Fractionated Stereotactic Radiotherapy

[Sarah Jane]

I hope that I am doing this correctly    
 An AN was found 2-6-12.  My situation requires me to consider treatment in the near future and FSR is the best option at this time.
  I am a single mother and live 70 miles away from the hospital so I was greatly encouraged to read that Jim S. was able to drive himself to his appointments. 
I would like to know if I can hope to carry on my regular daily routine or should I expect to need to arrange for some help?  Do you experience more fatigue as the treatments progress?  I don't live a very adventurous life but would like to be able to care for my son - his activities and schedule.  I do workout at least 3 times a week.  Should I expect to be able to continue that?
Thank you so much for any input!

[Palace]

Hello:


I'm very active and as you see below, I've had treatment at Stanford.  And yes, I bounced-back and did my daily work-out routine a few months later.  The fatigue is rough after treatment however usually better than how you feel before.  It took me one year to completely shake the extremely tired sensation.



Palace

[roverlaw03]

Hi Sarah,

We share a common name with an uncommon tumor.

I worked during my radiation treatments everyday - working 5 hours and skipping lunch then off to get radiation then home for the day.  Now, however, I am tired all the time, but still working 8-10 hours a day doing desk work (attorney). 

Some days are better then others, or at least for me, and I know some people function just fine.  However, I think it is good to have a few people around for help if you need it.

Best wishes,

Sarah

[Tod]

Sarah Jane, I had some nausea and other very minor issues with FSR (all consistent with problems I had from surgery), and while I did not drive to treatment, I did walk over each morning from the office, had treatment, and walked back to work a full day.  Towards the end, the weekends were spent resting, but that was because at night I was reviewing 6000 pages of 30 federal grant applications and scoring each one.

Your experience may be different, but there is good likelihood you will have little to no difficulty.

-Tod

[Jim Scott]

Sarah Jane ~

As you know, we're all unique and I can only offer you my personal experience.  I not only drove myself to and from the 26 FSR sessions (60-mile round trip) but never felt any real fatigue.  I was recently retired so I didn't have job stresses to deal with and no small children to care for, either, so that was a factor in my favor.  Being blessed with a high metabolism rate and good health all of my life I've been able to avoid regimented exercise routines and can't comment on whether your workouts will be affected.  My first thought is that you'll know soon enough once you re-start your normal exercise routine and if it's too difficult, you'll put it on hiatus.  You can't put your son on hiatus but I doubt the FSR will be very debilitating so this shouldn't be an issue. 

The point of FSR is 'zap' the tumor with relatively low 'doses' of radiation so as not to damage surrounding brain tissue and to reduce any adverse effects of the radiation. This worked perfectly for me.  I received just over 1 Gy radiation with each session (27 Gy total) and, as I've stated, did not experience any negative effects.  Again, my positive FSR experience, while encouraging (that's why I post it) is not a template or guarantee that every AN patient undergoing FSR will have the same experience, as other posts on this thread demonstrate.   However, I'm optimistic that in your case, the FSR experience will be relatively trouble-free.

Jim

[ChipsFL]

I hope that I am doing this correctly    
 An AN was found 2-6-12.  My situation requires me to consider treatment in the near future and FSR is the best option at this time.
  I am a single mother and live 70 miles away from the hospital so I was greatly encouraged to read that Jim S. was able to drive himself to his appointments. 
I would like to know if I can hope to carry on my regular daily routine or should I expect to need to arrange for some help?  Do you experience more fatigue as the treatments progress?  I don't live a very adventurous life but would like to be able to care for my son - his activities and schedule.  I do workout at least 3 times a week.  Should I expect to be able to continue that?
Thank you so much for any input!

  I had 5 CK treatments spread over about 10 days, 4 months ago. Drove myself 20 miles each way each time. A little tired each of the following days and still enjoy a short afternoon siesta now and then.

[Sarah Jane]

Thank you to each one that took the time to respond.
 It helps to know that others have already gone through this and how it has been for you.  I will be scheduled for another MRI within the month to see what has been happening.  After SHL, the AN was found almost a year and a half later (2-12).  Weeks later my hearing improved and I was told by my radiologist that in 5% of AN cases that the tumor has been known to shrink.   I continue to hope for the very best and am thankful to feel as good as I do but it is important the I also be realistic  Thank you again!