Chapter 24: Halo of Shame

Halo of Shame

I had a follow-up appointment with Dr. Sherr, my neurosurgeon, who recommended CyberKnife for the entire area encompassing the back of my head.  Since the beginning of 2018, my insurance wouldn't pay for the Cyber-Knife.  So, I scheduled an appointment with Shands for their parallel treatment called gamma-knife.  The first appointment went smoothly because we were meeting with the doctors and discussing options.  When I say "doctors", I mean students and everyone.  The room was so crowded you could barely move!  My radiation oncologist was Dr. Foote and ironically he was wearing a  cast on his lower left leg and taking a knee scooter between appointments.

The first MRI was painless and occurred that afternoon.  In and out, no contrast, barium or anything like that.  The purpose of this MRI was mapping so they could tell where into my skull they needed to drill the four holes that would secure my halo.

There were four of us scheduled for the same day and we all had to arrive at 6:00 AM. Parking couldn't have been more of a nightmare.  The valet was not open yet.  We were told we could use the parking lot (the procedure was across the street from where we met with the doctors) and everywhere we turned we were met by barricaded entrances.  We were almost late as Connie had to wheel me to the elevator, down to the first level, across the street, up a ramp, in the side door, down another elevator and then a very long corridor past maintenance, catering, cleaning, dining and all sorts of mechanical functions until we saw a sign for "Oncology".

The idea was to corral all of us into a single location to which escape was not possible.  Four of us were there for halos, most with a companion. They prioritized by simplest to most complicated.  I was last (go figure) and had to sit around all day waiting on the other three.

For my halo, they first numbed the four areas of my scalp and proceeded with the drilling using a DeWalt power drill  (I'm not completely sure about the brand).  Once they had those holes drilled, they attached the halo with four plastic screws.  It was removed later in the day and boy, did I have a headache. When I went into the MRI tube, I really couldn't move.  It took several treatments on the rubberized "dead zone" to get the margins and such just to where the doctor had requested.

My oncologist indicated that there are a couple of different options in the clinical trial phase which just now became available.  If by chance the immunotherapy drug that I'm using fails in the future, there are new options becoming available every day.  I'll have an MRI in a couple of months where that decision will be made.  The new immunotherapy drug that has been released is a great way to breach the wall to the brain.  Film at 11 for more on that.

The good news is that while I was getting my head drilled, Connie went to the hospital cafe armed with a voucher for $1.70.  She said "they should have given that food away."

Next up: My Battle for Outpatient Physical Therapy