The Gamma Knife treatment went well, everyone! Curt’s radiation oncologist was happy to report that Friday’s MRI showed no growth in those small tumors since the last scan was taken a month ago!

Everything went very smoothly…Curt checked in about noon and proceeded to have some prepping done by one of the nurses. Then his neurologist arrived to attach the head frame with screws – OUCH!! Curt next went for some MRI and CT scans, followed by the development of the computerized treatment plan by the team (based on the scans they had just taken).

The picture of Curt (above) was taken soon after the completion of the treatment plan…he was in a wheelchair on his way to the Gamma Knife treatment. (And yes, he told me to post this pic...I'm not sure if it he just wanted to gross everybody out, or if it's just to get some sympathy...probably the former, knowing Curt...lol!)

The actual radiation treatment was painless and took less than an hour. They wanted us spend the night on Oahu in case the whole thing went long, but as it was we could have come home the same day. Isn’t modern medicine amazing? (We tried changing our reservations to an evening flight but everything was sold out…for the sake of our economy I hope they were all tourists on their way to Maui!)

Thanks again for your prayers for the procedure…it went as well as we could ever have hoped for! Now our prayer is for those tumors to be completely dissolved by the radiation they received, and for Curt’s chemotherapy regimen that is coming up soon to be well-tolerated.

God bless,
Patti

Latest Update

Curt had a good month’s break from treatments after the first round of chemo and radiation ended. He has gained almost all of his weight back, which is just wonderful. His energy level is still not where it was before, which is to be expected, but he is in good spirits and he still keeps us laughing!

A follow-up MRI showed several small spots that the doctors have decided to treat with a process called Gamma Knife Radiosurgery on Oahu. It's not actually surgery, but a specialized type of radiation that targets small tumors. We are very grateful that he was approved for this treatment, and were just notified today that they have scheduled it for this Friday, September 17th.

The Gamma Knife procedure is able to accurately direct many beams of high-intensity radiation to converge on one spot. Each individual beam is relatively low-energy, so the radiation has little effect on surrounding brain tissue and is concentrated only at the tumor itself.

It’s a one-day procedure that will start about noon on Friday. The actual treatment itself is pretty short, but there are quite a few hours of planning that take place beforehand. Please pray for the accuracy and precision of the physicist and doctors who will be developing the treatment plan. We’ll be spending the night on Oahu and coming back on Saturday.

Later this month, Curt’s second round of chemo will begin, when he will start a series of 5 days of chemo (in pill form), followed by a break for 23 days. This will continue for at least six months. They will use the same medication that he took during the initial round, but in a stronger dose.

Again we would like to express our gratitude for all your support as we “keep a keepin',” as my grandmother used to say (translation: keep on going, continue, persevere, don’t give up). Your kind words of encouragement and faithful prayers have helped to give us welcome energy boosts along the way. Thank you for persevering in this with us…we love you guys!!
Patti