Gamma Knife worked

I have, since the Gamma Knife procedure, had another surgery. This time I left the hospital with fewer parts. I had a complete hysterectomy and have another scar to add to the collection. One of my dear friends came to stay with me to keep me distracted and drove me around for two weeks while I healed. I was extremely appreciative of her visit because I was sore, tired, and grouchy. I am hoping this improves several problems, including the failed uterine ablation, the horrid menstrual migraines, and the pain that I have on top of the chronic migraines. After the surgery, my doctor said I had Adenomyosis, which explains why I had the extremely painful cramps during my periods.

I have seen my doctor who was in charge of the Gamma Knife procedure and was able to tell him how I felt about the pain I experienced. "Well, we do things a bit differently since you had your procedure," he told me.

He described a new machine in which some patients can be fitted with a suctioned mask, avoiding the pins in the skull altogether. And, speaking of those pins, when I expressed the pain experienced when the frame was taken off my head, he said they now give patients a shot of morphine when they take the frame off. They realize the headaches patients get are "extremely painful." I wonder why it took them thousands of procedures to finally do this. I am glad to hear others are getting more pain relief during the procedure than what was offered to me but I am confused as to why it took them this long.

The good news is that the Gamma Knife worked. The latest MRI shows a small reduction of the size of the tumor. My next MRI will be in six months but I will be returning to the clinic before the end of the year so that the transplant team can check on the lungs.

In January I will be celebrating year THREE with my recycled lungs! Even though I still deal with a lot of pain issues and an uncertain future, I am so grateful. I was once on a list where twenty-two people die each day waiting for a transplant but I was one of the lucky ones. I received a life-saving transplant because someone said YES to organ donation.

Gamma Knife Radiation

I am now over two months out from the Gamma Knife radiation. I can now rate it up there with the some of the top hated procedures. I guess I cannot complain about heart catherizations without sedation anymore after experiencing that. The frame was absolutely awful. But, I'm a big baby when it comes to people messing with my head anyway. The pressure of the frame was extremely painful, to the point where it felt as though my skull would crack when they were screwing the pins into it. The process includes only a tad bit of sedation so I was fully aware and alert. They injected lidocaine into the pin sites and then they screwed the four pins of the frame, two on the forehead and two on the back of the head, through the skin and tissue all the way to the skull. I was hoping they'd put me in some sort of twilight sedation but that was not the case. I was extremely agitated and upset.

By the time my CT scan was done and I had waited around for some time, the lidocaine had worn off and the pin sites were sore. They offered no pain killers and I had a migraine. The actual Gamma Knife procedure was 80 minutes long and I had to lie flat with my head still in the Gamma Knife machine. The weight of my head was basically on the two pin sites and by then they were sore and my head was throbbing. I had taken my migraine medication but I had a frame squeezing my skull and four pins screwed through my head and I was trying to tolerate lying 80 minutes on two of them poking me directly through the back of my head.

Surprisingly removing the frame hurt and caused a strange intense headache that lasted about an hour after it was removed. I still had a migraine but suffered from the pain of the frame too. Afterwards, the nurse tended to the pin sites, which were oozing a bit and swollen.

I was able to leave after I was settled and bandaged up. I felt nauseated at first, especially with the migraine, but was able to eat a little later in the day. For the first couple of days I slept a lot. My pin sites remained swollen for several days and were sore for more than a week. I had an area on the left side of my scalp that remained numb for a couple of weeks.

Now I wait until we do the follow up MRIs. That will let us know whether it was all worth the trouble. Hopefully the Gamma Knife radiation stopped the growth of the tumor or killed it completely.

List

Somehow when I returned from Cleveland Clinic I had a whole list of things...
1. The meningioma has grown. It is now time to take action before it presses into the optic nerve and causes issues. Because of the area it is in, they want to do Gamma Knife Radiation. I will be meeting with the neurosurgeon soon.
2. At a little over two years out I am suffering from bone loss due to the transplant drugs. (No, you are not getting taller... I am shrinking!) They have added a weekly oral bone drug to my regimen. Hopefully this helps so I can avoid shots or infusions.
3.We have switched my main anti-rejection drug from Tacrolimus to Cyclosporine. Cyclosporine was considered the gold standard, the original anti-rejection medicine that was used for many years before Tacrolimus became available. Unfortunately it is nasty. Each capsule comes in a foil pouch, not to be opened until use. I realized when I first took it why it comes in a foil pouch. It smells like skunk. That's why it's in a nice little foil pouch. It's like a little skunk bomb when I open it, and I have to open several foil pouches twice a day. How pleasant. Anyway, the switch is happening in hopes it will help with the migraines. Anything to help keep me out of the emergency room. I am still ending up there about once a month. Anything is worth trying so I am glad the transplant team is finally playing around with the big meds a bit.
4. I have another case of tendinitis. Different leg, different spot. Yes, it hurts. But, I don't know why. It just happened. Didn't do anything to it. But, it's not too bad. I need to limit walking, especially downhill, and I have some special stretches for it. It is slowly getting better.
5. Cardiac function looks fine. Even though my heart rate is still high (and will probably always be) due to the heart failure in the past, considering everything, hey... that's okay!
6. Spirometry readings are good. Lung function is wonderful. Thank you to my donor. I wouldn't be alive without you. And despite everything, I am not complaining.

Celebrating two years

My two-year lungiversary went by with little fanfare, much to my dismay. The only ones to acknowledge it were those within my household. But, that is because I have declared it an official holiday, penciling it on the calendar and announcing it days before. For me it is a second birthday. I'm sure it's a feeling that only fellow transplantees can understand. Silly I suppose. But when cards and greetings didn't roll in, I felt a bit... a bit, well, forgotten. Then I had remind myself that almost dying and getting a transplant was a battle that was how long ago? One year? Great. Two years? Come on. Life goes on. No one wants to have to remember to celebrate ME twice a year. Except for ME.

Thankfully, I had less anxiety this year as I reached the date. I think this is because I now have a relationship with my donor's mother. At this time last year, it bothered me greatly that I didn't have anyone to focus that energy on. I had reached out to the family with a letter through LifeBanc and told them how much I thought of them each and every day, and how much their gift meant to me and my family. I wanted them to know that every single breath I take is because they said yes to organ donation. But, by the time I had my first anniversary I had not heard back.

Eventually, I did hear back and since then, we have exchanged several letters. This communication means so much to me. Even though there are no words powerful enough to express the thanks I feel for this gift, at least his mom knows that this wonderful gift is allowing me to spend more time with my family, and is allowing me to selfishly celebrate two birthdays.

Health-wise I am holding in there. I'm working on getting that room in the ER named after me. Yep, I'm back to my old record of going in once a month with the usual--migraine, vomiting, and dehydration. I don't know why it's happening and wish it would stop. Also, I recently found out the pain in my left ankle I have been walking around with for over two months is tendentious. I did not do anything to it... supposedly the medicines can cause it. I guess I have been getting so used to walking around in pain and not realizing what is normal, or rather the new normal. Basically any time I have had aches and pains the doctors usually tell me the medicines can cause it and then they shrug it off. So with this, I just kept shrugging it off until I couldn't take it any longer. But surprise, now I am hobbling around on a walking boot. I'll see the podiatrist again in a couple of weeks to see what my next step is.

Certainly not the fanfare I was looking for, but I hobbled right along and continued my celebrations throughout the weekend. I look forward to celebrating my real birthday soon enough... and perhaps I won't be hobbling around for that one.