Miss Diagnosis: Pay It Forward

Monday, April 20, 2009

Pay It Forward

Recently a Cushing's patient, Kristen, invited me to become a member of her Meet-Up Group for Cushing's patients and survivors. It's a virtual group, we won't actually be meeting face to face. Members are sponsors and sponsees, like AA; those who have been through it are there to help those who need support. I've already emailed back and forth with a few "sponsees" and it feels good to be helping someone. Or at least I think I'm helpful!

Sometimes I wonder if there is a path I'm supposed to be finding here. Maybe God has a plan I'm not aware of? A friend of ours was recently injured and I spent 2-3 hours at the hospital every day with him for over a week. I know he thought I was crazy to be there all the time, but I have this total conviction that every patient needs an advocate (they just don't always know it). Maybe a few years down the road this will all become clear to me? I wonder if there is an income potential for this? On the other hand maybe a few years down the road I will be fighting the same battle, older and wiser still.

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Transphenoidal Pituitary Surgery- From the UCSF web site

What happens during surgery?
The surgical removal of the pituitary adenoma is performed by a technique called a transsphenoidal operation. The word 'transsphenoidal' describes the path the surgeon follows to reach the pituitary gland. The word comes from 'trans', meaning 'to cross or pass through', and 'sphenoid', the name of the cavity (the sphenoid sinus) that is passed through to reach the pituitary gland. Newer techniques and improvements in technology now allow removal of these tumors without the need for an incision under the lip or within the nostril. The surgeon begins the approach by entering through the nostril on one side. The surgeon uses a brilliant fiber optic light to illuminate the internal anatomy, a microscope to magnify the area of surgery to 12 times the actual size, and very tiny microsurgical instruments especially designed for this particular operation. The surgeon guides the surgical instrument into the nasal cavity and an opening is made in the sphenoid bone. The sphenoid sinus is entered, and then an opening is made in the wall of the sella turcica to expose the pituitary gland. The adenoma can be readily distinguished from the normal pituitary gland tissue and is removed without removing the normal gland. After the surgeon removes all the tumor tissue, the small cavity that is left is treated with alcohol to destroy any tumor cells that may remain. This cavity is then sealed, sometimes with a piece of fat that the surgeon removes from the patient's abdomen. The surgeon then applies a biological 'glue' that helps seal the pituitary area from the nose and promotes natural healing. No nasal packs are used with this approach.