In my previous post, I reported on my Cyber Knife experience with Dr. Chang at Stanford University during the 3rd week of August 2019.
During the 6 months after my CK procedure, I am pleased to report that I did not suffer any noticeable side effects. I have not experienced any headaches, dizziness or facial numbness as reported by other Forum members. That is likely because my tumor was much smaller (11 mm) than many others who have undergone treatment.
As I previously stated, Dr. Chang prefers the fractionated approach with lower doses of radiation given on three consecutive days. My understanding is that the lower dosages are less apt to result in hearing loss and are less likely to result in uncomfortable side effects than when having a high dosage of radiation given all in one session.
My 6-month follow up MRI and hearing test was performed on February 21, 2020 at UAB in Birmingham and the results were sent to Dr. Chang. The results of the MRI showed that the length of my tumor had increased from 11 mm to 12.7 mm. Dr. Chang had cautioned me to expect an increase which would be due to swelling of the tumor from the radiation.
One surprising test result was that my word understanding from the audiology test on 2/21 actually improved from 44% in the previous test to 52%. Of course, I could have just been having a good day that day but I think it is significant that my hearing did not deteriorate after the Cyber Knife procedure as some doctors have predicted. Hopefully, that improvement will not be lost on my next follow up at the end of August 2020.
I continue to be very pleased with Dr. Chang's team at Stanford and would recommend them to anyone who is considering either surgery or radiosurgery (Dr. Chang does both).
