All About My Dad....

My dad is a pretty amazing guy. He's got 13 grandchildren and 4 children (3 living) & he's been married to my mom for 30+years!! He's recently become pretty ill, hence the reason for this blog. It serves as a purpose to get out quite a bit of information at once without having to repeat it all the time.

You'll notice that his name will never be given for privacy reasons. Since Caringbridge is the only place that you can actually password protect a blog I'm keeping his name out of this, it's just about him! If you have the link then it's been passed to you so that you can check up on him & see how he's doing. I digress with all of the technical details and such. ~Lisa (Yes I'll give my name. LOL)

My dad was sent home from work a few weeks ago on PSL b/c he was gray, light headed and weak. His GP sent him for an MRI and it came back that he has a Pituitary Tumor. 1 doctor says that it's attached to his Pituitary Gland and one says that it's not so it's really anyone's guess. My dad has since been sent to a neurosurgeon who informed him that his Tumor/Mass/Lesion is 1.2cms. That doctor didn't seem concerned and said that if he was putting out a certain hormone than the tumor could stay. If he wasn't than it had to come out. So far all of his blood work is normal.

He has gotten a second opinion by a Neurologist who said that anything over 1 cm should be taken out. She is also sending him for more testing. He is scheduled for an EEG (measures brainwaves), MRA (measures brain activity), and an psychoanalysis (testing his memory and such). The Psychoanalysis sounds like he's psychotic but he's not. The Neurologist believes that my dad is having TIA's (Transient Ischemic Strokes) aka Mini Strokes.

So far my dad's symptoms are as follows: Stumbles when he walks, feels like his brain is jello, he has started stuttering, his memory is starting to fade from time to time, lightheaded, dizzy, and he can turn an amazing shade of gray at any given time. (Really it's Gray NOT White!) These are just a few of his symptoms. They are pretty scary by themselves but when you put them all together it is down right terrifying.

Anyone who knows my dad, knows that him relying on anyone else is definitely not his strong point. He's always been the provider, the care taker, the 'make everything better' kind of guy. For him to have to rely on anyone is difficult. However, he knows when he doesn't feel well, he does let us take care of him which is great. (That he lets us, not that he doesn't feel well)

That's all from here for today. Hopefully things start turning around soon & we can get a definite diagnosis on him and get him back to where he was a month or so ago! ~Lisa