A suburban Chicago woman who feared she might never have another child is now celebrating a growing family after brain surgery at Northwestern Medicine.After the birth of her first daughter in 2022, Lisa Fasone began experiencing postpartum hormonal issues."My menstrual cycle never came back. After I had my baby and I was done nursing, I was still lactating for quite a while after I was complete with nursing. Other hormonal issues, headaches, night sweats, fatigue, just really not feeling like myself.” (Lisa Fasone, Pituitary Gland Tumor Patient)Bloodwork showed elevated prolactin levels. Medication initially helped, but over time her symptoms returned.An MRI eventually revealed a tumor on her pituitary gland, located at the base of the brain.The tumor, known as a prolactinoma, was causing her body to produce too much prolactin, making it extremely difficult to become pregnant.Fasone says she was concerned about becoming pregnant again while taking the medication.“It made me a little nervous to try to conceive on a medication that wasn't well studied to be safe in pregnancy.” (Lisa Fasone, Pituitary Gland Tumor Patient)After exhausting conservative treatment options, she was referred to Northwestern Medicine neurosurgeon Stephen Magill."The problem was likely going to continue to progress as the tumor grew. And so we kind of came to the conclusion that probably surgically removing the tumor was the next best option to fix a problem, help my symptoms, get off the medication, and hopefully have a baby." (Lisa Fasone, Pituitary Gland Tumor Patient)Dr. Magill explained the benefits, risks, and expected outcome of surgery to remove the tumor. The procedure was then scheduled.“So, it's a pretty rare tumor. And for her, when we were able to take it all out after surgery, her prolactin levels went back to normal. And even within a month of surgery, she was able to have a baby.” (Stephen Magill, MD, PhD, Northwestern Medicine)A baby he recently got to meet.“To get someone through that and then see full circle, living a normal life, healthy pituitary gland, not on any hormone replacement. Holding a healthy baby is just, it's incredible.” (Stephen Magill, MD, PhD, Northwestern Medicine)Fasone says infertility can be very isolating but urges others not to give up.“If you feel like something's wrong, make sure that your voice is heard to your providers.” (Lisa Fasone, Pituitary Gland Tumor Patient)Source: Northwestern Medicine.Sign up for our weekly HealthDay newsletter