Hey… Wanna hear something crazy??

I was diagnosed with a pituitary tumor (Macroprolactinoma edema) in March of 2015. My doctors told me that it is a benign growth about the size of a fist that was growing over my pituitary gland (which is about the size of a chickpea). My optic nerves that are running from my eyes to the back of my brain would usually be passing right over the pituitary gland. However, in my case, since the tumor was so large, my optic nerves were being pushed upwards which caused my vision issues in the year prior.

***On a side note, in 2014 before I knew that I had a pituitary tumor I woke up one spring morning and noticed that my vision had become noticeably worse overnight. Things were a little bit blurrier, but if I moved my head around a little, I could put the images together. As if I was wearing glasses that only had a few small pinholes. Naturally, I went in to see an optometrist to get my vision checked out. My doctor said that my eyes were fine, healthy even, and that she would prescribe glasses that will help. About a month later, my vision was still the same while wearing glasses so I went back in to see if I actually needed the glasses. It turns out that I didn’t really need them, but she thought it might be helpful, just to have minor improvements. She took me in for another eye exam, and still my eyes are healthy. She offered to book me in with a eye specialist but it would be at least six months before I could get in. At this point I was about to go to New Zealand for a year, so I would just have to wait until returning home to continue. As soon as I booked my flight home from New Zealand about a year later, I sent her an email telling her the date I was coming home and asking to be referred to the eye specialist again. She started the process and it wasn’t until about April 2015 that I was able to see the eye specialist, and by this point I had already found out that it was the pituitary tumor causing the issue. ***

So having being diagnosed with a pituitary tumor they were going through various treatments. The endocrinologist recommended the one that I ended up going with, which I would take 3 medications: testosterone, Synthroid, and Bromocriptine. After six months of this treatment my tumor had shrunk considerably, and my hormone levels were drastically better. At this point, I was receiving better medical coverage than I was when I was diagnosed. My doctor switched me from Bromocriptine to Cabergoline. The reason for the switch was that Cabergoline is more effective, fewer side effects, and I would take it less often. The only downside is that Cabergoline is very expensive.

This brings me here to today… I approached these three dudes because I love the show, and I need to figure out how to talk about my situation. After all, Sickboy is all about talking about what its like to be sick, and for me that’s one of my toughest battles with this whole thing. Its weird because I actually like talking about it to whoever will listen, I just never know what to say.