Dr. Hollie Carson

In 2004, I(Hollie) was diagnosed as having a "microadenoma," a pituitary tumor(or growth). (Usually all pituitary tumors are benign, non-cancerous.)
The pituitary gland is a small bean-shaped gland located at the base of your brain. Despite its small size, the pituitary gland influences nearly every part of your body. Its hormones help regulate important functions such as growth, blood pressure and reproduction.
There are two types of pituitary growths, a microadenoma and a macroadenoma. Thankfully, I have the microadenoma, a growth less than 10mm. For the visual learners out there, ...

«...the millimeter is a tiny unit that replaces fractions of inches. Its length is the size of the thickness of a dime. Each time you hear the word, millimeter, think: the thickness of a dime. If someone mentions an item is 10 millimeters long, just imagine how high a stack of 10 dimes would be to get an idea of that item's length.»

At the time of discovery, the MRI of my brain measured my microadenoma to be 5 mm (5 stacked dimes or a pinch smaller than a quarter of an inch.) Of course, upon hearing that anything is wrong with your organs or body is devastating, but my doctor reassured me, Hugh and my family that this microadenoma probably would not get any bigger than 5 mm, thus few side effects. Dr. Coleman did emphasize that I could have fertility problems, since the microadenoma was located on the left side of the gland where my estrogen is located, but I knew that we were not trying to get pregnant any time soon, so we would cross that bridge when we came to it. But when a woman hears the news that she could have a hard time conceiving, her heart breaks. I have and still continue to lift this area of concern and stress to the Lord. We are not in a place where we are trying to start a family just yet (just bought a house, just started Seminary..etc..), but praying over this area is the best way we know how to fight off worry and concern about our future family. Before moving to N.C., I was supposed to have my second MRI, my six-month check-up, to see if the size of the microadenoma had changed. My Endocrinologist up and left town right before our move, leaving me without an option to reschedule with another doctor prior to moving. So, last week I had my second MRI, and yesterday I consulted with my doctor about the MRI results. Ya'll.....I got a praise in my mouth, and I gotta get it out. My microadenoma has shrunk!!!!!! BELIEVE IT! It shrank from 5 mm to 2 mm(5 dimes to 2 dimes). Granted, it can increase and decrease in size occasionally, but going from 5mm to 2mm, although small, is a very significant change in my opinion. I'm so thankful and give all credit to the Lord for such a change. That has been my prayer for 2 years!! What a lesson in faith, and this faith has definitely placed some fuel on my faithful prayers. My prayer is that it will continue to shrink and eventually disappear. Donna has a friend who HAD a pituitary growth and it shrank to nothing! It's 100% gone. So, that is my prayer exactly.

I usually don't tell people about my microadenoma, for the reasons that there are hardly any side effects, I'm leading a normal life, and really the complications will come when we start seriously considering family planning . (Actually, many people have these growths and don't even know it.) But since Hugh and I received such great news yesterday, I had to give glory where glory was due(to the Lord). Thanks for celebrating in my victory!!