After ten months of lurking around this site and 10 hours post GK, I thought I owed it to all of the good people here who are so willing to share and help others to say thanks.
My story is pretty typical, hearing loss, tinnitus, and balance issues for a while till my doc finally said lets see the ENT. Followed by hearing test, MRI and the visits with the various Docs and a lot of conflicting info and confusion. In the middle of it all I discovered the ANA site and this group. The great mix of strong personal opinions and hard information and references made the decision making process so much easier than it might have been.
I knew early on that I did not want to have open surgery at my age (59) but the radiosurgery choices seemed equally puzzling. The debate here over linac, GK, and CK ended up leading to so much solid information that in the end not only was the choice easier for me to make but I ended up highly confident that I was doing the right thing for me under the circumstances (approx 8mm x 9mm AN).
In the end I felt that the technology and experience at our small (but excellent for it's size) Med center in Burlington, Vermont did not offer the lowest risk possible and chose, in part due to the recommendation of the local radiation oncologist, to have Gamma Knife with Dr. Kodziolka at UPMC, Pittsburgh.
Ten hours out is, of course, small indication of the future, but at this point I could not have hoped for a better outcome. The entire staff, nurses, secretaries, and Doctors were so professional and helpful that I barely remembered I was hundreds of miles from home. (They even had special rates and breakfast at a nearby hotel within walking distance).
Happily, the head frame was much less an issue than I feared. Thick skull maybe. They worked hard to complete the process quickly so that you do not sit for long with it on (20 min MRI - 30 min GK). After removing it I had a headache and some soreness, but with some tylenol I was fine by the time they let me go an hour later. I felt normal enough that we went to two museums in the afternoon and out for dinner at night. Forgive my giddy prose, but after ten months mulling this over and not knowing exactly what the next 18 months may bring, I am just happy to have put this first step behind me.
Anyway, as I said, my real purpose for writing was to thank all who post here for doing so. And thanks to nikynu from Vermont for returning my call and giving encouragement.
