The doctor did not suspect I had acromegaly once the tumor was found. I first met with a neurosurgeon in Dallas who, fortunately, did not look at me and right away said, "there sits a gal with acromegaly." He didn't order blood work to rule the disease out because he was confident my tumor was not producing excess growth hormone. I didn't LOOK like I had acromegaly; I am 5' 2" and do not have giant extremities or the typical acromegalic appearance. The changes have been subtle and slow. Given another ten years (without the tumor being discovered), it might have been the case that I looked different.
The doctor said if the tumor had not been discovered, I would have likely gone blind or had prominent visual disturbances, which would have led to the discovery. Had it not been for the persistence of my ENT to find the cause of ear pain, that may have been my story. Once I was referred to an endocrinologist, he began to look at little deeper at the possibility of acromegaly. David and I knew before I had the surgery that this was most likely my diagnosis.
Referring back to my previous post about Richard Kiel AKA "Jaws"- I cannot tell you how, as a woman, it feels to look at the person who has always scared the crud out of me in the James Bond movies and find out I am sick with the same disease he has. He looks that way because of acromegaly. I doubt there was a lot of make-up applied to his appearance (except for his silver teeth, of course). Hollywood brought out and played on his most prominent features. I wondered if those were now going to be my most prominent features. Would my face begin to take on a more masculine and coarse shape? Would my hands and feet continue to grow and become huge? I started to look in the mirror and wonder what I would look like in a few years. I thought the changes I was experiencing were a normal aging process. I had no idea a brain tumor could transform a person's appearance. But, it was becoming a reality for me, and I had to accept that I was sick - it was hard to get.
A lot of the blow from the tumor news subsided the night Dave and I nearly got in the accident. So in a way, I was prepared for worse information. Even if it meant I was eventually diagnosed with cancer. Understand I did not have this perfect attitude all the time. I often had moments of "Why me?" but for the most part, I tried not to dwell on it and just took each appointment. The weight of the "what ifs" was too much to bear. They still are at times. Because we are still waiting for more news. It may not be completely gone.
