Treatment Options > Radiation / Radiosurgery

I've made my decision!

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sloxana:
Well, after much research, sleepless nights, many doctor's visits, I have finally decided what to do about my tumor!  I bet you can guess what I decided because of what category i posted this topic in - that's right, I decided to have it zapped!!  Seriously, I feel a tremendous burden has been lifted from my shoulders after I made my decision.  Now I need to decide what kind of radiation: CK or Novalis?  The Novalis is what my neurosurgeon here in Nashville recommends but from what I am reading it sounds like CK is the most accurate.  Is this true?  There is not a CK treatment center in Nashville so I will probably have to travel to Knoxville or Atlanta.  If anyone has experience with either of those centers please let me know. 

I'm going to wait until after the first of the year to start my treatments.  There is just too much going on in my life to start them now so I prefer to wait.  My doctor will do another MRI in January to check to see if it's grown. 

Now I feel I can get on with my life.  The last 6 weeks have been really hard.  Thanks to all of you who volunteered such great information while I was trying to decide.  You all have been such a big help!

Susan

Sue:
Yeah for you Susan!  Get that puppy nuked!  The decision has been made and I'm sure it will all go according to plan and you will be on the road to recovery soon.  Best of luck to you.

Sue in Vancouver

PS
I've been awaiting my "super powers" because of being nuked, but so far they've been slow in coming. Let me know if you get any. ;)

Mark:
Susan,

For my money, CK is a clear choice over Novalis.

From Dr. Medbery on the CPSG site in response to a patient

Could I get some information regarding the benefits of Novalis vs. Cyberknife for a AN of approx. 1.9 cm. The last doctor I saw touted the benfits of Novalis over Cyberknife, and now I feel a bit confused!


Novalis is an accelerator based system that achieve accuracy of about 2.5 mm. We don't feel that is accurate enough for critical brain work, although it is often used that way. You have to decide for yourself whether to accept the lower accuracy (compared with 0.89 mm for CyberKnife). In other words, they could either miss 2.5 mm of tumor (13% the diameter of your tumor) or treat 2.5 mm of brainstem, cochlea, or other critical structures.

Mark

sgerrard:
Susan, doesn't it feel good to decide? Congratulations.

Here are some links on CK you might want to look at.

The Cyberknife site locator shows two centers in Tennessee, one in Knoxville, one in Bristol.
http://www.accuray.com/SiteLocations/index.aspx

The Cyberknife support group has a forum, and also lists several CK doctors you can contact by email:
http://www.cyberknifesupport.org/

 I posted in another thread that Dr. Medbery, at the link above, said in a post that any CK center can do a good job on ANs. He is in Oklahoma, maybe you could even go there?

You could also look into Gammaknife, there a GK center in Knoxville as well, among others. If you are waiting until January to do the zap, you will have time to check them all out and take your pick.

Steve

Craig:
Susan,

You should consider meeting with Dr. Cmelak at Vanderbilt University. I live in Nashville as well and he did my treatment in April. I was also considering the Novalis system and CK in Knoxville. I also spoke to both doctors about their treatment. It is your decision but another opinion would not hurt.

Cheers,

Craig

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