Today (Sunday 26th Jan) was follow up MRI scan day. Hopefully the scan will reveal nothing more than a Pituitary gland in my head where the Pituitary gland is supposed to be. No tumour left and no tumour regrowing.
I was much more clued up on the procedure this time so knew what to expect. I checked in at the MRI scan unit at 12:45 and they ran through all the pre-scan questions making sure nothing metal is about or inside your person that could get damaged when the MRI scanner does its work (or indeed that nothing damages the MRI scanner). Then get into the lovely fetching hospital gown and then get laid out in the scanner. The MRI nurse explains everything that is going to happen (including the lovely Gadolinium contrast injection) and off we go. Laying there listening to Heart FM the first 4 minute scan fires off. This time not surprised by how much of a racket this delicate piece of multi-million pound equipment makes. Then a 9 minute scan and then out of the scanner for the injection.
At this point, you can't move your head because a) they don't want move your head so that the scans will line up (presumably) and b) your head is clamped into a frame/cage that goes over your head to stop it moving about too much. I just did the manly thing and closed my eyes whilst the injection was given, via a canula I think, and in fact I barely felt a thing.....Then back into the scanner for a final 4 minute scan and that was that. All done in just over half a hour. I was really impressed by the service there even on a Sunday, checked in bang on time, went in the the scan bang on time. Only had to pay for an hours parking, which is always a bonus in a hospital!
I wait until 20th February before I go back to see my Endocrinologist to get the results of the scan and my blood tests. Fingers crossed.
I've been doing some research about how much an MRI scan costs, which I hope to post in a future blog, just for discussions sake. Thought it may be interesting to see how much of the NHS' money I've spent now I've had 3 MRI scans (2 on my head, one on my back/lower spine). It almost takes me into that age old debate about the cost of things and the value of things. Clearly the value of having my head scanned is massive to me, as it tells me whether I'm healthy again or not....whereas the cost might not always be obvious.
Other than that, health-wise everything seems ok. The saga continues......
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Sunday 26 January 2014
Monday 20 January 2014
January 2014 - Blue Monday
Hi there. Well today is supposed to be the most depressing day of the year, or Blue Monday as the media are calling it. Strange thing to do really, must be a quiet news day....just in case people might actually be feeling good about their day, the media pop up to let them know in fact they are supposed to be sad. Well as it happens the sun came out today, and it was a lovely day, so there!
Pituitary news is pretty quiet thankfully. Once again I found myself browsing through other peoples stories about their pituitary journey and am thinking myself lucky to have had such a relatively easy journey. The journey didn't feel that easy at times, but when you compare it to these couple of stories, well....
Suzy's story (someone with Hypopituitarism like me, although generally a lot more complicated a condition)
Peter's story (an Addisonian crisis, I had one of these and wish I hadn't)
I've been to my second Pilates session now, it wasn't any easier than the first session and I go to my third session tomorrow....certainly my stomach muscles ached after both sessions, a sign that they had been awoken for the first time in ages. I'm still saying I want to keep the exercise up, so fingers crossed. I went for a quick cycle ride on Sunday, haven't been on the bike since I don't know when. I zoomed around the block pretty quickly but boy did my legs burn, another sign that I have some way to go before I can properly consider myself 'getting fit' again. The big difference now is that I can rush off like that, and not collapse into a heap at the end of it. That is the really positive thing I focus on after all my exploits with my tumour removal.....my recovery time is just SO much better.
Finally, I don't think I've ever mentioned on here that I dabble with playing guitar (and keyboard). If I could even have 1% of the talent that Joe Bonamassa has for playing guitar, then I'd be a very happy man. So I'll leave you with a bit of Joe....
That's it for now
Pituitary news is pretty quiet thankfully. Once again I found myself browsing through other peoples stories about their pituitary journey and am thinking myself lucky to have had such a relatively easy journey. The journey didn't feel that easy at times, but when you compare it to these couple of stories, well....
Suzy's story (someone with Hypopituitarism like me, although generally a lot more complicated a condition)
Peter's story (an Addisonian crisis, I had one of these and wish I hadn't)
I've been to my second Pilates session now, it wasn't any easier than the first session and I go to my third session tomorrow....certainly my stomach muscles ached after both sessions, a sign that they had been awoken for the first time in ages. I'm still saying I want to keep the exercise up, so fingers crossed. I went for a quick cycle ride on Sunday, haven't been on the bike since I don't know when. I zoomed around the block pretty quickly but boy did my legs burn, another sign that I have some way to go before I can properly consider myself 'getting fit' again. The big difference now is that I can rush off like that, and not collapse into a heap at the end of it. That is the really positive thing I focus on after all my exploits with my tumour removal.....my recovery time is just SO much better.
Finally, I don't think I've ever mentioned on here that I dabble with playing guitar (and keyboard). If I could even have 1% of the talent that Joe Bonamassa has for playing guitar, then I'd be a very happy man. So I'll leave you with a bit of Joe....
That's it for now
Wednesday 8 January 2014
January 2014 - New year, new me?
New me.....probably not likely. Healthier me, hopefully.
So the Christmas indulgence has passed, well nearly. We still have quite a lot of chocolates and savory stuff to munch our way through, but not too much more. My first medicated Christmas passed by without too much incident. I had a mixture of holiday and working between Christmas and New Year, and the different schedule led me to forget my middle of the day Hydrocortisone tablets twice. Once I only forgot them by an hour or so, but the other time wasn't until about 5pm when I suddenly remembered. I just took the dose then, and took my evening one (normally 6pm) about 9pm and all seemed to be fine. Part of the reason I remembered at all was because I suddenly felt a bit tired and weary and then it hit me. So all in all no harm done, but it freaked me out a bit. Must-try-harder.... :-)
Apart from the hiccup above, to be honest I didn't give my condition too much thought at all. I just eat and drank as normal and apart from a couple of 'thoughtful' moments had a whale of a time. One thing that I have realised is how lucky I am to just be able to eat and drink what I want at that time of the year. Because my condition falls under the heading of 'Endocrine', patients who have diabetes fall under the same category (consultant, specialty), so a few people I follow on Twitter have diabetes and of course if you have this condition you have to closely monitor what you eat and drink to ensure you don't end up with a Hypo/Hyper. I hadn't really given it any thought before, as to how lucky I am to not have to think about eating/drinking, but to be a diabetic at Christmas must really suck.
Finally, Pilates. My wife has been going to Pilates for over a year now and it has made a tremendous difference to her fitness and muscle tone.....so now it's my turn. I haven't made a 'new years resolution' to get fitter, but nonetheless I do want to get fitter in 2014. So I thought "why not give Pilates a go". Last night was the first session, and it is a 'special' men only Pilates group as I bottled going to an established session where everyone would be very fit. This is a newly established group, where everyone would be on the same level, i.e. beginner!! An hour of working out mainly your 'core' muscles confirmed what I already knew, I don't have any core muscles. It was very hard. A couple of guys who have been going to a class for two years came along for moral support and they were full of praise for how much it has helped their fitness and posture, so they must be doing something right. Will I keep going, only time will tell....I hope so as I have no doubt it will benefit me. But dragging yourself out of the house in the evening to go to fitness classes is never easy, so I mustn't underestimate the power of laziness creeping in. I'm hoping my more positive 'hormone balanced' self will keep me going!
That's it for now.
So the Christmas indulgence has passed, well nearly. We still have quite a lot of chocolates and savory stuff to munch our way through, but not too much more. My first medicated Christmas passed by without too much incident. I had a mixture of holiday and working between Christmas and New Year, and the different schedule led me to forget my middle of the day Hydrocortisone tablets twice. Once I only forgot them by an hour or so, but the other time wasn't until about 5pm when I suddenly remembered. I just took the dose then, and took my evening one (normally 6pm) about 9pm and all seemed to be fine. Part of the reason I remembered at all was because I suddenly felt a bit tired and weary and then it hit me. So all in all no harm done, but it freaked me out a bit. Must-try-harder.... :-)
Apart from the hiccup above, to be honest I didn't give my condition too much thought at all. I just eat and drank as normal and apart from a couple of 'thoughtful' moments had a whale of a time. One thing that I have realised is how lucky I am to just be able to eat and drink what I want at that time of the year. Because my condition falls under the heading of 'Endocrine', patients who have diabetes fall under the same category (consultant, specialty), so a few people I follow on Twitter have diabetes and of course if you have this condition you have to closely monitor what you eat and drink to ensure you don't end up with a Hypo/Hyper. I hadn't really given it any thought before, as to how lucky I am to not have to think about eating/drinking, but to be a diabetic at Christmas must really suck.
Finally, Pilates. My wife has been going to Pilates for over a year now and it has made a tremendous difference to her fitness and muscle tone.....so now it's my turn. I haven't made a 'new years resolution' to get fitter, but nonetheless I do want to get fitter in 2014. So I thought "why not give Pilates a go". Last night was the first session, and it is a 'special' men only Pilates group as I bottled going to an established session where everyone would be very fit. This is a newly established group, where everyone would be on the same level, i.e. beginner!! An hour of working out mainly your 'core' muscles confirmed what I already knew, I don't have any core muscles. It was very hard. A couple of guys who have been going to a class for two years came along for moral support and they were full of praise for how much it has helped their fitness and posture, so they must be doing something right. Will I keep going, only time will tell....I hope so as I have no doubt it will benefit me. But dragging yourself out of the house in the evening to go to fitness classes is never easy, so I mustn't underestimate the power of laziness creeping in. I'm hoping my more positive 'hormone balanced' self will keep me going!
That's it for now.
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