SALES manager Billy Kwok had one thing to be thankful for after he collapsed in March and was diagnosed with a brain tumour: at least he wouldn't have to undergo open surgery to have it removed.
Mr Kwok still felt unsettled when he recalled his nerve-wracking experience undergoing such an operation four years ago, when he had to have a 4.5-centimetre tumour removed from behind his forehead. He felt numb for days due to the anaesthetic, had to have his head shaved and spent a week in hospital.
But this time, after doctors found a second 0.5 cm tumour in his brain stem, he was enormously relieved to find an alternative treatment was now available at Canossa Hospital's new Gamma Unit Centre.
Equipped with the territory's only gamma knife machine, specifically designed for treating brain diseases, the centre cost the hospital $50 million, $30 million of which was spent on the state-of-the-art device.
The centre opened in February and in the first four months treated 60 people for brain tumours (benign or malignant) and other brain diseases. Patients have ranged in age from four to 77 and nine were referred to the centre by government hospitals.
The gamma knife, a Swedish invention, is in use in China, Japan and Europe, but Canossa Hospital's is the first in Southeast Asia. Six people suffering from brain diseases from India, Malaysia and Macau have received treatment here. Patients are fully alert while the machine is in operation and they undergo treatment in a pleasant room with light music playing in the background.
