.
If you know me, as soon as I got the requisition from him, I booked an appointment. I immediately go to the "get this dealt with" mindset because I want answers and I want them fast. A couple days before my appointment things went downhill, we all got the flu. Although we were testing negative for COVID, I still didn't feel great enough to go out and wanted to err on the side of caution. Once we got over that, it took another week to even get an appointment at Life Labs. Once again, a couple days before my appointment we all went down. This time we had COVID, therefore pushing the appointment back even further. COVID for Tanner and I was a fairly bad head cold, that seemed to linger for quite a while. Wren got hit pretty hard with basically every symptom possible, poor turkey! There were some scary times throughout it all, but we got through it and everyone is back on track!
Once I finally got to Life Labs and got the bloodwork done, I had another sign of relief as it was now out of my hands... but now we wait again. It was a couple days after bloodwork and there I go again checking my own results. I don't know why I haven't learned my lesson yet!!? My results showed that my factor 1 growth hormone was high, but all other levels were normal. So again, I send myself into a tail spin that night before bed after I get the results. Tanner had went to the movies with a couple friends and I am just sitting at home panicking... again haha. Whenever I read reports on my own it somehow always happens to be when Tanner isn't home. When I found out about the first tumour he was at golf, second one, he was at hockey, when I found out about the bloodwork, he was at the movies. I texted him at the movies about the bloodwork and he asked me if I wanted him to come home, I said no, there really wasn't anything we could do at this point. We just had to wait for the call. I have promised him that I now will not be checking for results if he is not home.
After I had the results I instantly went to my usual go to people, Tan, my mom, my sister, and Alana. I told them all that the level was high but didn't know anything else. These poor people having to always talk me down at 10pm at night, bless their souls. I then called my friend Shruti who is in school to be a doctor. She walked me through it all, and I wish I could have hugged her through the phone that night. She actually allowed me to sleep that night, and her predictions about next steps were completely right.
I called the endocrinologist the next morning in true Braun fashion saying that I had looked at the results and noticed one of the levels was high, that I was concerned about it, and that I would appreciate a call back that day. This next part will shock you... I got a call back that day! I was shocked, but then realized I shouldn't of been because he really was a very genuine doctor and seemed like he was mindful of my overall well being and my mental health regarding these results. He said that the level was slightly elevated, but that he wasn't overly concerned, and that the next steps would be to repeat the bloodwork in two months time. This talk with him went, yet again, as well as it could have. I am again trying to remain positive that things will stay generally "under control and on track" with the next results.
I did have my first therapist appointment and it was great. I would say it was harder than I thought to say some things out loud, but I did feel some sort of relief after. My first goal is to work on sleep in general, and different ways that I can turn my brain off and slow down all the "worries" so that sleep can come easier. I am trying out some new strategies and practices that seem to be working at this point, and I feel as though I am able to get a slightly better sleep each night.
This year I am really trying to get into a healthier routine, specifically for wedding season but also just to see the improvements within my own body, and potentially keep health issues at bay. I am back to exercising more frequently and really trying to work on my diet. Lets hope that I can maybe see some results in the next round of bloodwork in two months. I am looking into ways in which I can limit the amount of exposure to toxins/chemicals in our house and with skin products we use (these can often upset your hormone levels, which is what I really want to avoid). I will link a helpful website below that Shruti shared with me.
As long as everything keeps ticking on, I will have to do the repeat bloodwork in two months (May) and I should have my next MRI in June at some point. Fingers crossed for positive news in each and every way.
LIFE LESSONS: I think we can all be guilty of losing perspective. Life and people get busy. I think it can be helpful to try to remind yourself at the end of every day to take a step back and re-evaluate. I find myself trying to avoid going down the rabbit hole that often goes hand in hand with worrying. I am trying to determine a small problem from a big problem more often, so I can evaluate how much time and energy it should take from life. My first tumour... big problem... which then required a large amount of my time and energy. My pituitary gland tumour... small problem with more ways to monitor and solve the problem... therefore it should require and receive less of my time and energy. Long story short, try not to fret the small stuff. I have realized that you can literally "worry" your life away, and 99% of the time, the situation is out of your control.
MEDICAL SUGGESTIONS: You will come across some really crummy doctors, but you will also come across some pretty amazing ones too! If you don't feel good with the advice you have been given, get another opinion. In Canada we are lucky enough to have free healthcare, all it costs you is your time.
If you are interested in knowing how "clean" your products are, this is a super helpful website www.ewg.org
On this site you can search up all of your skin care products and it will tell you everything that is in it, and give it a rating from 1-10 on how clean it is. One thing that has become very apparent when using this site, children's sunscreen is horrible. I have already made many changes for our family, but this summer we will 100% be switching the sunscreen that we apply on Wren, as we usually apply it multiple times a day, eekk!
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