I got a note today from a new AN brother and it made me realize I have done a poor job of posting and monitoring this site since my treatment. I live in Houston and had my 1.6cm AN treated with Cyberknife at Stanford by Dr. Stepthen Chang this past Easter. My decision to have CK in lieu of surgery was mainly due to the fact that not only did I not want to have surgery but I really wanted to go on my backpacking trips that I had planned this summer to Idaho's Sawtooths, Montana's Beartooths and Wyoming's Tetons. I did CK and made every trip!!!! I have even decided to try and train for and run in the Houston Half Marathon in January. We are up to 7 miles and it is just killing me in the Houston heat and humidity!!!!
I have been fortunate to not feel any real side effects and could not be happier with my decision. I will have another MRI done in a few weeks and will send those to Dr. Chang's office. In the beginning I wrestled with the decision on surgery using Dr. Joseph Chang and Dr. Alp in Houston, but due to some great advice here in this Forum I began researching GK and CK. Best advice I ever got.
If I could give anyone new to the Forum some advice, if your AN is 2.5 cm or smaller, spend some time doing research on CK and GK. If it looks appealing, make an appointment with a GK or CK doctor to see if your tumor is a candidate to be treated without having surgery. It can't hurt and will just add to your peace of mind which ever way you decide to be treated. This is also a great tool for getting questions answered by real CK and GK doctors:
http://www.cyberknifesupport.org/forum/
