Officially it's called an adenoma

You can Google Non-Functioning Pituitary Adenoma if you want detailed information but in a nutshell it’s a benign tumor in my pituitary gland.

Three times, it's grown to the point where it affected my optic nerves and pituitary function. Surgery was performed Feb. 2007 again in Feb. 2009 and yet again Nov. 11, 2010 to remove as much of it as possible.

My vision was preserved in each case however I've lost Growth Hormone production and am on thyroid medication to help those levels.

I had radiation after my last surgery. The risk is I could over time loose all pituitary function. The hope is it will slow or stop the persistent tumor's aggressive growth.

10/22/10

Why radiation this time?

Because every time the tumor grows it does damage. Every surgery does damage, scar tissue. My pituitary isn't functioning well right now, so the benefit of 'retarding' the growth by radiation vs having it grow back and repeating surgery every other year now outweighs the risks.
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