Well it’s done. My head has officially been cooked and I’m on the road to recovery. It was quite an experience, with the frame on I felt a little bit like Darth Vader. I arrived at Hoag at 6:10a and was out by 10:10a. As is typical, they put and IV in me, went through all the paperwork, the anesthesiologist knocked me out, they put on the frame and I was good to go. I will say that more than once during the day I did think that the CK folks really did have the right idea by avoiding the pins, but once it was off and I was up and moving I felt fine again. After the very noisy but very short MRI (about 14 minutes) they planned out the attack and then off to the Gamma Knife. I brought a CD of favorite tunes that helped distract me as they did 14 "shots" over 40 minutes. Dr. Duma was so impressive as a dedicated, thorough doctor with compassion and a great bedside manner. I would highly recommend him to anyone who is still considering all of their options or to anyone on the west coast who is interested in the gamma knife.
Now that I am home I have a heavy head – like I’m wearing a steel baseball cap and I’m tired but other than that I’m feeling good. Ice packs, Tylenol and movies are on the agenda for today and tomorrow.
Thanks again to all who had kind words, posts and PMs - much appreciated. It really does make a difference to have a whole cheering squad behind me as I continue on this journey. I do feel like I've now just begun the longer, hopefully less intense, part of this course. So here's to a dying tumor and limited or no side effects. And to all of you who have a date, it is glorious to be on the other side. Hang in there!
Beth
