Miss Diagnosis: 8 Days To Go

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

8 Days To Go

It's finally getting close! We have a pre-op phone appointment with Dr. Friedman tomorrow night and a pre-op phone appointment with the "prepare clinic" on Monday. The surgeons office called yesterday and has me a bit worried (only because experience has taught me too many things can go wrong). They offered the option of a pre-op with the surgeon for Friday; I declined. I feel like our prior appointment with him was sufficient and really don't want to do the 5 hours of driving, round trip, for no reason. They also said Dr. Duh would like to speak with Dr. Friedman this week to "confirm everything". I sent an e-mail and will also ask Dr. F to do this when I speak with him tomorrow. This is where I'm afraid of there being a wrench in the plan.

I finally heard back from the cardiologist, sort of anyway. I didn't get complete results on the echocardiagram, just a note on a script pad saying she had cardiac clearance for surgery. I told them to fax me everything and that was all they sent over.

1 comment:

judycolbyJuly 7, 2009 at 9:05 PM
Rene,
Everyday I count how many days Alex has left till surgery!! I'm so glad it's almost here. We'll pray no wrenchs get thrown. But I know what you mean. That's always my concern right up until they wheel then to the OR.
Hang in there.
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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.