----------------------------------------------------------- New Message on Pituitary Chat
----------------------------------------------------------- From: Daryl Message 37 in Discussion I think one of the most important steps in a solving a problem is to understand what is really going on and/or what is causing it. The following is a quote from the Harvard Medical School regarding neuropsychiatric abnormalities caused by Pituitary Tumors and treatment for Pituitary Tumors. The full article can be found @ http://pituitary.mgh.harvard.edu/NCBV5I1.htm#Neurocognitive "In the largest study, Guinan described neuropsychological testing among 90 patients treated for pituitary adenoma of any etiology. Treatment groups included transfrontal surgery, transsphenoidal surgery with or without radiotherapy, radiotherapy only, and bromocriptine only. The investigators assessed general intellectual function, memory, executive function, language comprehension, and speed of mental processing. The authors of this study also found substantial memory deficits in all treatment groups compared with healthy controls. Anterograde memory was most substantially affected. Treatment group did not correlate with degree of impairment in general, although bromocriptine-treated patients had less impairment on one test of anterograde memory. Additional analyses showed no association between cognitive function and tumor type or time elapsed since treatment. This study was able to control for psychiatric disease and examine effects of interval since treatment. As with the reports from Grattan-Smith and Peace, the retrospective design limits evaluation of treatment effects, since selection bias is expected to strongly influence treatment choice and outcome. Nonetheless, these reports suggest that neuropsychological deficits, particularly memory impairment, are common among patients with pituitary tumors and persist long after treatment completion" I have posted this here several times before because I think it is important for us, and those around us, to understand what is going on when we have apathy, memory problems, and/or can't make a decision. IT IS NOT OUR FAULT!! These are some of the symptoms caused by the tumor or by the treatment of the tumor. No one would blame themselves or someone they worked with or someone they loved if that person had to work at balancing their hormones fallowing surgery or while taking drugs to reduce the tumor. Why should they or we blame ourselves when we have to work at motivating ourselves, remembering things, etc. I find it strange that none of my Doc's ever mentioned the posibility of these side effects. Maybe they are worried about Malpractice claims or just don't know? It would be better for us if they would discuss this and explain it to our loved ones. I have found several things that help me with these issues. 1. Make lists - don't rely on your memory. My wife can send me to the store for 3 things and I will come home with 5 items but have forgotten 2 of the items she sent me to get. I now make a list and then add the spice drops and ice cream :-) 2. Just start - Lean to recognize those times or moments when you just can't seem to move and then force yourself to move. Just start to do something even if it isn't what you should be doing. Once you start moving it is easier to switch to a higher priority task. 3. Laugh at yourself - and let others laugh with you. It is better to have your embarasement or anxiety come out as laughter than anger. Fairly often I will be working outside or in the basement and need a tool. I go to the garauge and stand in front of the tool box and think "what am I here for?" So I have to go back to where I was working and usually I remember immediately what I need and head back to the tool box. We now refer to these my "Two For" moments. Having to go twice for something. I know that I am extremely fortunate to have a loving wife, a strong family, and many good friends. I can't imagine how much harder all this is for those of you who don't have this support. All I can say is God Bless You and keep trying. Daryl ----------------------------------------------------------- To stop getting this e-mail, or change how often it arrives, go to your E-mail Settings. http://groups.msn.com/PituitaryChat/_emailsettings.msnw Need help? If you've forgotten your password, please go to Passport Member Services. http://groups.msn.com/_passportredir.msnw?ppmprop=help For other questions or feedback, go to our Contact Us page. http://groups.msn.com/contact If you do not want to receive future e-mail from this MSN group, or if you received this message by mistake, please click the "Remove" link below. On the pre-addressed e-mail message that opens, simply click "Send". Your e-mail address will be deleted from this group's mailing list. mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
