on june 29, 2025 i found out i have a petroclival meningioma (brain tumor) affecting my 6th cranial nerve (the one that controls horizontal eye movement), wh...
belated, but here we are. i'm a couple months late on this one — my 6 month follow-up mri was actually in early march, but i'm only now getting around to writing it up. i'd like to think the delay is, on balance, a good sign : it means i've been busy living my life again. i started a new job at the beginning of the year, and i've been back to doing all the things i love — skiing, hiking, running,…
today is technically one month + two days post-treatment, and i have some excellent news to share. in a very unexpected development of events, my double vision has almost entirely gone away already . you may recall reading from my previous updates that any improvement in my double vision post-treatment would be (a) not guaranteed , and (b) taking place over a longer time period , likely 3-6 months…
today marks one week since i completed gamma knife radiosurgery at ucsf . i've felt great this past week so there's not much to report, but i'll document any and all symptoms here for future reference to anyone undergoing gkrs and searching for more information on what to expect. i flew home from san francisco on saturday, one day after completing treatment. it felt amazing waking up that morning…
four months after the onset of my double vision caused by a meningioma pressing against my 6th cranial nerve, i'm finally getting treatment this week: five fractionated doses of gamma knife every day from Monday to Friday. i'll update this post after my treatment each day to document the process and any symptoms or side effects i might feel throughout the week in real time. monday, september 8…
today i had an updated mri taken and a ct simulation (mask making session) completed in preparation for my five fractionated gamma knife radiosurgery sessions from M-F next week. mri the most recent mri i have of my meningioma was from almost 10 weeks ago on june 29, 2025 , so the radiation oncologist wanted an updated mri taken with more detailed imaging of the area surrounding my meningioma…
there are many different types of radiation used to treat various types of benign and malignant tumors. the "standard" or "original" type of radiation is photon-based radiation . nowadays, there's also proton-based radiation and stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) . the main difference between photon- and proton-based radiation is that photon beams target the tumor and pass through the other side,…
i've been feeling much better since making a decision about how i want to treat my brain tumor, and now i have a treatment plan in place . i'll be receiving five fractionated treatments of gamma knife (GK) radiosurgery at ucsf from september 8-12, 2025 . ( what does this mean? ) GK offers highly targeted dose administration so that the radiation targets the entire tumor, but ensures a very rapid…
to be clear: changing your diet or lifestyle isn’t going to shrink your tumor , and it’s definitely not a cure. but for me, it’s been part of how I’ve approached healing — physically, mentally, and emotionally. i’ve also been interested in what I can do (if anything) to reduce the chances of my tumor growing or coming back after treatment . this post isn’t meant to be advice or medical guidance.…
meningiomas are the most common type of noncancerous brain tumor and can vary greatly in size, location, and treatment plan. if you happen to have a more complex case , you might want to seek second, third, and even fourth opinions from top neurosurgeons around the U.S. in my case, i consulted with seven neurosurgeons and two radiation oncologists before making a final decision on my treatment…
one month after receiving my diagnosis, i've finally made a decision about what to do with my meningioma(!!) the limbo period of trying to determine the best course of action for myself while receiving and digesting conflicting opinions from experts was one of the most stressful periods. i felt like i was stuck on a rollercoaster ride i never wanted to be on, and there was no way off until a…