Okiesandy
I've read somewhere on this site that sometimes a hospital will negotiate with your insurance company and accept whatever fee they'd pay if you were instate. You may want to look into whether this is an option. As for claustrophobia I agree the whole process from initial MRI to later CT scan is a bit claustrophobic. The mask itself wasnt bad tho - you can see right through it (altho you close your eyes for treatment) and you sit in an open room so nothing around you for ages.
As for the local doc, they're sort of right - the computer does do most of the work. But not all of it. The computer program looks at the CT scan (not MRI they do a CT with contrast as they can get smaller slices and a more accurate pic of the AN) then plans the treatment. But of course there's often 'good' tissue near the AN. So, for example you wouldn't want your cochlear getting zapped or in my case the brainstem. So that's where the experienced team come into play. They look at the computer's plan and then what's around that could get radiated and tell the computer to avoid certain areas. The program is worked out again by the computer and voila you get your plan. But until the team is satisfied you're not going to get leakage into good tissue then they keep altering the progam. So it is important to have a good team.
If you look on the CK support group site
http://www.cyberknifesupport.org/ they have lists of docs state by state. But the original guy I consulted with was on their site and I felt he was all about the money as opposed to being all about me and my particular AN, and that's why I ended up going out of state. I was lucky tho - my insurance covered all the treatment I just had to cover everything else. All in all if you feel confortable with your guy and the treatment method then that is probably the best person/method for you. Good luck with your research.
CC
