Too Many Comic Books

For someone who has already gone through Gamma Knife radiation treatment of a tumor in the brain, you'd think I'd be smarter. Or at least you'd think I would rely on my past experiences to guide my current experiences a little more.

The Gamma Knife is such a wild, science fiction type thing, that it seems right out of the pages of a comic book. So I seem to forget certain realities.

The Gamma Knife is a huge machine, in the middle of a large empty room, hidden behind huge radioactive proof doors and walls. It's shining silver metal with highlights of gold and copper. With one metal frame screwed to my skull another globe like metal crown is attached to my head as I lay on my back and am slowly drawn into the massive machine.

Everyone leaves the room and the radiation is turned on, many tiny strong beams of radiation all intersect at the tumor. And it all occurs in complete silence.

By the time all that is over I'm walking out of there thinking, "Well that's that." It just seems like such a wild, out of this world experience, I just walk away thinking well the tumor is gone. Zap! They got it! That's it.

Yesterday I was getting impatient with my lack of success at being able to wean off of the steroid Decadron. I started taking it only every other day and I started to feel poor effects from that - some cloudiness, lack of coordination, both signs of brain swelling.

So I figured I'd call the radiation oncologists to see how they would take this news, guage their reaction.

I wasn't told to back off the Decadron. I did that on my own. They told me to get back on it right away. They told me I'm being impatient and forgetting how all this works.

That was good to hear.

The radiation agitates and poisons the tumor so it slowly dies away. It's not a comic book. It's not an instant-working, science fiction, laser beam that just zaps it away. Most of the time, I was reminded by a nurse, the Gamma Knife will first make things feel worse before things start getting better.

It made me feel better to be reminded of all that. It has only been a couple of weeks. And the neurologist doesn't even want to see a follow-up MRI for six weeks. So...

I'm going to try to be a patient guy and ride this out as it should be, follow the doctor's orders, stay with the steroid and see how things turn out.

Why would I want to get off the steroid if it takes care of brain swelling, helps me feel better, gives me a huge appetite that results in weight gain? Because you can forget about sleep while taking this steroid. Last night I spent half the night with Freckles in front of the TV. I think I'm even starting to keep him up now.