randired Posted December 1, 2004 Share Posted December 1, 2004 My mom is scheduled for gamma knife surgery on monday and I am flipping out. Any kind of surgey is just nerve-wracking for me. Can those who have had expirience with it, either yourself or someone you know just tell me kind of what to expect, how long it will take to work, i dont know, anything. maybe im just looking for some comfort that its going to be ok. My mom is scared more now than ever. I keep telling her that after the surgery she is going to feel better and mabe she will be able to use her left side again. I told her that after she has this and feel better she can come to my 'new' house and see it as it is completed. This is all so sudden. The neurosurgeon wanted to wait to do it. I think she was supposed tgo get it done later in december but her oncologist badgered the neurosurgeon saying that it was an emergency because she is on such a high dose of steriods and in a lot of pain so they get her in this coming monday. any thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks everyone Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donna G Posted December 1, 2004 Share Posted December 1, 2004 My thought would be - how great it is that your Mom has that Onocologist on her team, advocating for her treatment sooner rather than later! Please let us know how it goes. Donna G Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SBeth Posted December 1, 2004 Share Posted December 1, 2004 Hi Randi, My husband had the gamma knife surgery and had absolutely NO complications or problems. We got to the hospital early in the morning and it did take a good part of the day. They fitted his head with the "crown" type head gear and did an MRI. The long wait was due to the programming of the computer to prepare for the precise radiation. The gamma knife procedure itself was painless. He laid on the table and the machine moved around him. I actually was able to watch the whole procedure on closed circuit television from another room. He did have a very very slight headache in the evening following the procedure and the four places where the head gear was screwed into his scalp were a little tender for the first day or so. I hope this helps with what to expect. Best wishes to you and your mother. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stand4hope Posted December 1, 2004 Share Posted December 1, 2004 Hi Randi, I would just ditto everything that Beth said above, except I didn't get to watch it on closed circuit TV. It was a long, long day, though because they treated 6 mets. We were there from 6:00 a.m. until 6:30 p.m. We were both exhausted. He also had a slight headache, but the cause was actually from where they anchored the device to his head. It's really a fascinating procedure. He actually got Novalis which is just a little different, but only in how the machine operates, etc. It will really be ok. Other than some slight discomfort from the head device, it's painless. Love, Peggy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kimblanchard Posted December 2, 2004 Share Posted December 2, 2004 I have had the gamma knife procedure done on two separate occassions. My experiences were similar to that described by SBeth and Stand4hope. I was required to stay overnight in the hospital which in my opinion was a complete waste of my time and insurance money. Both times, one of siblings picked me up the next morning and we went shopping for the day. The following day I drove to Connecticut by myself with my son which is about 2.5 hours from our house. In my opinion, the sooner you can get off the steriods the better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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