Much has changed in our lives over that last two years. Travis has retired from the Marine Corps. We moved out of our old apartment into the one that we are living in now. Travis had CyberKnife radiation. Victoria started middle school. We received AMAZING NEWS that Travis’ pesky Schwannoma tumor succumbed to Dr. Adler’s treatment. NO MORE TUMOR!!!! I started back at work and went back to college.

Travis accepted his dream job at Northrop Grumman. He entered through a wonderful program called Operation Impact. Since retiring from the Marine Corps. Travis has been seeing new doctors. He struggled through Methadone withdrawal and is now 100% METHADONE FREE. He has a prescription for Vicodin to use for breakthrough pain but he has not taken any since June 30th. He has come a long way from his daily doses of 3000mg of Neurontin and 10mg of Methadone.

Our offer was accepted on our first home. (We are in escrow right now.)

Travis came down with Diverticulitis and then suffered from a secondary infection as a result of the antibiotics given to him to treat the Diverticulitis.

So much has happened over the last two years.  Life sure has not been easy but things seem to be turning around.  We are learning to see the glass as half full rather than half empty.  I expect that we will continue to face hurdles but what I have learned is there is nothing that Travis and I cannot accomplish if we put our hearts into it.

In my opinion, this is proof that CyberKnife radiation works.  It is the best treatment for a schwannoma brain tumor.  If you have a tumor or know somebody who does then ask the  doctor is CyberKnife would work for you.

I want to write more but I donated blood today and my finger is really sore from the prick.  I will try and write more soon.

You can’t ask for anymore than that.  I also got excited thinking that Travis was one of the patients included in the study.  We have not confirmed that Travis was one of the individuals discussed in the article but he will be asking his surgeon tomorrow on his visit.

I will paste the article below and a link to where I found it.

http://journals.lww.com/neurosurgery/Abstract/2009/02001/Cyberknife_Radiosurgery_for_Trigeminal_Schwannomas.4.aspx

Cyberknife Radiosurgery for Trigeminal Schwannomas
Sakamoto, Gordon T.; Borchers, D. John III; Xiao, Furen; Yang, Hee-Jin; Chang, Steven D.; Adler, John R. Jr.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: Trigeminal schwannomas (TS) are benign tumors that are managed by surgical resection and/or stereotactic radiosurgery. Most radiosurgical series report results using the gamma knife. The CyberKnife (Accuray, Inc., Sunnyvale, CA) is a frameless, robotic stereotactic radiosurgical system. In this series, we report our experience using the CyberKnife in the treatment of TS.
METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records and diagnostic imaging in 13 consecutive patients with TS who were treated with the CyberKnife from 2003 to 2007. Seven patients had a previous surgical resection. The mean tumor volume was 6.3 mL (range, 0.39-19.98 mL), and the mean marginal dose was 18.5 Gy. Six of the tumors were treated in a single session. The mean clinical follow-up period was 21.8 months (range, 7-53 months).
RESULTS: In this series, the tumor control rate was 100%. The average reduction in tumor volume was 45% (range, 14-98%). A modest improvement in facial pain was noted in 4 of the 6 patients who presented with this symptom. One patient had improvement in facial numbness, and another had improvement in pretreatment headaches. One patient developed jaw weakness and facial dysesthesia, and another patient developed asymptomatic radiation necrosis.
CONCLUSION: Although the length of follow-up is limited, we report our initial experience with CyberKnife treatment of TS. Our results demonstrate tumor control rates and clinical outcomes that parallel those of previous reports using gamma knife radiosurgery; however, long-term follow-up studies are needed.

After an hour Travis’s radiation was done.  Travis’s neurosurgeon told us that he would like to see us in six months.  He also said that he expects Travis’s eye and jaw to improve over time but if it does not he could see a plastic surgeon.  Travis really enjoyed the mask he had to wear.  He asked his neurosurgeon to autograph it.  Then Travis wore the mask the whole car ride home.  Maybe this is the happy ending to a year and a half of worrying.

(click on the pictures to enlarge them)

We got a call from Travis’s neurosurgeon.  He explained to us that the reason two treatments are needed is because the residual tumor is very close to Travis’s optic nerve.  To be safe the radiation should be broken up into two treatments.  Travis explained to his neurosurgeon that we could not really come back for the second treatment and the neurosurgeon said that having one treatment on Friday morning and the second treatment on Friday evening would work out fine.

Not an hour later we got a call back from the neurosurgeon.  He asked Travis is he could come in”now” for the first CyberKinfe radiation treatment.  We told him that we would be there in 45 minutes or less, we were still in our pajamas when he called.  So we rushed to get ready.  I was excited because I want this tumor to be done with.  Travis started getting really nervous, even more nervous than he was for his surgeries.  I thought that this was odd.  He told me it was because he did not know what to expect.  On Tuesday we were given a DVD to watch that explained the whole CyberKnife process.  We had not gotten around to watching it yet. I suggested that Travis take one of his Ativans to help him relax.

By the time that we got to the hospital the Ativan had kicked in.  Travis was much more relaxed.  Travis was told to lie on the bed of the CyberKnife machine and they fitted the mask over his face.  He was given instructions to stay as still as possible and that if he needed to move (to sneeze, cough, or because he back got sore) to raise his hand and they would stop the treatment and help him.  I took a quick picture of Travis and then let the machine do it’s magic.

About an hour later Travis walked into the waiting room.  He looked like the same guy that I left on the table.  He said that he hardly remembered the experience.  He dozed off for the entire hour but was woken once when a technician offered to put on some music for him.
 

The first radiation treatment has been completed.  Now we have one more tomorrow.  I will try and get a couple more pictures tomorrow.

Check out the Pictures page.