Doc thinks it might be Brain Tumor

[rachie204]

Hi all.  I am not new to Med Help (spent lots of time in the Pregnancy forums while hubby and I were Trying To Conceive the last 2 years) but I am new to this Forum.  I have some questions and hope I can pick some of your brains....

My husband will be 23 next month.  About 4 weeks ago while in the shower he had an extreme pain shoot through the bottom of his head where the head reaches the neck on the rt. side.  The pain was so extreme that it nearly knocked him to the ground.  The weeks following have resulted in very painful headaches every day that are not helped entirely by meds.  We finally got him to go to the ER about 1 1/2 - 2 weeks ago where they checked him out and did a cat scan.  They said the cat scan came back fine and that it didn't sound like migraines but they were not sure what it could be.
Today he felt so bad he called in to work and decided to visit a family practice doctor.  The doctor became very worried when he checked my husbands eyes...he said that his eye function is not correct.  He asked some colleagues to check him out and made some phone calls.  He said worst case it is possibly a brain tumor, he said second worst case would be MS. They set him up for an MRI for tomorrow, Eye doctor Wed, setting up a neurology appointment , did some blood work and said he wants him back in 2 weeks.  My husband has wore glasses for years and no one else has mentioned this eye thing so the doctor is pretty sure it is something new.
I was just wondering if this sounded similar to any of your experiences...The doctor seemed frazzled and worried.  He told my husband to be concerned.  "Don't worry but you do need to be concerned"  Well naturally I am worried, we have 2 children (5 yrs and 10months)  I am so anxious and nervous.  Anything you could tell me would be appreciated.  Thanks in advance...

[rumpled]

A previously clear CT is good news, so that should help out. An eye appointment can pick up a lot of things - and usually those are near the optic nerve and can be like what I have, pituitary, and would not be picked up on a CT.

I would find a neuro-opthomologist (that type of eye doc does extensive testing), and let the neuro do testing as well to see what is going on. Did the doc do visual fields?

I know my brother had some similar type of issue that was transient, and the docs found most tests to be normal and thus chalked it up to be stress - so just wait until the test results come back and see what is going on.

Make sure you get copies of everything - the CT, the labs, the results, everything - so that you can track it all - it will really help.

[SurgiMenopause]

If they definitely rule out brain/pituitary tumor, you might look up cluster headaches, I believe more prevalent in men than women and excruciating.  I learned on TV on a medical program on cluster headaches that they discovered people with this kind of headache have an abnormally shaped hypothalmus.

[SurgiMenopause]

Another thought, is an MRI of the cervical spine since you mentioned the back of the head.  They might look for nerve impingement, etc..  

[rachie204]

thank you both.  We went for the MRI today and are waiting to hear the results.  I am not sure what visual fields are....Sorry.  All I know is the doctor made my husband follow something with his eyes....the doctor said that his eyes should follow the object with a smooth flow but instead his eyes seem to sort of lag behind and then try to catch up quickly creating a jumpy movement (I guess).  Stress is definitely something we were thinking it could be so I will keep that in mind and I will also be sure to get copies of his info. (thanks for the tip).  I will check out the cluster headaches as well...thanks again.  I will try and keep you posted on any new info we learn...
~ Rachel

[rumpled]

Visual fields are tests of the eyes that look at if the field of vision to the side or top is impaired. If something is pressing on the optic nerve, that happens.

Don't let them just say stress without doing more - get to a neuro-opthomologist.

[rachie204]

We went to the eye doctor today and get this... Eye Doc says his eyes seem pretty much normal....(Go figure)  They did the Visual Field tests and those looked good as well.  His GP doctor called and said they wanted him in first thing tomorrow, (maybe they got the blood work or MRI results back, or maybe they want to see him because we called to let them know he caught the flu from my son)  ....anyways I will post an update after the doctor tomorrow...Praying for good news.

[rumpled]

At least his optic nerves are safe, that is good news. Push fluids etc. to help get him over the flu and hopefully they will get him on the tamiflu etc. to get him over this bout sooner.

Hope all goes well.

[SurgiMenopause]

How are you doing?  What happened at the doctor's yesterday?

[rachie204]

Sorry it took me so long to update...(sick 10month old)...anywho the doctor was shocked to see that his eyes had shown a huge improvement since the appointment a few days before.  He said he is not sure what would cause such a drastic change but insists that he still go to his neurological appointment this wed just to be safe.  They said his blood work came back fine.  They tested him for the flu and it was negative but said that he did have a sinus infection...his head is not hurting for the first time in a month...Is there a chance all this was from a simple sinus infection?....would a sinus infection have caused the strange eye movement? Still have not told us the MRI results which I think is ridiculous....it doesn't take a week to read an MRI.

[rumpled]

You can get, usually, a copy of the film on cd for free as well as the report from the place that took the MRI. Call the place and ask them to send the report and cd to you directly.

[rachie204]

Well since hubby has missed lots of work from this whole ordeal he called and asked me to change his appt to a friday instead of tomorrow.  I don't think it is a good decision but they rescheduled for Dec the 4th (first friday they had available)...i'll update after that.  Thanks

Also I will definitely check on those copies...(thanks for that info rumpled)