My motivation today is to update you with the
latest on what’s in my head (my acoustic neuroma) and some of what’s on my
heart.
Where we last left off, the tumor had not
changed and the doctor recommended we wait a year and check again. I got that follow up MRI about a month ago.
As I drove away from the imaging center that day I was excited to get to the
office and pop the CD of my images into my laptop to compare with the previous
MRI. My email to Taya: “Maybe a little
bigger, but hard for me to tell. Guess we’ll see what the doctor says on
Wednesday.” My assumption was that it
really hadn’t changed because I felt the same and hadn’t noticed any new or
different symptoms. The doctor’s
appointment began with a hearing test that reinforced my belief – my hearing
had not changed and was “excellent for a man of my age.”
Unfortunately, the doctor’s interpretation of
the MRI was different than those positive indicators and my assumption. He said that the tumor had grown 2-3mm and was
starting to grow outside of the boney internal auditory canal. He recommended “Linear accelerator based
stereotactic radiosurgery”… “uh, come
again doc?” “In a word, radiation.” Letting it grow would only cause other issues
sooner or later and the bigger it gets, the bigger the radiation and potential
collateral damage. He also explained
that some of the common systems for this radiation surgery are Cyber Knife and Gamma
Knife, but that they liked “Brain Lab” because they wouldn’t have to screw into
my skull to ensure my head remained still.
Needless to say, Brain Lab quickly became my favorite too. The doctor said a single treatment was 99+%
effective in stopping the growth of the tumor.
The odds of maintaining my hearing in my right ear were not as good, but
possible and we wouldn’t know those results for 6+ months after the treatment
as the full effects of the radiation takes months.
My next couple appointments have been with the
Radiation Oncology office. Any feeling
sorry for myself quickly evaporated as I sat in the waiting room with others
that were clearly battling cancer where the stakes, risks and timelines are much
more significant than mine. I’m so
grateful to have a small benign tumor that can be treated with a single 45
minute outpatient procedure not much more complicated than getting an x-ray. My
radiation treatment is scheduled for Tuesday afternoon 8/20/13.
It’s all happened fast
and I’ve again wrestled with who to tell, why and how. While it’s true that I
don’t want to burden others or somehow generate disconnected sympathies, I
think it’s really my pride that resists my sharing of weakness and requests for
help. I’m sure it’s good for me and I believe
that God will continue to give me reasons to need to rely on him alone and to ask
my brothers and sisters in Christ to pray with me to do so.
