Diagnosed

     When I found out about my cyst (I had a 2cm cyst on my pituitary), it was all within a few hours. Yes, we had signs leading up (not growing, secondary ammenarrhea, occasional headaches, etc), but nothing that screamed out "BRAIN CYST!!" What happened was that I had crazy bad headaches for a week and threw up, practically unable to move. The doctor said, "Oh, maybe she has a sinus infection," and sent me to get a CT (CAT scan). I crawled back to his office and waited for an hour until he came in and told me that I had a cyst on my brain. I was too tired and lethargic to really understand what was going on, but I have to admit that it was a relief to know what was going on, despite the whole "it's on your brain" announcement.
     I had to go home for a couple hours and then come back late at night to get an MRI. I was still sick, but spent a little time with friends and tried not to move my head too much (it still hurt). Then I went back, had the MRI, and went home. I was missing crew and school, and it was kind of a bad time to be getting this diagnosis. After all, life was still going on, and I had a busy schedule. Well, if this describes you, I have advice ("yay, advice!," you exclaim): Chill. You can't get better unless you have rest. You will never be able to do all those things that want your attention unless you give full attention to your body and mind right now. Trust me. If you're an adult, take off work. If you're a kid, take off school. Spend time alone, sleep a bit, eat good food. Get a clear mind to receive whatever lies ahead of you.
     If you just got diagnosed, talk to your doctor. If they won't give you answers, you can go online and read about your diagnosis. For me, that meant reading up on Rathke's cleft cysts (we don't actually know if it was that after all, but, still...). A warning though: don't take everything the internet says literally. I actually waited about half of a week before researching my diagnosis. It was the weekend, and I wasn't going to see the doctor for a few more days...why stress about it? My mom and I stayed away from medical websites for a while.

     Talk to friends. If you are reading this, and your palms are sweaty, you were just diagnosed, and you don't know how to comprehend what is happening - I know how you feel. I know that the last thing you want to do is talk to people. There are lots of worries that you might have:

• that your pals might not treat you like they used to
• that everyone will freak out
• they have too much on their plates, they don't need to worry about me, too

     These are not true. Maybe some of them will happen, but it will be worse if you don't tell anyone. They don't need to be involved in the whole process, but it can feel good to talk things out with people who don't have their medical license. You would want to know if your best friend had a medical issue, so do the same for them.
     And don't freak out. Take time to do things you like, don't just be glued to the computer or phone, constantly thinking about stupid medical problems. Have fun. Get your mind off of the nasties (I refer to hospital, medicine, crap, etc, as "nasties").
     Everything is going to be okay. Trust me. Don't let your imagination run away with you.