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THE GAMMA KNIFEIvan had lung cancer. It was Stage IV lung cancer. The lung cancer had spread. He had multiple brain tumors. The brain tumors were inoperable. The first treatments were radiation to his head. The whole head radiation was followed by massive doses of chemotherapy. Ten weeks after diagnosis, Ivan opted for gamma knife surgery. The doctors were going to attack the large brain tumor in his right temporal lobe. They were also going to attack 3 other brain tumors. Success would mean his chances to extend cancer survival rates would be better. Hope of survival transcends fear.EXCERPT FROM CHAPTER TEN "Dr. Bastin walked us over to the Gamma Knife Center and introduced us to David, the center's main nurse. He took us on a tour. The place reminded me of the Starship Enterprise. There were banks of computer monitors high above our heads and banks of computers lined up on the tables below. I remarked, "It's like living the science fiction stories I used to read when I was a kid." We were embarking on an adventure that would be both exciting and terrifying. The dread of the unknown was overwhelming. Neither of us said much. Each of us had our own thoughts that were left unspoken. We just held hands. David explained the procedure. He showed us the apparatus that would be bolted to Ivan's head. We walked through the rooms where it would all take place. He let us touch, feel and experience the surroundings. We walked through the two imposing, swinging doors at the end of the wide hallway. The gamma knife machine was in the center of a bright, white room. It was enormous. It consumed the room with its presence. It resembled the MRI machine we were accustomed to seeing but it was much larger. On a table set against the wall was the "helmet" that would be fit over Ivan's head. They said it weighed 500 pounds. It was shaped like a large bowl about three feet in diameter. The walls of the bowl were several inches thick, leaving just enough room for his head with some to spare. The bowl had hundreds of removable canister-like cylinders set into it. The circles, about an inch or so across, looked like hundreds of eyes without lids to allow them to close themselves against the glare of the bright, white light of the room. The morning of the surgery they would do some special MRIs and feed the results into the computers. A team of four doctors would study the data and make their determinations regarding the settings and the placements of the cylinders. Some of the cylinders would be removed and some would stay, based on the tabulations the doctors would make the morning of the procedure. There was a bobcat-like machine sitting next to the table. It would carry the helmet across the room to the band of metal that Ivan would lie upon. He would be secured to a moving conveyor-like mechanism that would take him into the bowels of the gamma knife machine. A large cover that reminded me of a gigantic, white version of Darth Vader's mask would then close him into the machine. The fear factor was overpowering. But, the hope factor urged us to go on." MORE EXCERPTS: Prologue - Cancer Chapter One - Lung Cancer Chapter Two - The Moment Chapter Three - Brain Tumor Cancer Personal Notes on the Battle with Lung Cancer Chapter Twenty - Cancer Survival  |