March 16, 2005
And Now... The Rest of the Story...
It has been a whirlwind of a month. I traveled over 6000 miles in 2 weeks presenting ePayables to over 500 vendors in Canada. It was a great trip and I had a lot of fun. I missed my family very much and I think they missed me more. I was glad to see them when I got back but I really wished they could have been with me to see their Dad in his best element as well as I could share the beautiful country of Canada with them.
When I got back I went to the doctor because I had an incredible pain in my right leg. I aggravated it before I left and all of the walking I did in Canada I hurt it even worse. I have to go back to see an orthopedist on March 22nd. In the mean time I am hobbling around on 1 bad wheel. Then on March 2nd I was getting ready for work and I dropped my comb on the floor in the bathroom. I bent down to pick it up and my back seized up on me. I was out all week because of my back too. But that is just the beginning.
As Paul Harvey would say, "And now, the rest of the story..."
I have had some totally unrelated health issues that I had seen my general doctor for on and off for the past 3 years. I had blood work done 3 years ago for a yearly physical, which showed some inconsistencies with hormonal levels in my system. These hormones are controlled by the pituitary gland. This gland is the "master gland" which monitors your body to produce certain hormones, such as adrenalin, thermal hormones that regulate body temperatures and hormones that deal with blood pressure. All of those hormones came out very low. One hormone in normal levels are counted anywhere from 300 to 1000 but mine came in under the readable limit of 16 so it was lower than that. I had taken some medication to help regulate the issues but as soon as I got off the medications, the complications would show back up. Finally, my doctor referred me to an endocrinologist to better determine what was causing the deficiencies. When I went in March 1st to see the endocrinologist my blood pressure was 90/62 normal is 120/80.
The endocrinologist did some blood tests to see exactly what is going on with the hormones in my blood, or lack there of. When he talked to me he said that there is a possibility of 2 reasons why my numbers are so low. Genetics is one of the things they are testing to see if all of these deficiencies are caused by my genetic makeup. The other more serious issue is a possible tumor on my pituitary gland.
The symptoms that I am having really lead to the conclusion of a tumor more than genetic. The blood work shows high levels of a certain hormone that the doctor determined is caused by a tumor.
I went in March 8th for an MRI to find out where it is exactly and how big it is. The MRI indicated a small tumor on my gland. The doctor said that this tumor can be treated with medications before we think about surgery. The tumor is benign and non-cancerous.
I am ready to find out some answers about all of this and find out exactly what I will be doing for a while to treat everything. Such is life. Thank God that I will have a perfect body someday that I can use to serve my King. For that I can endure.
I know you all have prayed for me in the past and I ask for continued prayers. I am doing okay since God is true to His Word and He has granted me peace. Now I just need rest. The medication that I have been on for the last week to treat my back, leg, and now head has left me pretty weak and dizzy. The stuff I am going to take for the tumor is supposed to make me sick too. I get that to look forward too!
Information about the Pituitary Gland:
http://www.hormone.org/learn/pituitary_1.html
And now, you know, "The rest of the story. Paul Harvey, Good Day!"