Radiation surgery for a second time?

Symptoms & Treatment
1

Hi all :)

I had a CT scan done last week that revealed my AVM has not shrunk since my last scan after I had radiation surgery done a few years ago. I had a meeting with my surgeon yesterday and he recommends either more surgery (which I had about 15 years ago) or more radiation surgery.

I'm inclined to go with more radiation surgery but I'm just terrified that because the last dose of radiation I received didn't get rid of it all, that another does won't make any difference :/

I just want to hear if anyone here has been given two doses of radiation before their AVM went away completely? I don't mind at all getting it done, I just want to be sure it'll completely go away this time as this AVM is disrupting my college work so much :/ I'll add also that when I got the first dose of radiation, after two years, the AVM had shrunk substantially and the only problem at the moment is that it hasn't shrunk since :(

Thanks for your help :)
Shauna

2

I've had 4 rounds of Gamma Knife Radiation. The size & shape weren't conducive to a craniotomy or only one round of GK.

I had GK in June 2011, December 2011, and June 2012. I had MRI checkups in June 2013 & 2014. My neurosurgeon said my AVM had shrunk by 70%,but that wasn't enough, so I had my 4th round of GK.

3

Thanks for replying :) Do you mind me asking if your fourth round of GK shrunk the AVM completely? I was told my first round of GK shrunk my AVM by 80% so I'm hoping a second round will shrink it completely.
I'm not sure if you'll know the answer to this question or not, but do you know if the AVM was the size and shape for GK before, would it still be the size and shape to get a second round of GK?

4

Shauna, When my AVM was diagnosed and radiation was my only option, I was told that I may need more than one dose of radiation. For me, my AVM had disappeared after my first dose, but for many people they have to take more than just one dose of radiation.

Wishing you the best!

5

Thanks for your reply :) You're so lucky yours only took one dose of radiation. I was so sure mine would only need one dose too because all the symptoms I had of the AVM beforehand had disappeared completely :( So it is possible to get a second dose of radiation even if the first dose had shrunk the AVM by a considerable amount?

6

It can take 2-3 years for a GK treatment to fully take effect. My 4th GK was only 7 months ago, so my guess is that the AVM isn't completely gone yet.

My 1st 3 treatments each targeted different areas of my AVM.

7

Thank you! I hope you're AVM goes away completely after the 4th round! It must have been a lot to go through.