Hi guys! It’s been a minute since you’ve heard from me here, and I’d like to share a little bit about why that is today. I’ve been dealing with multiple health issues over the past couple of months, and so my focus has been on that. If you watched our Vlogmas videos back in December then you already know I had some routine follow up doctor’s appointments and found out that my pituitary tumor has regrown. As I explained in this video, there was a high likelihood of this happening, that is why I have continued to be monitored after my surgery back in 2017.
When I met with my neurosurgeon back in December, he confirmed that a new tumor has regrown, but explained that it is not operable due to its precise location. It’s wrapped around my carotid artery so surgery could potentially damage it. He recommended that the best next course of treatment would be a procedure called stereotactic radiosurgery, which is a single dose of highly concentrated radiation. This is not his specialty, so he referred me to a different neurosurgeon at NYU Langone hospital, who I met with in January. My new team at NYU confirmed that I am indeed a candidate for this procedure, so I will be moving forward with this course of treatment later this month.
I know radiation is most commonly used in conjunction with treatment for cancer, but my tumor is benign. The main objective of this radiosurgery procedure is to stop my tumor from getting any larger, and hopefully see it shrink. It was caught early, so it’s not that big, and is not currently causing me any major symptoms. If it continues to grow though, it could, and that is why it is important to get it taken care of.
The procedure itself is outpatient and takes half a day. If you’re curious and want to read more about it this is a great step by step article about the procedure. After the procedure I’ll likely experience some fatigue and headaches, but the recovery is much faster than my past surgery.
Overall I’m feeling fine. Like I talked about last time I went through this, it’s more annoying than anything. But I’m glad due to my regular routine check ups it was discovered early and will be taken care of. I filmed a video talking through this if you are interested in hearing more. You can watch that below.
Additionally, as a result of these routine check ups, a separate health issue was discovered. Fun times! I’ll fill you in on that next week, so be sure to head right back here because for that one I’m looking to crowdsource some advice.
-Ash