Wednesday, August 22, 2007

Under the Gamma knife


Hi! Well, today I had the gamma knife procedure to eradicate the small tumor in my left frontal lobe. It was an interesting experience. It consisted of three parts: the attachment of a titanium cage to my head; an MRI; and the radiation treatment itself. The first part is the most exciting. Dr. Mueller, my neurosurgeon, oversaw the procedure, which is kind of like putting a stand on a Christmas tree. He fit the cage around my head and then screwed in four bolts--two in front, two in back--until he hit skull and got a nice secure fit. He said it would feel like having my head put in a vise . . . and he was right. Dr. Mueller kept me entertained the entire time by telling me about his favorite hobby: racing motorcycles on ice. I can't even imagine what that would be like, but he swears it's great fun. : )

They next performed an MRI to plot the exact position of the tumor, and then we waited. The hospital can perform only one gamma knife operation at a time so I had to wait five hours for my turn. Fortunately, it didn't take long to become accustomed to the pressure of the bolts, and I was able to relax in relative ease. I couldn't wear my glasses so I couldn't read or watch TV, but Kelly was there to keep me company. This was a real treat. With four kids, we rarely have the opportunity to spend so much uninterrupted time together. It was almost like being on a date!

Eventually, the time came to have the radiation treatment. They took me into a room and attached the cage to a frame on a table. Once the cage is attached to the frame, the radiation oncologist locked me into place so that my head would remain perfectly still. The gamma knife machine employs something like 220 lasers, and a physicist was on hand to perform the calculations that would make sure all those lasers were directed at the right spot. That's important: Dr. Mueller had explained to me before the procedure that whatever gets hit by the laser will die. "If we aim at tumor, we kill tumor," he said, " and if we aim at brain, we kill brain." Finally, everyone left the room. There was no noise, no puffs of smoke, no glowing bars of light. I just laid there for about 15 minutes, and then it was over.

Dr. Mueller and the radiation oncologist removed the cage and within five minutes I had the worst headache I've ever had in my life. It felt like those bolts had broken through my skull and were stabbing into my brain. If you've ever been in a hospital, you may be familiar with the 1-10 pain scale that doctors and nurses use to rate pain. This was the first time I ever described my pain with a 10. It was way worse than biochemo, worse even than back surgery. By the time they wheeled me back to my room, I thought I was either going to throw up or black out from the pain. Fortunately, the pain left almost as quickly as it came on. The nurses gave me a couple of ice packs and some Percocets, and within half an hour I was able to talk to Kelly again. I think my skull bones needed to pop back into place or something.

While I was dealing with my headache, Kelly attended my case meeting--a weekly evaluation the rehab doctors and therapists conduct for each patient--and the overall report said I was progressing nicely and should be able to go home without a wheelchair in 10 to 14 days. The physical therapist also said I could get a day pass for this weekend so I might be able to go home for a few hours. That would be nice.

I tried to provide a lot of detail in the above post because I thought some of you might be interested in what the gamma knife operation was like. I hope it didn't get too boring for you. Thanks for all your prayers and support as always.

Jeff

12 comments:

Regan Dodd said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Regan Dodd said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Mary M Clay said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Mary M Clay said...

Jeff: What a day you have had! We are all so proud of you, and everyone here is excited to spend time with you. Pat, Tracy and Mom got in a little bit ago, and we put them to work right away...Pat is giving Jack a bath and Tracy and Mom are changing Finn's diaper. :) Thanks for letting us come by this evening...it was great to see you and Dad's headache is now gone!
We love you,
MM and Dad

Mary M Clay said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Regan Dodd said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Katie Clancy said...

We've been reading and keeping up with your treatments and progress.. great work and thank you for sharing so much detail. It's a terrific education for us all and those following your blog. I told my dermotologist about your blog, and he took down the site to share with other patients. You're both an inspiration. Lots of continuous love and hugs!
Katie and Ed

Tim said...

Hey!!! I have been checking on your blog daily to see how you are doing and I can't even imagine what it must be like to go through this. You have been and will continue to be in my prayers. I will be up in Chicago this weekend to race in the Chicago triathlon. Reading every evening what you or someone in your family has posted is enough motivation to keep me going were I would never even think about not completely a race. I will be racing this Sunday in HONOR of you and the great fight you are giving. I have all the faith in the world that you will come out of this fight victorious. You are truly an inspiring person and I am glad that I have had the chance to meet, talk and hang out with you. You and everyone else in your family are in the simplest term AMAZING. I am proud to know. Your friend always. Timmy C.

Terri said...

Oh my goodness!!!! Just reading about your procedure makes me cringe, I can't imagine having to go through it. As usual though you take it like a champ. That will be great if you can go home for a little bit, get back to normalcy. Sounds like your doctor might wind up with a head injury riding a motorcycle on ice!! Well, I'm glad that's all behind and you can move forward. We wish we lived closer and could come up and visit, but it sounds like you've got lots of good company. Take Care
Love, Terri

michelle wait said...

Jeff, the eldest - It amazes me that you did all of this today and still found the time to write a blog and keep us all up-to-date. Jeff, the younger, and I can't wait to see you, Kelly and the kids this weekend. We'll see you very soon! Love you so much!
Michelle

Laura Gilbert said...

Jeff -- Look what happens! I assume you're fine, take a break from checking your blog, and you go and have brain surgery. Keeping me on my toes...
I was actually just thinking about you today and wondering how you were doing, so I typed in the URL...then spent some time getting caught up on all the non-fun that I've missed. You've been in my prayers the whole time, but I promise to renew with a little extra energy and focus :)
You and Kelly continue to inspire me. Best, Laura

mka said...

Geeze, that cage on your head looks painful. The movie industry will probably use that as a torture device in one of their horror films. I remember one of the methods of torture in an old comedy was to make the person eat his favorite ice cream very fast and give him headaches. Right now that would probably work on you. I can't believe you were up and around so fast typing again. Your tolerence for pain and discomfort must be pretty high. I'm glad to hear you're doing so well. On another note, I finally mailed Finn's high chair. It should be there sometime next week. Love, Myrna