Gamma Knife

[GRACE1]

I highly recommend Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem NC for Gamma Knife (http://www1.wfubmc.edu/gammaknife).  The staff and doctors are very concerned, caring and competent.  When you are first diagnosed, you can mail your MRI to the doctors there and they will give you their recommendations over the phone.  They do a lot of GK procedures there, which is a major factor in deciding where to have the procedure.  Lisa Wilkins, R.N., Stereotactic Coordinator, will be your initial contact.  She is so wonderful.  I live in Georgia, about 300 miles from Wake Forest.  I had GK on a small AN in Dec 2006.  The doctors were very happy with my results when I went for my follow-up MRI in May 2007.   

[Carol]

Just read your post and was wondering how you are doing. I had GK in 2003 and it did not work, so drs. think it is not an AN, but some other type of tumor. GK really had some nasty side effects for me. Just wondering.

[GRACE1]

I am doing fine.  I had no bad effects at all.  My AN has decreased in size about 50%.  I had my last MRI in Dec 2008.  There will probably be no more necrosis.  My hearing loss was at 40% before I had GK.  It is now at 80%.  My hearing loss decreased between the first time I had it tested after the diagnosis and when I had GK, but they did not test it right before GK so I don't really know how much more loss can be attributed to GK.  They had informed me this hearing loss could happen, so it is no big deal to me. 

I am so sorry to hear you had some bad side effects.  May I ask, what problems are you having from the GK?  How are the doctors going to decide what type tumor you have.  Where did you have the GK done?

Grace