Have you had Gamma knife surgery? What can I expect?

At age 56, I had Gamma Knife surgery 20 years ago on bilateral acoustic neuromas. The good news is that it preserved hearing all this time. Outside of minor sores in the forehead healing quickly (from the frame) and very slight nerve damage in the face, there was no pain. I did not notice any fatigue. Perhaps procedures have changed in the last two decades, however, I’m very grateful to have had GK surgery. I wish your partner the very best.

I had Gamma Knife surgery 2 years ago and am grateful for it. The only pain was from lidocaine shots to put on the pins for the mask. That lasted only for seconds. The scabs from the pin locations lasted several weeks but never hurt. I didn’t lose any hair even at the pin locations. I’m happy with the results because I had a large meningioma near my optic nerve that could have caused problems with vision later. I was fine after the procedure, just worn out from the stress so I probably napped for a while after. Best of luck.

@ami83, you might appreciate these related discussions:
https://connect.mayoclinic.org/group/brain-tumor-support-group/
When will your partner have treatment? How are you doing?

@colleenyoung
Thanks for asking. My partner had Gamma Knife Surgery two weeks ago today. The procedure itself went well, largely because of the wonderful team at NYU Langone in NYC. Everyone was incredibly kind and thoughtful both to my partner and to me. The only discomfort was the shot for putting on the frame. Arrived at the hospital at 5:30 am and was discharged at 9:30. Amazingly fast. The nurses and tech people were wonderful.

The down side -
We were not prepared for the degree of exhaustion after. The first week after she could barely get out of bed. The second week has been somewhat better, with a little improvement each day.
We had been told that she could go to work the day after surgery. Not so. Fortunately she is retired but there is no way she could work a full day even now, 2 weeks after the procedure. She is 80 years old and has been in good health. This was a benign meningioma 2.7cm.
When the doctors said be some fatigue we had no idea that it would be as depleting as it has turned out to be.
She also had minor headaches and nausea. So far no swelling which is great.

Perhaps this exhaustion has been because of her age and a younger person might not experience it. We have no way of knowing.

@colleenyoung
Thanks for asking. My partner had Gamma Knife Surgery two weeks ago today. The procedure itself went well, largely because of the wonderful team at NYU Langone in NYC. Everyone was incredibly kind and thoughtful both to my partner and to me. The only discomfort was the shot for putting on the frame. Arrived at the hospital at 5:30 am and was discharged at 9:30. Amazingly fast. The nurses and tech people were wonderful.

The down side -
We were not prepared for the degree of exhaustion after. The first week after she could barely get out of bed. The second week has been somewhat better, with a little improvement each day.
We had been told that she could go to work the day after surgery. Not so. Fortunately she is retired but there is no way she could work a full day even now, 2 weeks after the procedure. She is 80 years old and has been in good health. This was a benign meningioma 2.7cm.
When the doctors said be some fatigue we had no idea that it would be as depleting as it has turned out to be.
She also had minor headaches and nausea. So far no swelling which is great.

Perhaps this exhaustion has been because of her age and a younger person might not experience it. We have no way of knowing.

@ami83 Concerning the fatigue, maybe it is different for each person. I was 80 when I had my procedure and was tired after for a day but then was okay. For me, like your partner, the injections for the pins was the big pain and only lasted seconds. There’s also an emotional component where you realize you have a growth in your brain. That is pretty scary at first. But Gamma knife has a great success rate in many cases. It’s good to hear your partner has no swelling so far and hopefully that will continue.