| At Elekta, we understand that referring to other Patient Stories can be a valueable source of comfort during what can be a very traumatic period in your life. The patient stories we have provided access to all deliver the same message and that is one of hope and reassurance.
Gamma knife newest tool in battle against cancer Simi Valley Acorn, February 17, 2006 For some, the expression “in sickness and in health,” holds little meaning. For Bruce and Carol Scott, it means everything. The Simi Valley couple has been married for more than 30 years, and during those three decades they have learned what it means to stand together no matter what the obstacle. Their bond held them together through Carol’s diagnosis of breast cancer nearly 15 years earlier. It helped see them through Bruce’s battle with lung cancer last year, and it has continued to give them strength ever since Bruce was diagnosed with brain cancer last December. Click to read the full article at http://www.simivalleyacorn.com "Gamma knife" treatment can extend cancer survival Reuters Health, January 12, 2006 NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Many patients can survive for years after undergoing effective gamma knife radiosurgery for cancers that have spread to the brain, according to a new report. As many as 40 percent of patients with systemic malignancies have cancers that spread (metastasize) to the brain, the authors explain, and radiosurgery of these metastases can extend survival to 13 months or longer, depending on the tumor type. Dr. Douglas Kondziolka from the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pennsylvania and colleagues assessed 44 patients who survived more than four years after undergoing radiosurgery to determine clinical and treatment patterns that affect the outcome. Click to read the full article at http://www.ucsfhealth.org A patient's research finds success The Providence Journal, Wednesday, August 3, 2005 A woman with a tumor near her brain works with a neurosurgeon
from Rhode Island Hospital to find the right treatment By now most people have heard that when diagnosed with a serious illness, you should get a second opinion, research the options, and advocate for yourself. A California woman took that advice to an extreme a few years ago. She spent more than eight months researching a tumor near her brain and received not just a second opinion but 40 opinions -- and rejected them all. Instead she devised her own treatment protocol, and found a Rhode Island doctor willing to give her plan a shot. It worked so well that the doctor has since used it in 40 other patients and hopes to publish a research paper about it. Click to read the full article on The Providence Journal website (free registration required): http://www.projo.com A little help from Fiorela's friends The Providence Journal , Friday, July 29, 2005 Doctors and staff at Rhode Island Hospital arrange special radiation treatment for a young
Peruvian girl, because "that's what we do," the hospital's chief of neurosurgery says. PROVIDENCE - The pain drove through her head like a bolt. One moment 11-year-old Fiorela Sangama appeared fine, passing another day in her steamy riverbank town on the edge of the Peruvian jungle. The next, the right side of her skull seemed to explode. It was April 11. Three days later Fiorela fell unconscious. At the local hospital in Iquitos, a CAT scan revealed a hemorrhage deep in the right hemisphere of her brain. The source of the bleeding: a 1 1/2-inch vascular malformation - a tangle of arteries and veins lacking the normal system of capillaries necessary to disperse blood and pressure. Click to read the full article on The Providence Journal website (free registration required): http://www.projo.com When Kevin had stroke at 13, technology gave him a chance The Seattle Times, Wednesday, July 27, 2005 Kevin Rhee sat cross-legged on the field, pulling up grass with his right hand. Around him, it was Campus Day at Alderwood Middle School. Other kids were playing soccer and basketball, and scaling an inflatable climbing wall. But Kevin just pulled up grass... ... the day before, he was at Harborview Medical Center, a metal frame attached to his skull, while a neurosurgeon and a radiation oncologist made plans to obliterate an abnormal mass in his brain that was no bigger than Lincoln's head on a penny. They would use a computer-controlled machine called a Gamma Knife, which they hoped would destroy the maze of problematic arteries and veins called an arteriovenous malformation (AVM). Click to read the full article at http://seattletimes.nwsource.com Olympic skating star Scott Hamilton in perfect form April, 2005 Towering exhibits and impressive treatment systems are generally the star attractions in the exhibitor’s hall at the annual meeting of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS). But at the 2005 meeting, held April 16-21 in New Orleans, La., USA, it was a slight figure in Elekta’s booth that drew the most attention. Scott Hamilton, who spoke about his recent Gamma Knife® surgery, is a four-time U.S. National Champion, a four-time World Champion and Olympic Gold Medalist. He received widespread coverage on his battle with testicular cancer in 1997. Following that experience, he gained renown for his inspirational talks on his life and achievements, as well as his humanitarian work with cancer organizations. Click to read the full article here Olympic skater Scott Hamilton to have brain tumor treatment SFGate.com, Thursday, December 2, 2004 World champion figure skater Scott Hamilton will undergo a high-tech radiation therapy for a non-cancerous brain tumor, his publicist said Thursday. Hamilton, 46, will have Gamma Knife® treatment later this month at The Cleveland Clinic in Ohio, said Dr. Gene Barnett, chairman of the clinic's brain tumor institute. Click to read the full article at SFGate.com New Help For Epileptics CBSNews.com, 27th September 2004 An experimental new brain implant that sends rapid-fire electrical signals to the area where seizures originate could help treat epilepsy patients, Elizabeth Kaledin reports Click to see the movie at CBSNews.com Piedmont Hospital Schedules Live Internet Gamma Knife® Surgery - See Neurosurgeons Treat A Patient With Facial Nerve Neuroma Atlanta, GA - December 3, 2003 Last summer, 42-year-old Wayne Smith, a CPA and chief financial officer, went to see his doctor because he was experiencing unusual pain near his left ear. Through a series of diagnostic tests and visits to specialists, it was discovered that he had a facial nerve neuroma (tumor) near the end of his auditory canal. Click to watch the procedure at http:/www.or-live.com/piedmonthospital "Brain Surgery, Without Knife or Blood, Gains Favor" The New York Times - ON THE WEB: April 29, 2003 Without so much as a nick to her scalp, Cheryl Hogarth had major brain surgery on a tumor that had grown to nearly the size of a Ping-Pong ball deep within her brain. Ms. Hogarth, who at 37 was told her malignant tumor was inoperable and given a prognosis of six months to live, went under the Gamma Knife, no-knife surgery that blasts its target with hundreds of high-intensity radiation beams in a single session. There was none of the cutting, bleeding, general anesthesia, ear-to-ear scar or long recovery associated with traditional craniotomy. She went home that evening. . . . click to read the full article on The New York Times - ON THE WEB (free registration required) "THE KINDEST CUT: Gamma Knife kills tumors without incision" Back to Health, July - September 2002 Meet Sheila McKenna, a young mother of two with a great job and husband. Everything in life was going her way until two months after the birth of her second child, when her ears started ringing. A few weeks later, after trying antibiotics and seeing an ear, nose and throat specialist, she was diagnosed with a benign brain tumor . . . click to read the full article on Healthsouth.com Note:
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