Friday February 17, 2012 - Yippie! There is something I can do!

The amazing Dr. Pluhar called me on Friday February 17 to say that Roxy did qualify, and she had done surgeries in this area of the brain before!! I was going to Minnesota! I asked if there was anything else I could do for my dog and Dr. Pluhar mentioned Cyberknife.  Prior to talking with Dr. Pluhar I had already had an appointment scheduled with Dr. Lyons at the Veterinary Cancer Center in Culver City. I called and asked if they were able to do the Cyberknife treatment and I was astonished to learn that YES - they do the treatment! I continued to my appointment with my copy of Roxy's MRI to meet with Dr. Lyons. Dr Lyons went over all of the options that I had. The options seemed to be do nothing, 0-2 months survival. Traditional Radiation, 17 Fractions, almost daily, which meant putting Roxy under 17 times. That sounded scary to me. We then discussed the Cyberknife.....wow - this is amazing I thought. Then he mentioned the price....I couldn't afford it....Minnesota here I come. On my way home I was talking with my very close friend who offered to help me pay, then my dad helped too, then someone I barely knew. Wow! I could manage the rest!! Thank you Care Credit with 0% financing! I called Dr. Lyons and told him that we were in. We made an appointment for the Catscan for Monday February 20.

What is the CyberKnife® System?

The CyberKnife Robotic Radiosurgery System is a non-invasive alternative to surgery for the treatment of both cancerous and non-cancerous tumors anywhere in the body, including the prostate, lung, brain, spine, liver, pancreas and kidney. The treatment – which delivers beams of high dose radiation to tumors with extreme accuracy – offers new hope to patients worldwide.

Though its name may conjure images of scalpels and surgery, the CyberKnife treatment involves no cutting. In fact, the CyberKnife System is the world’s first and only robotic radiosurgery system designed to treat tumors throughout the body non-invasively. It provides a pain-free, non-surgical option for patients who have inoperable or surgically complex tumors, or who may be looking for an alternative to surgery.