Hey all, so I haven't exactly been the most active member in a few years, but I figured some of you might wanna know how things have gone since I got engaged. Unfortunately, back in April I had a bit of a difficult experience, on April 15th I woke up with a headache and an upset stomach. Figuring it was just the stomach flu I got up and tried to get something to eat, immediately my vision narrowed and I felt a sharp pain in my stomach. After trying to eat a little bit I started vomiting, even drinking water didn't help and I vomited that up too. After about an hour of this I decided to call 911, since I hadn't vomited in 10 years and couldn't even keep water down.
They rushed me to the hospital where I was met with a room full of doctors in the ER who quickly ordered a CT Scan. After about an hour they came back and told me that there was "a mass in your deep brain", and that it probably didn't need to come out now, but just to be sure they were going to do an MRI. Following the MRI a neurosurgeon came in and told me that I had some kind of pituitary tumor that was the largest he had ever seen, and it needed to come out now, otherwise within weeks I would likely go blind. So I was rushed off to surgery where they cut the tumor out of my brain through my nose using a laser, and determined that it was a "Rathke's Cleft Cyst".
After a few days in the hospital I was discharged with strict instructions to not sneeze, bend over, or lift more than 10 pounds for a month. For the next two months I felt good, then in mid June I started getting terrible daily headaches. By July these were accompanied by horrible fits of nausea and vomiting that sent me to the ER weekly. Then, my sodium levels started dropping and by late July I almost constantly felt like I was on death's door. By this point I was back in the hospital and another MRI was done. My neurosurgeon came in to give me the bad news, my cyst had returned.
Surgery was scheduled for 2 weeks later, and those 2 weeks were the most miserable of my life. I spent the day before the surgery doing nothing but vomiting all day. Finally, the day arrived, and the surgery went off without a hitch. Unfortunately, staph bacteria were discovered inside my cyst, which means that for the next month I have to take iv anti biotics every 8 hours. Thankfully though, I am out of the hospital and on the mend once again, hopefully permanently this time. The doctor injected some chemotherapy into the cyst this time to prevent it from recurring, hopefully that'll work.
Anyway, for the next 2 months you'll probably be seeing more of me, since I basically have to stay in bed all day.
EDIT: Oh yeah, and the worst part of all this, I had to delay my wedding by at least 6 months.
They rushed me to the hospital where I was met with a room full of doctors in the ER who quickly ordered a CT Scan. After about an hour they came back and told me that there was "a mass in your deep brain", and that it probably didn't need to come out now, but just to be sure they were going to do an MRI. Following the MRI a neurosurgeon came in and told me that I had some kind of pituitary tumor that was the largest he had ever seen, and it needed to come out now, otherwise within weeks I would likely go blind. So I was rushed off to surgery where they cut the tumor out of my brain through my nose using a laser, and determined that it was a "Rathke's Cleft Cyst".
After a few days in the hospital I was discharged with strict instructions to not sneeze, bend over, or lift more than 10 pounds for a month. For the next two months I felt good, then in mid June I started getting terrible daily headaches. By July these were accompanied by horrible fits of nausea and vomiting that sent me to the ER weekly. Then, my sodium levels started dropping and by late July I almost constantly felt like I was on death's door. By this point I was back in the hospital and another MRI was done. My neurosurgeon came in to give me the bad news, my cyst had returned.
Surgery was scheduled for 2 weeks later, and those 2 weeks were the most miserable of my life. I spent the day before the surgery doing nothing but vomiting all day. Finally, the day arrived, and the surgery went off without a hitch. Unfortunately, staph bacteria were discovered inside my cyst, which means that for the next month I have to take iv anti biotics every 8 hours. Thankfully though, I am out of the hospital and on the mend once again, hopefully permanently this time. The doctor injected some chemotherapy into the cyst this time to prevent it from recurring, hopefully that'll work.
Anyway, for the next 2 months you'll probably be seeing more of me, since I basically have to stay in bed all day.
EDIT: Oh yeah, and the worst part of all this, I had to delay my wedding by at least 6 months.