Hi Jill, It's over and you were so right about everything. The "darth vadar" cover for the frame was only for the MRI. I will say the MRI was very noisy and I couldn't have ear plugs. That was about 20 minutes and the Gamma machine was 32 minutes. Everyone was super nice. My radiologist wants to see me in 6 weeks to discuss any side effects-headaches, hearing loss etc. If I am fine, I don't have to see him. My neuro surgeon put the frame on and you were right as that being the most uncomfortable. I am on eloquis- a blood thinner- and I really bled when the IV was put in. The nurse said it looked like a "crime scene"! She was great and stayed with me the whole time. This dept. has a small monitor that you keep beside you on your bed while you are not in the MRI or Gamma laser machine. It keeps taking your blood pressure, heart rate, oxygen level-everything. Of course mine kept going off because of the AFIB but she got the results on her computer so I could press the button to shut it off. My neuro-surgeon spoke to me before the Gamma surgery and the tumor had only grown a little. He said it was the perfect size for this treatment. The physicist put me in the Gamma machine and attached everything. They strapped my arms down so I wouldn't touch my face. That was a little scary but the rest was just long but not as long as you had it. I have another MRI in 6 months and will meet with my neuro surgeon to review it and hopefully it will have stopped growing. He said he is hoping the laser killed it and if so it will have a black spot showing it is dying or dead. He originally said it would only kill cancerous tumors and this was benign-he thought. He said this treatment only stopped meningioma's from growing and didn't kill it. I figure I will worry about that in 6 months. Right now I am so happy it is over and so grateful to have been able to talk to someone as nice as you. Thank you again and I hope you have a healthy 2019!
Joan