Friday, July 14, 2017

Follow Up with Endocrinologist

Today I had my follow up with the endocrinologist to discuss the results from my lab work. All of my initial labs came back normal. I don't seem to have any problems with my hormones, and my prolactin level was actually in the normal range again {good news!}. So she was able to confirm that it is not a hormone-producing tumor. Basically that means that the tumor is probably just pressing against my pituitary gland, causing my prolactin production to increase {the tumor itself is not producing prolactin}. Because of this, medication is not the appropriate course of treatment. 

So she is sending me back to the neurosurgeon to see what he wants to do next {which will probably mean surgery}. I am glad that the treatment seems to be clear cut, and I don't have to make a decision between medication and surgery...the decision was made for me! 

She had me repeat blood work to measure my prolactin level again, as well as do a 24 hour urine test and a saliva test to check my cortisol levels {fun!}. She didn't believe they would show anything {based on previous lab work}, but wanted to round out all the prolactin testing. This time, my prolactin level was elevated, so she recommended that I take the medication for now. Which is completely confusing to me, so I have made the decision not to do that for now. I don't make it a habit of refusing a doctor's recommendation, but the neurosurgeon didn't want me to take it from the beginning, and even the endocrinologist originally said that medication wasn't the best course of treatment. So I'm holding off on that for now...

My cortisol levels came back fine too, so it was just confirmation that there aren't any other underlying health issues surrounding the tumor.

So what's next? I go back for a repeat MRI to see if the size of the tumor has changed, and then discuss surgery with the neurosurgeon.

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