Update

I received a call from one of the doctors who works with Dr. Yamada, my radiation oncologist. Dr. Yamada presented my case before the tumor board this morning and the neurosurgery team decided it would be best to do surgery to remove the tumor in the cerebellum (the back of my head) for several reasons: surgery is the gold standard for LMS -- if you can cut it out, you cut it out; the area where this tumor is located is slightly above where the radiation was performed to reach the clivus back in November 2008 and they have some concerns about radiating that area; and the shape and size of the tumor is amenable to surgery.

The other two tumors would receive radiation for several reasons: surgically removing one tumor is fine but operating on three sections of the brain is too much; they are not located near the area on the back of my head that received the larger doses of radiation in November 2008; and they are perfectly suited to targeted radiation. The 90% success rate remains in effect for those two tumors.

Dr. Yamada's office has cancelled the radiation for next Wednesday, although at this time I still need to come back to the city to have a special MRI performed tomorrow. The radiation will be scheduled after the surgery. They are scheduling an appointment for me next week with Dr. Gutin, the head of the neurosurgery department (see http://www.mskcc.org/prg/PRG/bios/317.cfm) to discuss the surgery.

The sizes of the tumors range from 1 to 2 cms (less than half an inch to just over 3/4 of an inch).

That's all I know right now. When I have more information, I'll be back.