rose
06-03-2004, 06:16 AM
Ron,
I remember being told by 2 facilities that if I had SRS and the lesions recurred, they would not retreat me because you can get something called radiation necrosis, or dying brain tissue. So I asked what would they do instead and they had no good answer. Needless to say, I didn't opt for my treatment there. THe place I ended up at said that they would retreat if necessary and if there were no signs of necrosis. And the neurosurgeon said he would even operate if he had to. In other words, they weren't going to just give up. I think it is important to ask these places what they would plan on doing in the event of recurrence. I tend to bolt when they give me that look that you are done for anyway so we won't be too aggressive or creative.
I found there were wide variations in what people recommended and what they would do for subsequent lesions and this is an important consideration too because most likely ultimately there will be more lesions and I want someone to keep "cherry picking" in the words of my neurosurgeon.
Also when you go to a facility you want to ask how many of these they do. I ultimately chose a place that does 6 SRS procedures a week. THere were some places that did 1-2 a month and I didn't feel comfortable with that.
Good luck, so much to think about.....
Rose
I remember being told by 2 facilities that if I had SRS and the lesions recurred, they would not retreat me because you can get something called radiation necrosis, or dying brain tissue. So I asked what would they do instead and they had no good answer. Needless to say, I didn't opt for my treatment there. THe place I ended up at said that they would retreat if necessary and if there were no signs of necrosis. And the neurosurgeon said he would even operate if he had to. In other words, they weren't going to just give up. I think it is important to ask these places what they would plan on doing in the event of recurrence. I tend to bolt when they give me that look that you are done for anyway so we won't be too aggressive or creative.
I found there were wide variations in what people recommended and what they would do for subsequent lesions and this is an important consideration too because most likely ultimately there will be more lesions and I want someone to keep "cherry picking" in the words of my neurosurgeon.
Also when you go to a facility you want to ask how many of these they do. I ultimately chose a place that does 6 SRS procedures a week. THere were some places that did 1-2 a month and I didn't feel comfortable with that.
Good luck, so much to think about.....
Rose