DesertRat
Perpetual Newbie
- Joined
- Jun 19, 2008
- Messages
- 959
6 months ago my wife was diagnosed with a Pituitary Macroadenoma, for lack of a better term: a brain tumor.
While these tumors which reside in the sella turcica, a small bony cavity at the base of the brain in the center of the skull, are usually always non-cancerous, they do present problems such as loss of vision and in my wife's case, extreme migraines. The white blob in the center of the head in this picture shows where the tumor is located (this is not my wife's pic)
We have been to doctor after doctor since May to get this squared away and finally we got word today that she will be undergoing surgery to remove the tumor on Monday, November 9th at U.C.L.A. Medical Center which has one of the finest Pituitary Tumor/Neurosurgery clinics in the country.
She will check in on Sunday morning for all her pre-op testing and at 11:00am Monday they will do a Transsphenoidal procedure to remove as much of the tumor as possible. Transsphenoidal simply means that they go through the nose to reach the tumor, make a small incision in the back of the sinus, drill a hole in the bone and using a camera and very small tool, slice and dice. Obviously, this is much better than cutting open the skull.
She is nervous but ready to get this over with, as am I.
Anyways, if you'd keep her in your thoughts and prayers, it would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
DR
While these tumors which reside in the sella turcica, a small bony cavity at the base of the brain in the center of the skull, are usually always non-cancerous, they do present problems such as loss of vision and in my wife's case, extreme migraines. The white blob in the center of the head in this picture shows where the tumor is located (this is not my wife's pic)
We have been to doctor after doctor since May to get this squared away and finally we got word today that she will be undergoing surgery to remove the tumor on Monday, November 9th at U.C.L.A. Medical Center which has one of the finest Pituitary Tumor/Neurosurgery clinics in the country.
She will check in on Sunday morning for all her pre-op testing and at 11:00am Monday they will do a Transsphenoidal procedure to remove as much of the tumor as possible. Transsphenoidal simply means that they go through the nose to reach the tumor, make a small incision in the back of the sinus, drill a hole in the bone and using a camera and very small tool, slice and dice. Obviously, this is much better than cutting open the skull.
She is nervous but ready to get this over with, as am I.
Anyways, if you'd keep her in your thoughts and prayers, it would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
DR
:thumbs: 
