Nancy received 5 straight days of radiosurgery (cyberknife) treatment on the area of her brain where she had surgery this summer. As her radiation oncologist explained to us, the reason for the 5 separate procedures of lower radiation instead of a single treatment is like going to Hawaii. When you visit Maui from Seattle in January, you need to adjust to the sun. Spending 8 hours in the sun on your first day will result in a sunburn (this is a concept I have yet to remember when visiting Hawaii in January). However, if you spend an hour in the sun each day, there's a healing cycle in between each exposure. And no burn!
The area being treated was pretty close to the optic nerve, and if treated in a single dose of radiation there's a 10% chance that the optic nerve would be damaged. But with the 5 smaller doses and an opportunity to heal in between, the risk is reduced to less than 1% chance. So a week's worth it was.
The treatments were fairly quick (20 minutes). She had her choice of musical genres and some quality time in the treatment room alone with the robotic arm and a mask bolting her to the table. Nancy found these treatments among the more anxiety-producing events of her battle to date. At certain points during each treatment, she experienced very unpleasant tastes and odors. And I suppose any experience where everyone else leaves you alone in a room behind a 14-inch metal door can be unnerving.
On the positive side, dear friends Luanne and Jenny each took a shift being with her during treatment and driving her. So it wasn't all bad.
After the final treatment on Friday, Nancy was presented her diploma!
by Jake
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