Gamma Knife

Things went really well on Wednesday - Callum was the star patient! We were at the hospital by 5:30 am, IV catheter in by 6:10, MRI done by 9 am. Then we waited and waited. There were 2 other gamma knife patients there that day. The lady was back for her 2nd treatment. Last year she had treatment for 23 tumours in her brain. All were gone after treatment but she had 2 new ones so that was what was being treated on Wed. The other gentleman had 8 tumours that were being treated. We were very happy to hear that neither tumour had grown much, and there were no new ones there. Very positive news! Callum went in for his treatment about noon and was ready to leave the hospital by 1 pm. We went back to the hotel and he had some lunch and a rest. He took 2 doses of Ibuprofen that day and has been really well since then. He has had a bit of swelling at the sites where he received the anesthetic and where the pins of the head frame were attached to his head. We played 18 holes of golf on Thursday - not bad for the day after brain surgery! I took some pictures that day so when we get home I will post them. There will be a follow up MRI in about 3 months, and it does take 3 - 6 months for the tumours to shrink so we won't know for a while how successful this was - but we are confident it was very successful. The did mention that sometimes the site of the tumours swell so they may look bigger at the 3 month exam, but not to worry about that.
We have had some great visits with family and friends - and some great meals. All in all it has been a wonderful week. Next week we look forward (in a weird kind of way) to resuming chemo treatments. We are hoping all goes well and we are done with the bumps along the way.


I must say thank you to everyone who has phoned or emailed best wishes to us. I haven't had the time to sit down and respond to emails or return calls - maybe I can get to it next week when things quiet down a bit.

Thanks to all of you for walking along this journey with us - we know you are all thinking and praying for us - we truly appreciate it.

TTFN