Last August, my doctor had me go for an ultrasound because, given my age and weight, she wanted to check for a fatty liver. There appeared to be a cyst attached to one of the kidneys, so she arranged for some more tests (a CT scan and an MRI) packed me off to an appointment with a urologist. Those tests showed that it was not on the kidney, but attached to the outside of the adrenal gland.
I was packed off to a surgeon. This surgeon (I saw him just before Christmas) had me do some tests. To prepare for the test, I had to give up caffeine (including chocolate, of course), pain killers (including my arthritis medicine), and fruit -- for three days! Strangely enough, it was the fruit that was the most difficult for me. When I get up in the morning, I immediately have a glass of juice. Breakfast is usually an apple. My favourite bagels have raisins in them. You are probably seeing a pattern here. If I could live on fruit, I would. After two failed attempts, I finally managed the test.
When the results of that test came in, I was informed that I would have an appointment with an endocrinologist. Turns out, it's not a cyst. It's a tumour. I have a condition called pheochromocytoma. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001380/
Tumours of this type are fairly rare and almost never outside the gland. Mine is. They are rarely malignant. Given that I'm bucking the odds on this, I'm a little scared right now. I'm the same age my mother was when she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. I know that ovarian cancer is not hereditary, but the parallels have me spooked.
Tumours of this type are fairly rare and almost never outside the gland. Mine is. They are rarely malignant. Given that I'm bucking the odds on this, I'm a little scared right now. I'm the same age my mother was when she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. I know that ovarian cancer is not hereditary, but the parallels have me spooked.
Anyway, among other questions, the doctor asked if I had experienced high blood pressure recently. I told him yes. He put the cuff on me and checked. Normal reading. I had to explain to him that it's only in the last few years that I could get up without feeling dizzy. I've always had a problem with low blood pressure. High is a relative term. Then he asked if I'd had hand tremors or a racing pulse. I replied yes, but only when reading a letter from my ex's lawyer. He ducked his head to hide the smile, but I could see his shoulders shaking. Maybe, at our next appointment, he'll realise that I am using humour to cope with the stress.
One of the problems with removing this tumour is that, when it is removed from the adrenal gland, the gland sometimes goes into overdrive. This can boost the blood pressure off the charts. So, on top of having it removed, I will probably be in the hospital for a few days. I'm so glad I live in Canada.
To be absolutely certain that he knows as much as possible before arranging for the surgery, I have to do the same tests again to verify the results from the first test. Bummer. I'll have to prepare for it over the weekend and do it on Monday because my birthday is next Thursday. I'm having meals with several friends towards the end of the week and don't want to limit what I can eat.
The good news is ... my liver is just fine.
