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Radiosurgery vs. Neurosurgery
Pros and Cons
Pros of Radiosurgery:
- You do not have to spend any time bed-ridden, or recovering. The only time you take out
of your life is for the treatment itself, and that depends how many sessions you have.
- You do not have to suffer from headaches. Those are a by-product of having your scull
drilled open, and then glued back together. Same goes for other symptoms that seem to be
related to having your scull opened, such as infections or CSF leaks.
- You have time to adjust to post-op symptoms, if any (mostly hearing loss or a shift of
balance), since they come gradually instead of in one big whoop.
- You do not risk having your nerves nicked or scraped, as with a less-skilled surgeon.
- Surgery is a more expensive option when you count time out of work (disability) and cost
of additional 'minor' post-op surgeries (weights in eyelids, grafted nerves in mouth,
whatever it takes to get rid of the debilitating headaches...).
Things that are the same for both options:
- The chance that your AN will recur and will need further treatment is the same for both
forms of treatment.
- So is the change of malignancy occurring.
Pros of Surgery:
- Any neurosurgeon who can hold a scalpel will take your business, so you do not have to
look as far for getting treatment.
- Surgery is better known to the insurance companies, so it may be easier to get your
insurance to pay for it (despite its higher cost).
- Finally, it will make you feel like a hero ("I've survived AN surgery, I am
recovering from the effects, and I am even back to work!") the way radiotherapy does
not ("I never stopped working...").
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Last Edited: Friday, November 01, 2002