Pseudo Tumor Cerebri
The Pseudo Tumor Cerebri...PTC for short. What is it really?
You know how SPAM is Something Posing As Meat, well this is SPAT, Something Posing As a Tumor. This malevolent disease somehow invades the spinal column and brain areas, but cannot be seen. It wreaks havoc that closely resembles the symptoms of a Tumor. Ergo the name Pseudo Tumor.
The main symptoms are:
It causes Papillary Edema from the severe cranial pressure, which is basically excessive pressure on the eyes where the retina actually becomes misshapen. This is what causes the many eye problems.
Essentially, it causes an extreme build up of Spinal Fluid in the cranium and spinal areas. This problem mimics a tumor in all ways except the part where you have a visible mass in your head that can be bombarded with radiation or removed by surgery. Therefore they can only treat the symptoms of this insidious disease. There is no cure as of right now. It is a life long condition that requires 1 of 3 options or a combination of options:
The medication is the most benign. However, it is also the least effective. The medicine basically dehydrates the spinal fluid so that there is less of it, so that pressure is relieved. Unfortunately, this can also leave the person slightly dehydrated and this drug interestingly enough also can cause drowsiness, loss of concentration and forgetfulness. Yup, you are reading that right. It causes some of the same symptoms as the PTC. Melissa is about to go insane from how much info she has to process more than once to remember it. And it now seems to have stopped helping her headaches.
The Lumbar Puncture (LP) is just the new name for Spinal Tap. They are no nicer than before. It still involves jabbing a giant needle into the person's back. They do this to remove some of the Spinal Fluid to relieve the pressure. This helped Melissa when she got one the day we were in the ER, but it's only temporary. And as you probably read, because of her Sciatica the procedure is even more pain full than normal because it takes someone really good at it to find a spot that doesn't cause her to have excruciating pain. For some people with PTC an LP every week or so works. For many others it takes a combo of drugs and LP's on a weekly or almost daily basis to relieve the pressure. This aspect is one that scares us the most since Melissa already has severe back problems. The LP she got at the ER made her sore for days. This would possibly mean that she would be in continuous pain.
The final option is a shunt. Basically the operate on the person and put a tube from the spinal column to the stomach. It siphons off the extra fluid into her stomach. This procedure has a high success rate with minimal symptoms. The problem is that shunts are not an exact science apparently. We have found info on people who have had them and everyone has a different experience. Many people have to have them replaced regularly from every 3 months to every year. The operation puts a person on total bed rest for a week. We have met someone who had a shunt for 7 years trouble free. We are hoping that that will be the case for Melissa should she need one.
Luke
You know how SPAM is Something Posing As Meat, well this is SPAT, Something Posing As a Tumor. This malevolent disease somehow invades the spinal column and brain areas, but cannot be seen. It wreaks havoc that closely resembles the symptoms of a Tumor. Ergo the name Pseudo Tumor.
The main symptoms are:
- Severe Headaches
- Blurred and spotted Vision
- Complete whiteouts of vision
- Forgetfulness
- Loss of concentration
- Tiredness
- Dulled hearing
It causes Papillary Edema from the severe cranial pressure, which is basically excessive pressure on the eyes where the retina actually becomes misshapen. This is what causes the many eye problems.
Essentially, it causes an extreme build up of Spinal Fluid in the cranium and spinal areas. This problem mimics a tumor in all ways except the part where you have a visible mass in your head that can be bombarded with radiation or removed by surgery. Therefore they can only treat the symptoms of this insidious disease. There is no cure as of right now. It is a life long condition that requires 1 of 3 options or a combination of options:
- Medication
- Lumbar Punctures
- A Shunt
The medication is the most benign. However, it is also the least effective. The medicine basically dehydrates the spinal fluid so that there is less of it, so that pressure is relieved. Unfortunately, this can also leave the person slightly dehydrated and this drug interestingly enough also can cause drowsiness, loss of concentration and forgetfulness. Yup, you are reading that right. It causes some of the same symptoms as the PTC. Melissa is about to go insane from how much info she has to process more than once to remember it. And it now seems to have stopped helping her headaches.
The Lumbar Puncture (LP) is just the new name for Spinal Tap. They are no nicer than before. It still involves jabbing a giant needle into the person's back. They do this to remove some of the Spinal Fluid to relieve the pressure. This helped Melissa when she got one the day we were in the ER, but it's only temporary. And as you probably read, because of her Sciatica the procedure is even more pain full than normal because it takes someone really good at it to find a spot that doesn't cause her to have excruciating pain. For some people with PTC an LP every week or so works. For many others it takes a combo of drugs and LP's on a weekly or almost daily basis to relieve the pressure. This aspect is one that scares us the most since Melissa already has severe back problems. The LP she got at the ER made her sore for days. This would possibly mean that she would be in continuous pain.
The final option is a shunt. Basically the operate on the person and put a tube from the spinal column to the stomach. It siphons off the extra fluid into her stomach. This procedure has a high success rate with minimal symptoms. The problem is that shunts are not an exact science apparently. We have found info on people who have had them and everyone has a different experience. Many people have to have them replaced regularly from every 3 months to every year. The operation puts a person on total bed rest for a week. We have met someone who had a shunt for 7 years trouble free. We are hoping that that will be the case for Melissa should she need one.
Luke
To donate to the help Melissa Get Well Fund:
posted by Laje Kahr at 11:10 AM
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