A day at the beach - After the predictable wait, I was given three small pills, two steroids to minimize swelling, and one sedative. After that I had a semi-nap for 90 minutes immobile on the Cyberknife table, while it did its robotic thing through three cycles of zapping me at the rate of about 1/minute from a multitude of different angles. I couldn't help thinking about it as a robotic laser welder on an auto assembly line. (I was assured no touch, no heat without having to ask).
There was a pause between cycles for the technician to change the collimator.** Apart from a slightly stiff neck when I got up, there were no detectable effects during or after the treatment, other than a slightly elevated blood pressure.
If it works, it's a great way to deal with an otherwise inaccessible location. It's shown to be highly effective with pancreatic, liver, lung, brain, and kidney tumors. I asked the technician if she had ever done one on the heart before. She said "...we've never done one here before, but I think there was one other, maybe in California." The Cyberknife Coordinator subsequently confirmed that mine was their first such treatment.
Hoo Haa - first on the block again!
**A device capable of collimating radiation, as a long narrow tube in which strongly absorbing or reflecting walls permit only radiation traveling parallel to the tube axis to traverse the entire length. For non-geeks, think of it as a hose nozzle or shotgun choke.
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