...to be super grateful for my health.
I must admit that as the years go by and as my original diagnosis of a pituitary tumor (back in 2001) becomes more and more distant, I don't get as worked up about my yearly appointments with my endocrinologist. And yet, each year when I leave there with a clean bill of health (which, fortunately, has been a number of years in a row now) that includes good blood work and no need for an MRI, I find myself walking (er...floating?) a little lighter than usual. My hormone levels were all in check this time - and even better than a year ago! Now, hormones are very temperamental things so it really could have just been a good day when I got my blood drawn, but I guess the theory is that if you do the tests regularly enough and are in tune with your body enough, you'll catch the hormones on a bad day at least once and you'll be alerted to anything that you need to be alerted to. My cholesterol was picture perfect - to quote my endocrinologist, "These are the sort of numbers we hope to see after someone has been put on medicine to control their cholesterol." Thank God for small favors that high cholesterol doesn't run in my family. All in all, Dr. Blevins was very happy with my current health, inquired about my exercise and such (exercise and relaxation to relieve stress...okay, I do one better than that other..., were two of his original prescriptions for me) and told me to keep doing what I was doing. I joked that I wasn't sure I could keep doing an Ironman every year but that I promised I wouldn't slack off too much. He laughed and said, "You know what I mean. Your exercise is keeping you healthy in the ways it would for someone without a pituitary tumor; it just has added benefits for you." Nice.
So I decided I'd keep that tumor at bay and ride 75 miles on Saturday and then run 13 on Sunday as an "I'll show you, Mr. Pituitary Tumor" and as a sign of gratitude for my health - a "because I can" gesture. (Never mind that it was also on my training schedule!)
And on Sunday after my run, I came across this article in the NY Times called, "A Cancer Scare, a Scar, a Silver Lining", and while no doctor ever thought my tumor was malignant (apparently this type of endocrine tumor rarely is), I certainly understood the author's silver lining comments as well as his sigh of relief when he hears that the tumor was benign. I seem to know (or know of) a lot of folks right now who haven't been so lucky when it comes to cancer or tumors or illness in general so I'm saying an extra prayer of thanks. So many of these diseases/health problems are so sneaky that you can be feeling relatively fine and all of the sudden be knocked down for the count by some awful condition. And hormones are SUPER sneaky and subtle and often leave you just feeling "off" which you can attribute to anything from not enough sleep to allergies to a slight case of the flu to not enough caffeine. And I guess that's why I'm relieved every year to see good test results. It's just added confirmation to feeling good and living the very full life that I do. Perhaps I shouldn't need that affirmation, but I do. For all of the belief that I have in acupuncture and other forms of healthy living and healing, I am the granddaughter and daughter of doctors after all...we like seeing numbers and reading results as "normal"! Okay, at least the blood work is "normal"...even if the patient might not be deemed completely "normal" on any given day.
But for today, HOORAY for another year of healthy, clean living...it really is a great gift and I'm the grateful recipient.
1 comment:
i'm sure i'm just one of many people who is also very grateful for your clean bill of health! it's easy for me to think like a doctor when i hear something like pituitary tumor in the abstract (you are right that it's almost always benign), but it's harder when it's you or someone you love. you are the picture of good health to me, so keep up the good work!
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