Treatment Options > Radiation / Radiosurgery

My Treatment Journal - Fractionated Cyberknife @ Stanford with Dr. Chang

(1/9) > >>

tdlight:
Over the next week, and beyond I suppose, I will use this topic thread to journal about my treatment experience.  I have elected fractionated (three sessions) CyberKnife at Stanford with Drs. Chang and Hancock.  You can see from my signature I have a relatively small tumor (5x3x4 mm), left side, with hearing loss at higher frequencies, tinnitus and some slight balance issues.  Because of the location of the tumor near the cochlea, the amount of hearing loss I have experienced in a relatively short period of time and the fact my hearing in my unaffected ear is not that great I have elected to be proactive and seek treatment right away as opposed to wait and see if there is growth.  I am concerned about what another 1 or 2 mm of growth would do to my hearing, balance and tinnitus.  I am a 52 year old male in otherwise good health, employed full time with two college age kids (although one has yet to figure out he wants to go to college; boys DO mature slower than girls).

Day 1

So my journey begins today, literally. We leave after my wife gets off work this afternoon for California.  We will be driving down I-5 from the Portland area and staying in Red Bluff this evening.  Tomorrow I have my first consultation with Dr. Chang at 11:30 AM, an MRI and then a consultation with Dr. Hancock at 2:30.  From there we head to Monterey for a relaxing weekend.  The rest of the schedule is as follows: Monday AM is the CT scan, face mask, and simulation; Tuesday I have off while the doctors develop the plan; Wednesday I have my first treatment at 11 AM; Thursday is treatment two at 9 AM; and Friday the final treatment at 9 AM followed at 10:30 with a final appointment with Dr. Chang.  After that it's across the Golden Gate bridge and up Highway 1 for a leisurely trip home via Point Arena and Bandon Friday and Saturday nights.

My next entry should be tomorrow evening from scenic Monterey!  I welcome any questions or comments along the way.

Don't think twice, it's alright - Terry

rupert:
I like that plan. :)

CattAN:
Good luck Terry.  May I suggest that you select music to play while you are getting your treatments? Playing music helped me get through my treatment.  I wasn't prepared though for the setup at Stanford, it required a bluetooth device. 

tdlight:
Day 2

(part 1)

Thanks Rupert and Catt - I was wondering what kind of connection might be required for the music... Bluetooth off the phone will work!

Uneventful trip down last night, but a somewhat sleepless night.  On to Palo Alto and more tonight.

(part2)

We made it to Monterey finally and I will try to boil down the day succinctly since I am wiped.  Not a great nights sleep as indicated but we made it to Dr. Chang's office with 20 minutes to spare; traffic for the bay area was not bad, heavy but moving steady the whole way.  We met with Dr. Chang and three of his staff at various times.  He was very reassuring with my choice to be pro-active in my treatment, pointing out that the smaller the tumor the more likely for positive outcomes.  He indicated that most people see true side effects in the 6-18 month range and most short term effects are more stress related.  (I think I can relate to that.)  He also talked a little about how tumors that die off slowly generate fewer side effects, where as tumors that show early signs of necrosis tend to generate more issues.  He was very personable and easy to talk to.  He really talked up the radiation oncologist I would be seeing next, Dr. Hancock, indicating he was one of the most experienced that he works with as well as one of the most personable. 

After Chang it was off to the main hospital for a quick MRI.  Unfortunately since they were fitting me in to the schedule we ended up waiting for about 90 minutes.  The MRI staff and tech were all very helpful, warm and understanding of my schedule.  They did get me in and I made it on over to Dr. Hancock's office with a minute to spare.

It was a quick walk over to the cancer center for my appointment with Dr. Hancock.... (Stanford Medical is huge BTW, and many of the buildings are new or under construction. Chang's bldg. just opened in December and I think the cancer center was just before.)  I had heard Dr. Hancock was one of the more experienced docs and that he had been at Stanford for over forty years, so when this kid walks in to the exam room and introduced himself as Dr. Harrison I commented, "I didn't think your were Dr. Hancock, his grandson, maybe..." I think I may have offended him.  I think he must be an intern because he went through the whole question and exam routine and then Dr. Hancock came in and did mostly the same.  The "intern" and I did talk about how CyberKnife was sort of developed at Stanford and he mentioned that Dr. Hancock claims to have been present at the first CyberKnife treatment.  So, in short I felt like I was in good hands.  Hancock was a grandfatherly type and his gray hair and easy going demeanor put me instantly at ease.  He talked about the potential for some of the short term effects I might experience (nausea, although they do give meds for that, and light flashes from the radiation passing near the retina) which was very interesting.

All-in-all the staff and facilities at Stanford, as we have all heard, are top notch.  I was particularly impressed with the warmth and compassion of everyone we were in contact with.  Now, to bed... it has been a long day and I am looking forward to sleeping in before doing some sight-seeing tomorrow (Saturday).

Don't think twice, it's alright - Terry

Blw:
When I had my GK, they piped it right into the bug zapper. They used Pandora, and because the painkiller for the head frame wore off, I took my 33 minute bake and counted down 10 songs. I was coming out of that machine with or without the table moving once my time was up.

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page