The night was amazing. For those of you who could make it to the fundraiser, you know exactly what I'm talking about. It was a great night and I want to thank everyone involved.
Carl has a glucose test this morning. He then has to meet with the neurosurgeon in about a week. We will see how that goes. Please continue to pray for him.
Monday, November 23, 2009
Thursday, November 19, 2009
BLOOD DRAW
Carl had his blood draw today. He found out he was supposed to fast, so he is fasting tomorrow morning for his glucose test. They rescheduled his neurosurgeon appointment for after Thanksgiving as it takes a week to get the results back. He ended up speaking to his Endocrinologist (wonderful woman). The following is what he found out:
They are going to try medicine to control his Human Growth Hormone (HGH) effects. Doing this will not stop the HGH from increasing. This will be done to buy some time until his next surgery. The surgery will still take place sometime in the near future. Dr. Singhal (his Endocrinologist) says that if neurosurgery does not (basically) get their act in gear and schedule surgery, she will send Carl elsewhere. Some of the concerns they have with the increasing HGH levels - it can cause diabetes, heart conditions/complications, organ damage, etc. When the tumor is finally out, they may still need to perform follow-up work. Some people are perfectly fine after the surgery, some need additional work. They ask all the time if his hands and feet are growing - they are not growing. She is aware of his other symptoms (eye twitching, body hair, fingernails) and says that although they really don't relate too much with his condition, she did note them. It is possible the hair and nails are a result of his currently screwed up testosterone levels. If the tumor goes untreated, it will continue to encroach on other parts of his brain, so they do need to remove it. They want to test the tumor to make sure it's not the kind of tumor that will grow back.
Basically, there are three steps:
1st step - Surgery
2nd step - medicine
They are going to try medicine to control his Human Growth Hormone (HGH) effects. Doing this will not stop the HGH from increasing. This will be done to buy some time until his next surgery. The surgery will still take place sometime in the near future. Dr. Singhal (his Endocrinologist) says that if neurosurgery does not (basically) get their act in gear and schedule surgery, she will send Carl elsewhere. Some of the concerns they have with the increasing HGH levels - it can cause diabetes, heart conditions/complications, organ damage, etc. When the tumor is finally out, they may still need to perform follow-up work. Some people are perfectly fine after the surgery, some need additional work. They ask all the time if his hands and feet are growing - they are not growing. She is aware of his other symptoms (eye twitching, body hair, fingernails) and says that although they really don't relate too much with his condition, she did note them. It is possible the hair and nails are a result of his currently screwed up testosterone levels. If the tumor goes untreated, it will continue to encroach on other parts of his brain, so they do need to remove it. They want to test the tumor to make sure it's not the kind of tumor that will grow back.
Basically, there are three steps:
1st step - Surgery
2nd step - medicine
GLUCOSE TEST
Carl is getting his glucose test, along with a series of additional tests this morning at the VA. They are continuing to try and find out what is going on with him. The doctors are no further than they were a couple weeks ago. Tomorrow, he meets with his neurosurgeon. I am thinking of joining him.
Although Carl is not any further in receiving an additional diagnosis, he is experiencing additional symptoms. Please pray for this. Carl and I have noticed the amount of his body hair is increasing, his toenails and fingernails are growing at a faster rate, he still has short-term memory issues and some short-temper issues, he is still tired all the time and most recently, his eye has begun twitching again. The reason his eye used to twitch is because the tumor was pressing on his optic nerve. He was instructed to go off his Cabergoline (the purpose of this medicine is to shrink the brain tumor). He has only been off the medicine for a couple weeks, so it seems odd that his eye would begin twitching again this quickly.
Although Carl is not any further in receiving an additional diagnosis, he is experiencing additional symptoms. Please pray for this. Carl and I have noticed the amount of his body hair is increasing, his toenails and fingernails are growing at a faster rate, he still has short-term memory issues and some short-temper issues, he is still tired all the time and most recently, his eye has begun twitching again. The reason his eye used to twitch is because the tumor was pressing on his optic nerve. He was instructed to go off his Cabergoline (the purpose of this medicine is to shrink the brain tumor). He has only been off the medicine for a couple weeks, so it seems odd that his eye would begin twitching again this quickly.
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