Gamma Knife consultation

Today we met with Dr. West, the neurosurgeon who will be doing the gamma knife surgery. The appt was just over an hour - a lot quicker than we thought it would be. Janice, the RN, did a medical history and then a quick neuro exam. Callum did quite well, although he did have a couple of minor balance issues. Dr. West commented on how lucky we are to have found these spots when they were so small. Callum had 2 fears before this appt - one was that something would happen and they would say he wasn't eligible for the gamma knife anymore. That one was put to rest quite early on. The other was that new spots would show up on the MRI on Wed and they would decide not to do the gamma knife. That one was also put to rest as they mentioned that since the last MRI was June 24 there was a chance there would be more spots, but they would just zap them while they were doing the others. We were so relieved to hear that. The team is absolutely wonderful and certainly comforting. The gamma knife surgery itself will take anywhere from 1 - 2 hours, depending on the treatment plan. Callum will get set up with a head frame, and then a plastic helmut that will be used for the planning and then it will come off. The worst part about it is that he won't be able to wear his glasses all day so will be pretty much blind.

This seems to be a wonderful thing for us right now - a ray of hope after a couple of pretty crappy months. Dr. West also mentioned that if any spots show up later they can do more gamma knife surgery. It is always wonderful to hear that more treatment options are still out there.

It will be a very long day on Wed, but one we consider to be another start to the road to remission.

I know I didn't go into a lot of detail...so please let me know if you have any questions. I will let you know how things go on Wed.

Take care,