I so rarely even bother checking voicemail anymore, I’m so busy; I usually just call back whomever I recognize in my missed calls list and go from there. But when I spotted a call from my new doctor, just a few days after the blood work was due back from the lab, I grew curious.

So I dialed and had to hold onto the phone with both hands not to drop it. Her exact words: “I want to talk to you right away about your prolactin levels. They’re elevated, and, um, it’s very worrisome.”

She thinks SHE was worried?

Next, I did what my wife and a lot of people do, which I have held in great disdain for so long, I surprised myself at how quickly I reversed course on the wisdom of WebMD. Search “prolactin elevated.” And the news was not good.

The next logical step now that my doctor and I have met is to get a high resolution MRI of my brain. I had one almost exactly two years ago and everything was normal. Back then my reading said “20.” I’m not sure what unit of measurement, all I know is 20 is normal.

Mine is now 80.

You can’t get me into that godawful, horribly confining and damn loud Magnetic Resonance Imaging machine fast enough. I need to know what this is, and I need to know it now. Is it related to what’s happened to me? Am I in for something far worse? Will it be a tumor? Will it be benign? Can a surgeon remove it safely? Am I going to die?

Well, yes, eventually; I mean soon.

And I thought I was just having a bad week.

I’ll keep you my dear readers up to date once I learn something I can pass along. I hate to beg but your prayers, thoughts or just plain non-hatred toward me are very much appreciated.