Dear CCAM Partners and Friends,

After the Gamma Knife procedure had to be aborted last Thursday (because the MRI showed that the tumor had grown too large and was right up against Buntheep's optic nerves), we spent the weekend, starting from Thursday night when she stayed in the hospital, recovering from the wounds caused by pins used to fasten the Gamma Knife "halo" to her skull. All four of the sites were painful and swollen, but because of the ones on her forehead, Buntheep's eyes were swollen shut, especially on the right side where the wound was quite large and continued to drain for a long time. She ran a low grade fever and often looked very flushed. We used ice packs to reduce the swelling. Buntheep complained about her whole body aching--possibly from the anesthesia or other drugs that were administered, or perhaps from the awkward positions she had to assume for the MRI and CAT scans. Needless to say, she stayed in bed most of the time to rest.

On Monday morning, when we arrived at the IMRT center, we found the doctors and technicians totally prepared and ready to start her new treatments. What an answer to prayer! The two radiation treatments done on Monday (one in the morning and one in the afternoon) were accompanied by preliminary picture-taking, so they lasted a long time (1-2 hours). But the two treatments given today were much shorter (about 15 minutes each). For each treatment, nine different photon beams are delivered to the tumor one by one from various angles as the radiation machine rotates around Buntheep's head. All of the treatments are programmed into the computer ahead of time using the MRI and CAT scans as guides.

For these procedures, Buntheep has to lie very still on a table and wear a mesh mask/helmet made of hard plastic that bolts her head to the table with screws to keep it immobile. At each treatment, Buntheep says she experiences a terrible taste in her mouth, causing her to want to throw up. In fact, she started feeling nauseated and dizzy right after the first treatment. Those symptoms, plus others, continued to intensify throughout Monday. Headaches and vomiting began Monday night. By Tuesday morning, Buntheep was so sick that she begged not to go back to the radiation center. But, of course, we had to go back. When we arrived, I explained how sick she was, but the technicians insisted she should go ahead and get the treatment anyway.

However, when she threw up in the treatment room and became quite distressed, they decided to stop and call Dr. Deshmukh, the radiation oncologist. After checking her, he telephoned Dr. Aldana, and they both decided to give Buntheep some steroids, thinking that the tumor itself might be causing edema (swelling) and headaches. Perhaps that is a good sign, if it means that the tumor is experiencing some trauma because of the radiation beams attacking it! After resting for a while and taking some medicine for the nausea, plus the steroids, Buntheep began to feel better and was able to complete the morning treatment. During the rest of the day, she became more stable and was also able to complete her afternoon treatment without any problem.

One other worrisome symptom that started right after the first radiation treatment was that the vision in Buntheep's left (good) eye began to occasionally "wax and wane." Therefore, between the two radiation treatments on Tuesday, we met with Dr. Duss (the ophthalmologist) to check Buntheep's eyes. Praise the Lord that the vision tests done today have shown no apparent damage!

The Lord has been very near to us during all of these new trials, just as He was throughout the past five months. So, forgetting what lies behind and focusing on what lies ahead, we press on with renewed hope.

In His Hands,
Gioia and Buntheep

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