NZ Easter and gamma knife news

Here are a few snaps from Easter just from my phone (the major collection of clan photos are in other places and too hard for me to transfer to the blog without technical help so later for those): catching up with cuzzies in Christchurch,




scenic stops on the way to Blackball,




Punakaiki pancake rocks,




the party in Blackball - cuzzies galore (complete clan pics later)








Mt Maunganui to visit Aunty Jane, 96.








The big news is that today I received the phone call from Michael Morgan that we'd all been waiting for. Michael had been having correspondence with Mike Link and Bruce Pollock (Bruce Pollock is probably the world leader in Gamma Knife) at Mayo and after thoroughly reviewing Rosie's scans and recent medical history, they recommended not doing Gamma Knife at the moment. It would be possible but they believe the risks involved and the unusualness of Rosie's AVM make it more prudent to wait and monitor it for the meantime. They, like Michael originally, are not convinced this residual AVM will behave like most AVMs and are therefore reluctant to embark on a risky treatment right now. Michael, who has had some back and forth communication with them before he talked to me, said he was comfortable with this approach and it echoed his own early hunch about what to do. Having had his hunch independently supported by these extremely experienced colleagues meant he was feeling quite relieved about their recommendation and so was I when he told me. I now feel that with Michael and these two in agreement, we have come to a well-researched consensus and doing nothing for now seems sensible. Michael said he also talked again to his Macquarie colleague who is heading the AVM research involving much lower dose radiation in combination with some chemical agent that he thinks will eventually be the way all AVMs are treated. He thinks the signs at the rat stage are very promising even if it means he'll be out of a job one day. Anyway, he said he told him to get a wriggle on. Michael's plan is that Rosie will have an annual check (MRI or angiogram) and he will follow up any changes and continue to consult the Mayo guys who are now thoroughly in the picture too. For now, we can relax a little.