Prognosis:
There are two issues- the large tumor on the right side (~5cm x 4 cm x 3cm) and several satelite lesions elsewhere in the brain. The medical direction we've received from 3 exceptional neurosurgeons, and a host of oncologists and radiotherapists is very consistent. I'm working on getting the other medical images up on to the web, as well as some more universally appealing pictures.
The large tumor is too big to address with stereo-radiotherapy (GammaKnife or CyberKnife)- they don't typically go bigger than 4 cm with such techniques. So the large tumor will be removed by crainiotomy ~July 24th. The hope is that the tumor will be well defined and contained, and easily resectable. Melanoma tumors (which is the suspicion, given my history) tend to behave pretty well, but the doctors won't know until there's a hole in my head. There are risks going in to every surgery, but they look to be well in hand, and the likelyhood of risk is proportional to age- also in my favor.
After the crainiotomy, the small metasteses will be addressed by one of the stereo-radiotherapies mentioned above (and linked elsewhere). Depending on the number of small metz, I may also be a candidate for WBRT (whole brain radiation therapy- the microwave), kind of the "blunt instrument of radiation therapy" - we're still gathering information on that, and it may not be clear for several months (first follow-up MRI).
There are, of course, other treatment options that have been presented- a few incidences of chemo specific to melanoma metasteses (though not a lot of consistency on that front).
Please feel free to forward any treatment information you find compelling. I want to stay on top of it all. A word of caution though- journal articles can be a depressing read- survival rates have so much to do with age, and the existance of secondary (extra-cranial) cancers, that they should not apply to my case. In any case, the techniques are interesting, even if the stats are un-nerving.
