Hi all,
I have a rather interesting Gamma Knife experience to share. On April 17, 2013, I had GK for a tumor that had shown recent growth to 1.8 cm. The first two months were uneventful. No symptoms or side effects. However, for most of June and July, I experienced severe dizziness and balance issues pretty much 24/7. I also had a two week period during which I had crushing headaches. I called them ice-pick headaches because of the sharp, stabbing pains that started just behind my ear and then shot through the nerves throughout the AN side of my head. (See earlier posts in this thread.) I contacted my radiologist about these symptoms in late June, and frankly, he was of little help. He offered to put me on steroids, but I declined because I just didn't like what I'd read about them. The radiologist did have me in for an impromptu MRI around the time my side effects were at their worst. He told me the results showed the tumor was responding, but I never saw that July MRI. Until today.
Fortunately, all of my post-GK side effects began to subside in early August. No more dizziness. No balance issues. No piercing headaches. My AN side hearing has declined to almost nothing now, but I can live with that. I have a Phonak-Cross, which I only use as needed for the occasional restaurant outing or movie.
Today I went in for my 6-month post-GK MRI. And the interesting thing is that I saw not only today’s MRI, but also for the very first time, the impromptu one taken at the 3-month peak of my GK side effects. Wow! Let me try to describe these images.
My tumor originally had the shape of a piece of candy corn. It appeared wide and flat on one end, tapering to a smaller narrower tip on the other end. But when I saw the 3-month MRI, it looked completely different. Instead of the smooth contours I was used to seeing, it was all splayed and puffy, like a piece of cooked popcorn. (Sorry about all the snack-food imagery) Also, the expansion filled into what had been a narrow space between the tumor and my brain stem. My MD measured its size then at about 2.2cm. He commented that this was a surprisingly rapid response to the radiation. He called me a “rapid responder,” briefly enjoying his pun with a slight grin. He also said that the swelling would explain the dizziness and severe headaches I had experienced during the summer months.
Onto the good news. Today’s MRI showed that my tumor has already returned to its normal candy corn shape. All of the splaying and swelling are completely gone. However, it is now slightly smaller than it was pre-GK at about 1.7cm. My MD was very encouraged by these results. So, by having had the impromptu MRI at 3 months post-GK, I may have had a rare glimpse at how these tumors might respond to radiation. Obviously, we’re all different and our tumors may all respond differently too. I also realize that this does not mean that my GK is a complete success, but I’m more hopeful now than I’ve been in a while.
Be well,
Petrone
