If you have a debilitating disease that requires Gamma Knife Radiosurgery, it is important that you locate the best doctors to care for you. Learning about this type of technology and what qualifications to look for in a surgeon helps you feel empowered to make the right decision.
Knowing that your health is being handled by a specialist that has experience, knowledge and a compassionate staff gives you peace of mind and confidence that everything that can be done to improve your life is their utmost concern.
Facts About Gamma Knife Radiosurgery
This life-affirming technology has been around for over four decades. The word “knife” is misleading, because there is no knife or cutting involved in this type of procedure. Gamma Knife is a form of stereotactic radiosurgery, and it is noninvasive and painless. Over 200 hyper-focused beams of radiation converge and pinpoint a targeted area in your body. Healthy tissue that surrounds the area is not compromised. This technique is warranted even for patients in poor health who wouldn’t be able to undergo traditional surgery, because there isn’t a long or painful recovery process to struggle through or anesthesia risks. Patients return home the same day and experience little or no discomfort.
Gamma Knife Radiosurgery is often the only option when a lesion in the body can’t be reached via other surgical techniques. The accuracy of this type of procedure and the documented positive outcomes make it a wise choice to help or resolve many debilitating medical conditions.
Under certain circumstances, Gamma Knife Radiosurgery is much more beneficial to a patient than traditional surgery. Factors that determine if Gamma Knife Radiosurgery is the wisest option are the patient’s age, general health, medical history and particular medical problem.
Experience
Your goal in finding the best surgeon to develop a treatment plan for your medical issues should be to find one who is a leader in his or her field. Ask your doctor to recommend two or three names of surgeons who have completed the specialized training in all aspects of Gamma Knife Radiosurgery.
Call the surgeons’ offices and inquire if the doctors are all board certified. Ask if they have names of patients that are willing to discuss their experience with the surgeon, the staff and their opinions of the care they received. Generally, many patients love to talk about how this type of procedure gave them a new lease on life.
Another place to find valuable recommendations is to join a support group with patients who share the same type of medical problem that you have.
Rapport
One of the questions you should ask others is whether they felt that the doctor and staff communicated clearly with them. Open relationships with the doctor and staff help give you confidence when undergoing this type of procedure. The staff members should answer your questions honestly and take the time to address all your concerns with patience and compassion. If you don’t feel comfortable with the surgeon and his or her staff, you will likely have to deal with unnecessary anxieties.
A Knowledgeable Staff
Find out if the staff was helpful and knowledgeable to the patients and their family members. If a staff member doesn’t know the answer to your question, he or she should be willing to find out the answer from someone else who does. Willingness to address all your concerns with empathy should be utmost in the staff members’ priorities.
Surgical Technique
During your phone call to the surgeon’s office, ask how many Gamma Knife Radiosurgery procedures the surgeon has performed. The staff member should be forthcoming with this information or more than happy to find out for you. During your consultation with the surgeon, ask him or her to explain exactly what will happen, before, during and after the procedure. Ask for the statistics of patients who have had positive outcomes and to discuss any possible complications. The surgeon should be willing to divulge all of this information.
Patient-Centered Care
When you are ill, it often seems as if you are the only person in the world with this type of medical issue. Even if your family, friends and co-workers are loving and supportive, you know that they can’t possibly understand what you are going through since it is unlikely that they have experienced the same medical issue. This can lead to a feeling of isolation.
Look for a surgeon’s office where the goal is to have patient-centered care as a top priority. If staff members treat each and every patient with equal importance, a sense of confidence and trust will be instilled. You will likely have a much better experience if you feel that your well-being and health takes precedence over their other duties and concerns.
Finding the best surgeon to perform your Gamma Knife Radiosurgery is not an arduous task if you keep these helpful tips in mind. Complete confidence and trust in your surgeon and staff will enable you to cope better with any worries about the impending procedure and hasten your recovery process.
