I previously posted my thoughts and comments on what I have learned in my research in the Radiation / Radiosurgery section of this forum. I have now gotten the procedure behind me and it is a relief to have it over with.
My Cyber Knife procedure with Dr. Chang at Stanford Health Care in Palo Alto went very well last week (August 19th through 23rd). Everything happened pretty much as expected and scheduled. On Monday, I had another MRI and a CT scan. The MRI showed that my tumor had grown another millimeter since last April (now at 10 mm) but I realize that could have just been because it was done with a different MRI machine in Birmingham.
On Monday, they also made up my mask. It was shaped from a mesh type plastic sheet (with perforations/slots) that was placed over my face and stretched to snugly fit while it was still warm and workable. Picture the face being shrink wrapped. The eye holes were large enough so that I could barely see the edges of the mask and so there was no feeling of claustrophobia. A flange was fitted to the back side of the mask to anchor it to the table and restrict movement while the Cyber Knife is working. If, at any time, I had a need to stop the process, I could raise my hand and signal to the operator.
On Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, I had my sessions with the Cyber Knife. The CK machine was very quiet with a barely audible humming sound as it traveled around my head. It was nowhere near as noisy as an MRI machine. I was given a choice of music to listen to and, other than that, the room was very quiet. On the first day, I was asked if I wanted a steroid or nausea pill but I was feeling fine so I told them that I did not feel the need for it yet. I did not take any meds on any of the three days. Each of the sessions took about 45 minutes or less including the 20 minutes that was actually under the CK machine. I was given 6 Gy of radiation in each of the three sessions for a total of 18 Gy.
Each session was painless and I felt absolutely nothing. Afterwards, I kept expecting some minor headaches or stuffy head issues as some individuals on the forum have reported but that did not happen with me. Because the procedure was given around mid-morning of each day, there was time to do some sightseeing around the area afterwards. As of this writing, I have had no need for any anti-inflammatory meds or steroids and my head still feels normal.
I had not realized that the CK machine would travel all the way around my head and actually could direct the radiation from the left side of my head, through my brain and to the tumor that is on my right side. That was a little bit disconcerting to me but I suppose they had to get to the tumor from all sides.
On Friday, after my last CK session, I had a wrap up meeting with Dr. Chang. He did not expect that I would need to come back to Stanford for any follow up appointments. He does want to see MRI’s taken at 6 and at 12 months after the CK session. He will be sending a prescription-like reminder to take to a facility near my home to have the MRI’s done locally. Then, I can send him a CD with the results. He cautioned that the first couple of MRI’s may show that the tumor has actually grown some but that will likely be due to swelling from the CK and that could take a year or more before the swelling dissipates.
In summary, I am very pleased with my choice of Dr. Chang and his team at Stanford to perform this procedure. I know there are a lot of proponents of “Watch and Wait” on this Forum but I firmly believe that when you know the tumor is growing, having the procedure done while it is still small will greatly increase your chances of a successful outcome with minimal post treatment side effects. Time will tell for me and I will update this post from time to time if anything changes.
Ken
