Radiation Oncology Appointment - 3/4/15

The appointment went as well as could be expected. A lot of information, in a short amount of time. Speaking of time, we were called in ON TIME - no waiting!

Below are some answers to some of the major questions that were asked in my Radio-Oncology appointment.

Dr. Swift

We will be using Intensity-Modulated Radiation Therapy  (IMRT) for 6 weeks, 5 days a week. I guess tumors stop growing on the weekends?? (Thanks Julie)

The beams of radiation will rotate around my head, 360 degrees, and every beam is slightly different. The focus being on the tumor and little surrounding area. After the initial 30 minute treatment visit, they will then last about 15 minutes. The actual radiation treatment, once the beams are on, is less than 2 minutes. In addition, I will meet with Dr. Swift once a week so he can check in to see if there are any problems.

What side effects can I expect given the location of the tumor, type of tumor and amount/duration of treatment?

Short Term Effects:
Fatigue, possible patchy hair loss, nausea, sore skin, possible headaches from swelling. If I develop headaches, I will be put back on steroids to control it.

Long Term Effects:
Two long term risks were mentioned:
*Possible new tumor (about 15 years on average) could be a benign or malignant brain tumor (1/300)
*Less than 1% chance of needing surgery to remove healthy cells that were damaged by radiation.

What is the sum of radiation that I can expect over the course of my treatment?
The dose is unknown until mapping and CT scan are complete. But for my type and grade of tumor, the dose range is 54-60 unit gray.
A personalized mask will be made (see picture) to ensure I do not move during treatment. I have an appointment to have this done this Friday, March 6.

 


What did the Tumor Board recommend?
Everyone at the Tumor Board agreed with being as aggressive as possible so that we stop the tumor from growing into some very critical areas (motor cortex) and we can prevent serious, permanent long term deficits.

Damage to the Hipacampas?
The Doctor said that they try to spare it if they can. He said that the location of my tumor is above it and not touching it. Therefore, in my case, radiation will not involve this part of the brain.

Will radiation cause difficulty in future readings of my MRI's?
All teams are familiar with reading MRI's of people who have had radiation. No concern.

What, if any, impact will it have on my seizures? Radiation treatment can cause seizures. However, since I already have a history of seizures (I am currently taking two anti-seizure meds) it would be impossible to know if the radiation treatment was the cause.
The ultimate goal is to be taken off of all seizure meds after treatment is completed.

All in all, this was a very informative discussion and I'm proceeding as recommended.

Tumor Location - Click to enlarge

"Thoughts and feelings by Josh, organization and editing by Fay"