Treatment Options > Radiation / Radiosurgery

Gamma Knife 12/22 - seeking reassurance & support

<< < (2/2)

errnkk:
Do not go through radiation. Your AN is small enough to remove it without complications. I am an RN as well. I made the decision to radiate my very small AN. It did not work and I did my research, went to the best doctors in NYC (that is why I think their statistics are tempered with). Then had my AN removed anyway because of the growth after radiation. Fortunately, my AN was still small and I had no complications post surgery. But I regret radiation because the surgeons could not remove the whole tumor. They had to leave part of the it that scarred from radiation to save my facial nerve. If I would do it again I would never go through radiation. Remove it right away when it is small. You have the best chances for the best outcomes. the surgery is state of the art now for the small ANs.

CHD63:
Just a note of clarification.  suz says she had surgical removal some years ago and now is experiencing regrowth, hence the recommendation for Gamma Knife.

Clarice

suz:
ERRNKK - Since I already had surgery I did not want to go through that again. It was rough! I did it because I was told that it would be the only option that would put this behind me - that it was likely they could get the whole tumor and I would then be finished with watching and waiting. That is not what happened. 1/3 of the tumor was left in - seemingly by accident - and then the residual tumor has grown. Clearly nothing has a guarantee. I don't regret the choice I made to have surgery initially and I don't particularly fault the surgeons for not getting all of the tumor. I am feeling pretty confident that GK will finish off the little peanut in my head.
THanks to all of you for responding. It is so wonderful to have this community to share with.
I will let you know how it goes!
Suz

Pembo:
Not sure if you've had it done yet but I went through gamma for regrowth in October. It was so much easier than surgery!!!  The best part for me was the ativan they gave me soon after I was through the doors from the waiting room. That took all my anxieties away and I mostly dozed on and off the rest of the morning. The head frame wasn't as awful as I thought and the procedure itself was nothing. I know they bolted my headframe to the machine but I didn't know. It really was a nice hour of relaxing to music and quiet.  Walking out the door of the hospital made it all seem rather routine.  I think you'll be pleasantly surprised at how easy the actual day will be.

Good luck to you. I'm 3 months out and other than some minor headaches and a battle with fatigue, it's been a quiet recovery.

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[*] Previous page