Hair loss

[patt]

Hi --

I had my Radiation Oncology appointment this morning.  Very upsetting news to me was that I would lose my hair from the treatments.   My tumor is 2.7cm and my Dr is not comfortable treating me with CK.     He will treat me with traditional radiation - linear accelerator.   That news was very upsetting to me.  Do any of you have any info for me about hair loss??
     I will be seeing a surgeon next week for information about the open surgery.   These decisions are so stressfull.

                Thanks for the help --- Patt from Minnesota

[Jim Scott]

Patt ~

I had 26 FSR treatments and did not lose any hair.  I think this depends on the level of radiation used.  Mine was relatively low.  Initially my radiation oncologist told me that I would lose 'some' hair but later, just before my FSR began, said that he lowered the amount of radiation I would receive and that I wouldn't lose any hair.  I didn't.

Jim

[mk]

This sounds very strange. From what I have read in this forum, hair loss, if present, is very minimal with radiation treatment for ANs, unlike cancer treatment. I would seek a second opinion from the doctors at the Cyberknife forum http://www.cyberknife.com/forum.aspx.

Best wishes, you have a very difficult decision in front of you, especially with an AN of borderline size for radiation. Believe me I know.

Marianna

[goinbatty]

It may have been me being paranoid after CK but several weeks following treatment, both sides of my head itched and my hair thinned some.  It was only noticeable to me though.  This could have also been related to menopause so who knows. 
I agree it might be a good idea to ask the docs on the CK forum.  Hope all goes well for you. 

[patt]

Thanks --

This is such a great support group.  I did call the Dr's nurse again and talked about the hair-loss.  She did say that I would have hair loss at the site of treatment.  She couldn't tell me the size --- that would depend on the mapping by the Oncologist.

I will see a neurosurgeon on Friday to discuss my options and then we go out of town to see a neuro-otologist about the option of surgery.

This has been a very long journey for me and my family.   I am so ready for this to come to an end.  I hope that after these appointments, I will be able to come to a decisson.

I am NOT able to do the CK, because of the size    2.7cm.   The Dr wants to do conventional radiation, which is 5 days a week and 5 weeks of treatment.

Patt from Minnesota