Abby Mullins has been recently diagnosed with a pituitary brain tumor. We are uncertain what struggles are ahead of us, with outstanding medical costs we whole heartedly ask for your help in any way you can!

A tumor is an abnormal growth of cells. Tumors can start nearly anywhere in the body. Tumors that start in the pituitary gland are called pituitary tumors.

To understand pituitary tumors, it helps to know something about the pituitary gland and what it does.

The pituitary gland

The pituitary is a small gland at the base of the skull, just below the brain and above the nasal passages and the fleshy back part of the roof of the mouth (known as the soft palate). The pituitary sits in a tiny bony space called the sella turcica. The nerves that connect the eyes to the brain, called the optic nerves, pass just above it.

illustration showing the location of the pituitary and includes a detail of the posterior and anterior pituitary in relation to the hypothalamus, sella turcica and sphenoid sinus

The pituitary is connected directly to part of the brain called the hypothalamus. This provides a key link between the brain and the endocrine system, a collection of glands and organs in the body that make hormones. Hormones are substances released into the blood that control how other organs work. The hypothalamus releases hormones into tiny blood vessels connected to the pituitary gland. These then cause the pituitary to make its own hormones. The pituitary is considered the “master control gland” because it makes the hormones that control the levels of other hormones made by most of the endocrine glands in the body.

The pituitary gland has 2 parts, the anterior pituitary and the posterior pituitary. Each part has distinct functions.