It started with an eye exam

My husband, Brendan, got vision insurance, so I decided to get an eye exam.

During the course of the exam, it became clear that I needed eye therapy to help me focus better. My eye therapist quickly realized that there was something wrong with my vision. Blind spots.

The optometrist did some extensive field of vision testing, and they saw that I had lost almost half of my vision in each eye.

Now, you might wonder how I didn’t notice this before. To be honest, there were signs. People often startled me when coming up behind me, since I had lost most of my peripheral vision. But you have to understand…it happened so slowly, over a lot of time. I adjusted. Brains do that.

Next came an MRI of my brain. I knew they had found something when I saw measurements on the initial report. They had found something in my brain and they were measuring its size.

So… I have a brain tumor. I do. And it’s okay.

I am a very lucky person. Here are a few of the reasons why:

• My wonderful friend Erin had a similar tumor removed just last week. Her insight and support has meant the world to me.
• My father, who is a doctor, was able to let me know right away that the tumor appears to be benign. Phew!
• I’m not going blind!!!
• I don’t have MS!!!
• A surgeon who is an expert in pituitary tumors (mine is sitting on the optic chiasm, which accounts for my vision loss, which is right where the pituitary lives) is right here in Washington State.
• I have an amazing husband, which makes everything better.

Sure, I sometimes feel scared, or sad, or angry. In fact, today I’m dealing with some pretty angry feelings. But mostly, I’m pretty optimistic! The outlook is good 🙂

If you would like more information about pituitary tumors, visit:
http://www.uwmedicine.org/health-library/pages/pituitary-tumor.aspx