Recommendation for treatment at MD Anderson?

[whiteleye]

I had my six month follow up MRI yesterday and my 9mm AN has grown to 11mm. I have total deafness in affected ear; feeling of fullness in ear; and tinnitus. I am wondering if I am now at the point of needing to consult an "expert." As my daughters live in Houston area, MD Anderson seems like a logical choice. Does anyone have experience with gamma or cyberknife treatment in Houston area? I am 76 years old and in relatively good health otherwise. If I do have treatment in Houston, how long should I expect to stay there for recovery? Thanks for any recommendations.

[Jerrycat13]

My a/n is 22mm and im on watch +wait. But got a mri within 4 wks. It all depends where your a/n is within the brain. Ask to see a specialist who can give you some advice.

[whiteleye in reply to Jerrycat13]

If you are still "watching" your AN at 22mm, I suppose mine doesn't rate immediate panic at 11mm. Mine is in the internal auditory canal and they are classifying it as "intra canalicular". I don't know at what point the tumor will cause additional symptoms such as headache or facial numbness. Thank you for your suggestions.

[Jerrycat13 in reply to whiteleye]

I may have to have g/k soon. But scared of looseing my hearing as its really gd at mo. And hate the thought of having a frame bolted to my head.

[dcfcram in reply to Jerrycat13]

I had GK 15 months ago , I was worried about the frame and the procedure, to be honest it wasn't that bad. They put the frame on it was a little uncomfortable but not bad and then had a mri scan, I then had to wait while they worked out the precise measurements. Once they were ready I went down to the GK machine and had the treatment. Once the treatment was over I came out of the machine and they took the frame off. That evening I had a head ache but the next day I was fine. It looks worse than it is , dont worry it really isn't that bad good luck

[Jerrycat13 in reply to dcfcram]

Thank u.x

[whiteleye in reply to dcfcram]

Have you had additional side effects in the 15 months since gamma knife? How large was your AN? We appreciate your input.

[dcfcram in reply to whiteleye]

My AN was left sided and 23mm. My last scan in Feb showed it was stable, I think my tinnitus has got worse and just recently I have been getting an aching pain at the bottom of my left ear/top of my jaw bone, I dont know if it's related to my AN, other than that I feel ok

[drdeanbellavia]

whiteleye:

Cyber knife surgery (CKS) takes 5 applications and is not the best choice if the tumor is in the brain; CKS is meant for cancerous tumors outside of the brain.

If you have Gamma Knife surgery you are in and out the same day (a few hours; actually the exposure time is less than a half hour) and there should be little if any recovery time.

I had my gamma-knife in the morning for a 15mm VS (AN)and I changed a tire on my wife's van that afternoon.

There are numerous places in the Houston area to get gamma knife surgery, but after looking over the websites, I think that the best choice in the Houston area is:

houstonmethodist.org/neurol...

I hope that this helps,

Dean

[whiteleye in reply to drdeanbellavia]

Thank you, Dean. I will investigate options for gamma knife.