ZAPPED!!!

[Seamar]

Hello, Everyone!

Yesterday morning my GK odyssey begin at 5:30am at the admittance office.  From there my husband and I went to the GK Suite where we were met by a very kind male nurse.  Another nurse, Samantha, came out with paperwork which I completed and then was ushered into the Pre-Gamma Room. The idea of wearing nothing with metal, including a sports bra, which I read in this forum _{(thank you)} was a great one because I got to wear the hospital gown over my triple-layered attire.  Then the IV port was inserted and I got an Ativan lollipop. The three rotating nurses were absolutely fabulous making sure I was comfortable.  A little later I got .5cc of Ativan, IV.

The head frame about which I was being so chicken was placed so quickly that I almost missed it!  Jessica, the nurse practitioner, swabbed my forehead and back of the head with Betadine, somewhere along the line I got Lidocaine injected in those areas, the headframe, which is made of Titanium and very light, was fitted, positioned and installed by Dr Golfinos and Jessica most efficiently.  Dr Golfinos spoke to me and then Dr Rush.  Along with Dr Han, for me, these guys are the dream team.  So kind, so understanding and downright down to earth.

After a short rest period I went in for the MRI, which took longer than my regular MRI's, but this is where the three doctors are plotting the course of treatment.  I had started to feel a little pain in the right back pin site and reported this to Samantha.  Right away, Jessica came over and injected more Lidocaine; exit pain.  There was an additonal plastic helmet with holes in it that was placed over the frame and afixed to the MRI bed.  No matter, I dozed on and off.  The dosage that was decided upon was 13 gys. along the edges and "a little more" in the center; time 23 minutes.

Into the machine I went. An additonal piece is attached to the back of the headframe which is attached to the bed.  It is very quiet unlike the MRI machine, and I felt just a lttle movement now and again.  When time was up, I was detached from the machine and wheeled back to the Pre-Gamma Room.  The frame was removed painlessly, but the left pin site wouldn't stop bleeding, so I went home with a turban to be removed the next morning.  I was given Decadron, IV and instructed to take Tylenol should I have pain.  Jessica also said that my scalp might feel numb for a while or even for weeks.  I was discharged at ll:45am.

Got home, had a bowl of soup and slept for 4-1/2 hours.  Woke up painfree and hungry.  Up to this point I have not had to take anything for pain.

It would be unrealistic for me to expect any changes so soon.  Tinnitus, some dizziness, walking like a crawdad still the same, but I think that if I were still working that I could have gone in today.  Let's see what happens once the critter (hopefully) starts dying.

Thank you all, especially Joey, Miranda, Lauren and Mickey for your support!
                                                 
                                                   C-Mar
   

[mattsmum]

congratulations - and i am glad your experience was made so straightforward for you.
heres's hoping your ongoing recovery is equally straightforward,
best wishes,
vikki

[Jim Scott]

C-mar ~

Thanks for your informative post relating your GK experience, which apparently went very well.  I hope the next few weeks and months are equally successful as your 'zapped' AN meets it's demise.

Jim

[frenchjoey]

Thanks once again for this reassuring feedback! I'm having my GK treatment on Monday and as some of you already know I am to stay in hospital the day before and the day after because that's the way the protocol goes here in France. Still I suppose the procedure should be similar apart from all the pre- and post-GK blood tests, audiograms and whatever they come up with as extras!
Hope you are feeling just as well as the days go by! Keep up the good spirits!
Joey

[mattsmum]

best of luck for monday!

[Sue]

That is practically the exact same experience that I had....only at a different facility.  I didnt get an IV though.  I don't reme ber much about the actual GK, because of the atavan.  Apparently I had a good time, though.  Nice to know I'm a happy drunk....

Hope it all goes well for you....

[frenchjoey]

Thanks for your support! We're going for a nice (sort) walk in the sunshine before the hospital "check-in" at 2.
Have a lovely Sunday!
Best,
Joey

[frenchjoey]

Hello everyone,

Well here I am back home in Nice after my GK treatment in Marseilles on Monday. As some of you know I had to spend the night before the GK in hospital. I suppose they want to be sure you’re going to be there on time!! They had me shower and wash my hair with Betadine. I was sent down to have the frame fitted at 5.30. I sat in a waiting room with 7 other people wearing the same bright yellow pyjamas. We didn’t chat much, I suppose everybody was feeling extremely nervous about the head frame. The first lady who went in came out again looking very drunk. She had been given some anti anxiety treatment that had apparently worked wonders on her!! I was next and kindly refused to be given the same drug as her. I had already been given some tranquilliser and I told them I felt I could cope. And I did. It’s true that the idea of having such a frame screwed to your skull is not an easy one to accept but a) the frame is not heavy, just uncomfortable b) the pain, if any, is by no means unbearable c) the actual fitting only lasts a few minutes (3 or 4 difficult to say). They then put a transparent plastic bowl with holes in it over my head (I looked like an astronaut from the 70’s) and they took some measurements with a pencil like object that they poked through the various holes. Never said what that was for.
I then waited some time for the MRI and for the Scan with two other ANers. We had all relaxed a bit after the frame-fitting episode, so we starting chatting (except the first lady who was snoring her head off on a stretcher) and things really went smoothly and rather quickly after that. Back to my room for breakfast at 8.30 and they came for me 2 hours later (that seemed like a long time because you can’t really lie or rest your head comfortably with the frame on) but in fact I was lucky because some of the others waited 4 hours!
 I was in the machine for 35 minutes. It honestly didn’t feel that long. I really hate being inside those tube-like machines but I’ve learnt to concentrate on other things such as remembering nice memories, imagining new recipes, trying to work out what day 2012 March 2nd will be … in fact anything that will keep my mind busy.
They removed the frame as soon as I was out of the machine. I had a bit of a headache but a simple painkiller was enough to get rid of it in an hour.
It’s now been 48 hours. I’ve got a bit of swelling above my eyes (hardly noticeable really), a mild headache and the tinnitus seems slightly louder but as the doctor said: who’s to say it’s got anything to do with the GK magic wand?
I hope my story will help those of you out there who may be worrying about their D-Day. I can add that my two fellow GammaKnifers (both men) complained more about the hospital food than anything else. The younger one (in his forties) thought the nurses should have waited longer between the injection of the local anaesthetics and the fitting of the first pin because he said the first pin hurt more than the other 3 (but then we all know how men react to pain, don’t we, ladies? ) But I can assure you he was perfectly fit and running in the corridors, joking with the same nurses a few hours later on the same day. And he’s back at work tomorrow! That speaks for itself.

I would like to thank everybody on this forum for all the help I got through reading the posts. (Special thanks to C-mar and Chuck). I will gladly answer any questions that some of you may still  have.

Best,
Joey

[Seamar]

Hey, Joey,

Great post!  I'm glad to hear that you're doing so well.  I agree that this forum was beyond helpful in preparing us for our GK Experience.  I'm still in good shape, taking up where I left off.  Let's agree to return in one month's time to report on post-GK status.

Cheers,
             C-Mar

[Jim Scott]

Hi, Joey ~

Congratulations on your successful GK treatment and thanks for the comprehensive and entertaining account of your experience.  I trust that you'll have a relatively uneventful recovery.  Please, keep us updated. 

Jim

[2puttchuck]

Well Joey, glad things went so well for you.  I didn't think you would have any problems.   Good luck on the rest of your AN journey.  I have my post GK MRI in April, so I won't know much more about mine until then.  So far, no significant side affects - hope that is good thing.

Chuck

[frenchjoey]

Hello,
Thank you very much for your good wishes! It's now been 4 days and apart from a slight headache now and again an a quarter of a black eye  I can't complain. I even attended a meeting at work last night! All the others were flabbergasted (I love this word!!)

Keep well and let's keep in touch.

Cheers

Joey

[HisHands]

Joey & CMar, I read your prvious posts on Zapped.... Laughed so much and it put me in a happy place.  I know we all take AN very seriously, but thank you both for the entertaining adventure.  My goal is to be just as entertaining after my treatment.  Although entertaining, I picked up some good advice and tips. Emma

[Seamar]

One more tip, Emma:  don't overlook the cool compresses on your forehead, preferably using chilled witch hazel.  We want you to appear relaxed and beautiful at work on Monday morning.  My prayers will follow you all day tomorrow.

Looking forward to you post-GK post,
                                                       C-Mar

[Seamar]

Hello, again!

My six-month MRI and GK follow-up were delayed by a computer system change at my neurosurgeon's office.  My April 24th appointment turned into June 19th without consequence.  The AN is stable at 1.2cm, and there is a darkening at the center which may or may not be the beginning of necrosis.  Only time will tell. 

The hearing on my AN side continues to deteriorate, and I still have balance issues. The tinnitus can become quite annoying, but I manage to ignore it most of the time. I can happily say that in the 7-1/2 months since GK I have had no headaches -- none!  That was my greatest fear since I was very headachy in my younger years.  I hope I'm not speaking too soon!

I have changed my diet, mostly because my husband was on the cusp of diabetes, and we had  to change his diet to include more whole foods and vegetables; the protein and complex carbohydrates in measured amounts.  We've both lost weight and feel better with the change, and the threat of diabetes no longer looms.  I wonder if the new eating habits have helped stabilize the AN.

My next appointments are in December.  I will update at that time.

C-Mar