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Well, I saw the rad onc today, along with one of the two doctors who created Cyberknife. I went in arguing for Cyberknife and came out with my first whole brain radiation date set for next week.
Seems that I have more like 20 very small mets than the reported 7, spread throughout my brain. Their concern is that there are probably others in hiding. Dave Martin, the CyberKnife specialist, believes strongly, of course, in Cyberknife. However, he feels it wouldn't give me a very good chance. He's afraid that some little met might slip into my spinal canal and then I'd be in real trouble. That went a long way toward convincing me.
I'll be having the WBR over 20 days (4 weeks), which they say lessens potential side effects. I also will probably not be having any Decadron (which also helped my decision) since these tiny mets have no swelling. They say the odds of WBR eliminating all mets is 50% for most, maybe 60-75% for me. Don't remember why. And if it doesn't get all the boogers, then we CyberKnife as frequently as necessary...or until insurance pulls the plug.
Although I'm still not big on the idea of never having hair and possibly losing short term memory, I have to respect the opinion of the world's CyberKnife expert. Believe me, if he thought we should do his technique, he'd be all over it.
When I get mets, I just do it big time. My liver mets were spread everywhere, as well as my bone mets when diagnosed. I'm so grateful we got all of these while they were very small, primarily 1-2mm. Ladies, get your brain MRIs!!
On a sidenote, Dave Martin graciously offered to talk to me anytime regarding our booklet and will provide input as requested.
Thanks for all your support. I may need more of it in the month ahead.
Love and light,
Lisa
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