“I never was sick a day in my life. Never even took an aspirin. Then I started getting headaches that wouldn’t go away.”
60-year Maria Nin of Miami thought her headaches were caused from working long hours on the computer, or perhaps she needed glasses and went to an eye doctor who ruled out both problems and sent her to a neurologist.
“The neurologist thought I was developing migraines and scheduled an MRI. When he said, you have a brain tumor, called a Meningioma behind my left eye, I was completel
y paralyzed and devastated. Even though it was benign, my husband and I were crying.”
The plan was to wait a few months and follow up with a second MRI, which revealed the tumor was growing and something needed to be done. That’s when Maria’s husband, a retired doctor, insisted she see his longtime friend Board Certified Neurosurgeon Dr. Aldo Berti.
“As time went on my headaches got so bad, I was throwing up. I had to quit work and most of my life was spent in bed. It was scary but Dr. Berti was very reassuring. He said you have options and that was a big relief. He told us about CyberKnife.”
Treatment options for growing brain tumors include, surgery to remove them or radiation therapy like CyberKnife. The CyberKnife uses highly focused and precisely aimed radiation beams that shrink or dissolve the tumor while sparing surrounding healthy tissue.
Dr. Aldo Berti says, “Surgery was not an option for Maria because of where the tumor is located and why would you do surgery when there is an excellent non-invasive treatment option? Because the tumor was growing, you don’t want to wait until it gets out of hand. The best thing is to treat it non-invasively avoiding the risks of open surgery.”
CyberKnife Stereotactic Radiosurgery (SRS) has a very high success rate for treating brain or spine meningiomas. About 95-percent of meningiomas stop growing after one treatment or a small series of treatments.
“Dr. Berti told me the radiation only goes to the tumor, it doesn’t damage anything else in the brain and you won’t have any side effects. He said you’re going to be okay and I said okay, let’s do it.”
Maria’s next step was meeting Board Certified Radiation Oncologist, Dr. David Huang at the CyberKnife Center of Miami for treatment.
“First, I went to CyberKnife Miami’s website, saw all the videos, read everything and told my husband this looks good. You go in, get treated, walk out, you can even drive home and do whatever you want. It’s amazing. I was very excited”
Left untreated Maria’s tumor could have caused vision loss and brain damage but Dr. Huang assured Maria that wasn’t going to happen to her.
Dr. David Huang says, “Maria is the perfect candidate for CyberKnife Radiosurgery. There’s a good chance it will only require one treatment for the tumor to shrink. Should it start to grow again, which is highly unlikely, we can treat it again. She had a quick response to the first CyberKnife treatment. Within months the tumor was a lot smaller and continues shrinking. She has an excellent prognosis.”
Maria says, “I suffered almost a year, but soon after the CyberKnife treatment my headache was gone. I’ve never had another one.”
“A lot of people don’t know CyberKnife exists. Doctors should tell patients about it and give them that option. For me it was like a miracle.”
“Plus, the staff at the Cyberknife Center of Miami is awesome. It’s quiet, private and everyone makes you feel so comfortable. They take all your fears away.”
“Dr. Huang and Dr. Berti are excellent. They both told me the same thing. CyberKnife is a great non-invasive option and you’re going to be fine.”
“After being diagnosed with a brain tumor, I thought my life was over but not anymore. Now I look forward to a long life with my family. I’ve been reborn thanks to CyberKnife. I want the world to know I’m doing great and we tell everyone we can about CyberKnife Miami.”
If you have a brain tumor talk to our experts at CyberKnife Miami to see if you’re a candidate for CyberKnife therapy. 305-279-2900