Gamma Knife Double Dose

Symptoms & Treatment Gamma Knife Radiation
1

I just found out that I am going to have gamma knife. Because of the size and location of my AVM, however, the doctors want to do two smaller treatments over the next 6 years. Has anyone else had this done (or talked about doing it)?

2

Hi Jessica, I never had the Gamma Knife but it seems strange to me that they will let six years go by. That seems like a long time. I don’t know about you but for me, the worry would get me before the AVM. Don;t they have any other opptions? Best of luck, sorry I can’t help. …d

3

Hi Jessica,
Are the doctors treating two different AVM’s, or are they talking about two treatments to the same AVM? Is it a plan to treat only part of a lager AVM first, and then later treat the rest of it, or is iit a plan to treat the wole thing, monitor for three years, treat again if needed, and then monitor for three more years?

4

Hi Marilyn - It is just one AVM. It is too large for them to safely treat at one time, so they are going to treat it enough to hopefully shrink it to a more treatable size over the next three years. Then they will treat it again so that it will finally obliterate over three more years.

5

Hi Liam - That sounds a lot like what they want to do with me. I also had a hemorrhage that alerted them to the AVM, but they think it is too large and too close to centers for vision, movement, and memory to get in enough radiation in one treatment. Is the AVM that they treated this way still active or did the treatment work in the two doses? How big was the AVM originally?

6

Jessica,
how large is your AVM? Mine was bigger than an egg but smaller than a lime in my right, front temporal lobe. I have 4 aneurisms rupture in it at once. I had steriotactic radiosurgery that shrank the AVM aprox 80-85% but part of it is still there. Just wondering, everone talks in centimeters but they never gave me info in centimeters so just curious.

7

Hi Jessica! I had the gamma knife done in 1995 and then 5 or 6 yrs later I was actually in the room about to have it done again when they decided against it. I guess it just depends, for me, the first time was enough but they were going to do it again just to be sure, however doing it a second time wasnt needed.