Miss Diagnosis: One Week Post-Op

Thursday, July 23, 2009

One Week Post-Op

At this point we have reduced the dosage of hydro to 30-15-10, with reductions every day. We plan to get labs done soon and start DHEA after that. We also plan to start the Florinef soon, probably tomorrow, we are waiting to get to a lower dose of hydro before starting the Florinef. I think we will start with 1/4 tab a day and increase by 1/4 tab 'till we get to 1/2 pill twice a day.

We were told to expect recovery to be two steps forward one step back, that seems pretty accurate. Yesterday was a bad day. Alex was having a lot of pain and some major mood swings and depression.

On the positive side, things are changing. Her acne is vanishing, her skin has more color, the stretch marks are fading, the hump is smaller. Her weight hasn't changed, but she looks different. Her face looks thinner and her belly looks different; it looks like a fat person tummy instead of a pregnant tummy. Between the belly and the hump improving her posture looks different; it's hard to explain, but she looks taller and thinner. I didn't realize how much the hump was causing her to slouch.

I know she feels like poop, but we can see positive changes. Things are getting better.

1 comment:

JessicaJuly 23, 2009 at 7:19 PM
Tell Alex I'm thinking of her. Even though I don't know her exact situation, I can really relate to what she's going through, if she ever wants to talk, I can give you my number or she could e-mail me.

Hugs,
Jess
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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.