|
New
Delhi:
A look in the mirror started giving nightmares to Renu Sharma. Her
lips were growing bigger, facial features were getting distorted,
eyes were bulging out -- she'd begun to dread her own reflection.
After a visit to a cosmetologist and a physician, she was
diagnosed with brain tumour.
"It was in June that I started noticing changes in my facial
features. Thinking this was because of heat, the first thought
that came to my mind was consulting a cosmetologist," Sharma, a
homemaker, told IANS.
"But then I was advised to go to a physician. An MRI was done,"
Sharma, 33, said.
In a report that shocked her, it was revealed that Sharma had
benign tumour in the pituitary gland of the brain.
"The tumour is known as Pituitary Adenoma. Excessive production of
the growth hormone in the pituitary gland leads to changes in
physical features," Sudhir Tyagi, senior consultant of
neurosurgery, told IANS.
The pituitary gland is responsible for the production and release
of hormones such as growth hormone.
It was not just changing physical features that hinted at Sharma's
deteriorating health condition, she also complained of piercing
headache and weakness in limbs.
Experts term the condition as Acromegaly. The metabolic disorder,
which causes enlargement of body tissues, has a rare occurrence of
six per 100,000 adults.
The mother of two was recently operated at Apollo hospital and is
now back at her Noida residence.
"We rarely see tumour cases resulting in changes in the facial and
physical features of the patient. The patient was immediately
taken for a minimal invasive skull-based surgery where we made
incision through the nose to remove the tumour," Tyagi explained.
The surgery costs around Rs.200,000 in India.
"The difficult part is that we have not been able to ascertain the
cause of the tumour. The patient slowly regains old features if
diagnosed on time," the doctor said.
In cases where the diagnosis is done late, the distortion of the
face can be permanent, apart from causing vision loss.
For Renu, life is limping back to normalcy after almost a month in
hospital. She looks more or less her previous self, picks her
10-year-old son from school, cooks for her family, and plans to
live life to the hilt.
"Life had come to a standstill. I used to think I will die any
minute because of the abrupt change in my appearance. There was
swelling in limbs as well," Sharma recalls the dreadful moments.
"All I knew was that I have to live for my children," says Sharma,
with eyes welling up.
(Madhulika
Sonkar can be contacted at madhulika.s@ians.in)
|
Comments
|
Quick links