StephN
01-20-2005, 08:30 PM
Just sitting here waiting out a stormy day and thinking of all your responses to my Gamma procedure.
We are here to help each other, and maybe a little more personal info on the actual experience may be helpful to someone in the future. I have also been using links for these posts for my other friends, family, medical support for their information and peace of mind. They all start checking the site and it is getting passed to other BC women this way!
The actual machine is called a Leksell Gamma Knife C, which uses the Leksell GammaPlan Wizard 5.34 (sounds more like Sci-Fi all the time!) It was just upgraded a few months ago. There was an attending team of three oncologists/operators during the whole treatment.
"Look, Ma - No hands." The team quipped when this photo was snapped.
You see me lying on my back, engaged into the helmet with the headframe, and ready for treatment to begin. I was lightly strapped on to the table around my hips, and otherwise free to move if I wished. They braced my shoulders and put some eggcrate foam padding to make me comfy. When the table moved, the door behind my head opened and I slid in up to about my waist.
The interior is very roomy as it must accommodate all the gear around your head. Inside you see a rectangle shape with steel plates on top and the sides. That is all. From inside I could look out and see all the rest of the room, including a monitor camera. So this is not at all claustrophobic like a regular MRI or tight-fitting PET scan. Reminded me more of the nice room where I had my radiation treatments after chemo.
There was also two-way communication and I could have stopped the treatment if I needed for any reason. They would have come to do what I needed or let me use the restroom, then resume. That was not necessary, and I had some water when they changed the helmet for the second tumor.
Since the whole thing is virtaully soundless, it is a good idea to create your own environment with a nice choice of music that you already know makes you feel good.
Sometimes we don't get a chance to "see" where "things" will be done to us, http://members.aol.com:/ambergrad/StephinGamma1.jpgand I hope this little snapshop gives a good idea of my actual patient experience as it happened.
We are here to help each other, and maybe a little more personal info on the actual experience may be helpful to someone in the future. I have also been using links for these posts for my other friends, family, medical support for their information and peace of mind. They all start checking the site and it is getting passed to other BC women this way!
The actual machine is called a Leksell Gamma Knife C, which uses the Leksell GammaPlan Wizard 5.34 (sounds more like Sci-Fi all the time!) It was just upgraded a few months ago. There was an attending team of three oncologists/operators during the whole treatment.
"Look, Ma - No hands." The team quipped when this photo was snapped.
You see me lying on my back, engaged into the helmet with the headframe, and ready for treatment to begin. I was lightly strapped on to the table around my hips, and otherwise free to move if I wished. They braced my shoulders and put some eggcrate foam padding to make me comfy. When the table moved, the door behind my head opened and I slid in up to about my waist.
The interior is very roomy as it must accommodate all the gear around your head. Inside you see a rectangle shape with steel plates on top and the sides. That is all. From inside I could look out and see all the rest of the room, including a monitor camera. So this is not at all claustrophobic like a regular MRI or tight-fitting PET scan. Reminded me more of the nice room where I had my radiation treatments after chemo.
There was also two-way communication and I could have stopped the treatment if I needed for any reason. They would have come to do what I needed or let me use the restroom, then resume. That was not necessary, and I had some water when they changed the helmet for the second tumor.
Since the whole thing is virtaully soundless, it is a good idea to create your own environment with a nice choice of music that you already know makes you feel good.
Sometimes we don't get a chance to "see" where "things" will be done to us, http://members.aol.com:/ambergrad/StephinGamma1.jpgand I hope this little snapshop gives a good idea of my actual patient experience as it happened.