A year and a half post op my tumor started to show growth again. Radiation treatment was recommended by my neurosurgeon. I met with a radiologist in Adelaide and he suggested to have a course of 6 weeks of radiation daily all over my body. I had concerns about doing this as I was only 21 and still had a long life ahead of me, I also wanted to have kids, if I went through with this 6 week course of radiation it would involve freezing my eggs. This was a lot to process and very overwhelming. I decided not to jump in and make a decision I wanted to get a second opinion.
I was referred to a radiation oncologist in NSW. After the initial consult I felt more at ease, this doctor was recommending stereotactic radiation therapy, a non-invasive form of radiation therapy which utilises state-of-the-art 3D technology. The purpose of this treatment is to destroy the abnormal cells, while minimising the impact on the surrounding normal brain tissue. I decided to go ahead with the radiation treatment in NSW. The treatment was booked in for December 2011. My family flew over with me to have the treatment in the Prince of Wales Hospital in Sydney.
To ensure I remained as still as possible for the treatment a head frame had to be placed around my head. This involved the doctor numbing the area and inserting screws around my head to hold the frame on. I had to wear the frame for several hours before the procedure. To be honest I was not expecting the frame to look like it did..... it looked like something out of a Saw movie!
The treatment ran for about 40 minutes - the worst part was having the head frame connected to the table. I just had to relax and try to think about anything but the screws being attached to the table with my head relying on the screws to hold it up! After the procedure the doctor removed the screws and the headframe. To top off a long day I ended up fainting following the removal of the screws as I became very light headed after seeing blood running down my face. A code blue was called and I woke up to several hospital staff getting me onto a bed and taking me into an area to monitor me further. After being monitored and given the all clear I was able to leave the hospital. I spent another few days in Sydney after the treatment and flew back to Adelaide to recover at home.
The side effects I experienced following the therapy included headaches, fatigue and hair loss. This was the least of my worries, my only hope was that this non-invasive radiation therapy would stop or prevent the tumour from growing any further.
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