Today I learned that benign most definitely doesn't have to mean harmless when it comes to tumors. I mean, you'd think a tiny 5 millimeter blob of fatty tissue that was likely there from birth wouldn't really be doing much, right? Apparently not.
For the first time since it was found in an MRI back more than three years ago, my neurologist blatantly came out and said that to doctors, that would usually indicate a malformation (no kidding, doc), that the area of the brain it's in (near the pituitary stalk) is chock full of hormonal messengers, and that it has very likely been screwing up my growth with whatever it's secreting, and is also a probable physical cause for all the crazy problems with my motor skills.
Now, good Doctor, why not tell us that a mite bit earlier so we could at least try something to counteract whatever it's telling my brain? I get that I'll probably never have the dexterity of an average human being because it's literally a substitution of the proper cells for fatty tissue, but maybe something like growth hormone would have worked, it was worth a shot (no pun intended). It still might be, considering that against all odds I actually did grow recently. But the fact still stands that he's been saying it's harmless this whole time, and all of a sudden my mother asked because she read about brain tumors near the pituitary gland secreting things, and he just went ahead and said all of that.
Weird.
