Hi all,
My Gamma Knife treatment was scheduled for 3/30/20 at MD Anderson Cancer Center. It was only 10 days away. I was ready and already asked for several days off from work. But I was disappointed to find out yesterday that it was cancelled due to the Coronavirus. Anyway, I'm 54 years old and was diagnosed with Accoustic Neuroma in 11/2019. My tumor is 21mm x 11mm x 9mm. I talked to Dr. Chang at Texas ENT, Dr. Demonte and Dr. Giddley at MD Anderson. Dr. Chang said I would lose my hearing immediately with the Retrosigmoid approach. Dr. Demonte said there was an 80% chance I would lose my hearing also with the Retrosigmoid approach. Dr. Giddley said he would perform Middle Fossa and there was 40% I would lose my hearing. To my surprise none of them pushed me for the surgery. The doctors at MD Anderson were actually leaning toward watch and wait. But I decided to have the radiosurgery and wanted to get it done in February or early March. But Dr. Chung and Dr. Demonte were too busy. I asked Dr. Demonte if he would use the mask instead of the frame and he said the frame does a better job at holding the head still and that's what he's going to use. Dr. Chung said the same thing. She also said she actually participated in the development of the mask. So I'm kind of disappointed because that was one of reasons I chose MD Anderson knowing that they have the new Econ machine that can work with the mask. My insurance has a high deductible of $2800 and I already met my deductible for the year in just the first two months of the year because of many appointments and tests. I hope this Coronavirus thing will go away soon so I can have the treatment.
