gamma knife

[plum]

hello.
has anyone had gamma knife and does it hurt?
also what does it do to brain function?
they are talking about that as the next step for me.
well actually they mentioned cyber knife but that is not available on the NHS apparently.
thanks.

[stevea]

A new centre has just opened in Liverpool but if you google Gamma Knife Sheffield ,there is a great video on their site showing all the treatment

[plum]

oh yes, thank you; there is a lot of information there.
and i also saw that the NHS may be purchasing (or maybe have already purchased) a cyberknife.
amazing what is available on the internet these days.

[stevea]

i know this is an old thread, but i have been told that the treatment centre at Salford (Hope Hospital) is almost complete and my name is down for treatment .I have also recieved an invitation to go and look around the centre. hopefully i will be able to go and have a look.

[plum]

Good luck with the visit and the treatment.
that is very nice of them to invite to come and see it in advance; is that standard?
looking forward to hearing how it all goes.

[stevea]

when the centre at livrpool was opening the group were invited to look around so it seems to be something they all do

[plum]

hope you don't mind if i ask what are the advantages of radiotherapy / gamma knife / cyberknife etc? as opposed to just staying on injections (eg lanreotide / octreotide) to control the tumour.

as far as i can make out, the tumour only disappears slowly over a number of years, so presumably chemical treatment would have to continue afterwards? in which case......why don't they just let us stay on the injections? the advantage as i see it is that at least we hang on to some bit of pituitary function, however limited that might be, but post radiotherapy we lose all of that.

i'd be interested to know if anyone has any ideas / views on this. Radiotherapy just seems to be assumed to be the next step for me....but i'm wondering whether it is worth while.

[stevea]

the usual radio treatment does take a long time to finally be seen to do its job. gamma knife or stereotatic is much more focused on its target so I think it can be more powerful.
I think that the usual radio treatment is probably cheaper and has been used for a considerable time so that may be why we are given that treatment first. it does work but , as in my case, not always and the tumour can regrow . if the tumour regrows then surgery or gamma knife seem to be the options available.

[plum]

this condition really is like the sword of damocles isn't it?. ... no matter what treatment they try, the tumour seems to be ever lurking in the background.

did you have to wait a long time for radiotherapy once the decison was made to do it?
in my case the local NHS board have refused funding.