You should have your check up defintly they carried on my checks for two yrs as I suffered bad panic anxiety attacks so glad they did as they found another one growing in the front of brain which I monitored every three yrs which Is due soon you need to know everything okay and the only way is scan or angiogram please ask again I looked well and fine but that don’t mean nothing wrong inside your brain
Get a body scan
Hi Silvia
I do not know your background, what did you have a clipping? coiling? for one aneurysm or more? tell us your history/story and you will get better and more informed positive feedback.
Kind Regards
Martin
I had my ruptured aneurysm in June 2013 and almost didn’t make it out. I was tested many times through that year with an okay in December 2013.
I checked off everything on my to-do list just this last December 2014 but no Dr. was giving me advise for having a MRI or an angiogram checked off my 2014 list. Especially for insurance payments to boot. I had to go back in for surgery January 20, 2015 because the coil wasn’t staying in the position it should. My half skull was removed again to now clip instead of coil. At that time they became aware that part of my skull had designagrated & also was repaired. I am so happy I took it upon myself to call to make an appt with my original surgeon. He immediately saw me, an angiogram was booked & because of the results the surgery was scheduled. Please find a Dr that will be a primary and also be sure the Dr & yourself keep track of your important medical needs. I’m recovering well & have been told now it is most likely under 5% chance of this happening again…Closer to peace of mind now(most of the time)…Old saying: better safe than sorry. Follow instincts too. Bless you 
I agree, I would find a dr to schedule a MRA
Cathy said:
Hi Silvia
A one year follow up is important. I met with a neurophysicist a month ago and next week I have my one year MRI and neurosurgeon appt that same day.
I am always amazed when I meet people I haven't seen in a while. They always say "you look great!" I tell them I am grateful that I can look after my physical appearance and remind them it is my brain that isn't the same. But for your doctor to say it??!! I want to scream! If you can find another doctor, you should! Good luck!Amen to that it is very important to get the one year check up..
Amen to that it is very important to get the one year check up..
Hi Silvia: Prior to my one year follow-up, I had a repeat MRI. My surgeon reviewed the results and was able to tell me everything was fine. If you are not able to move on due to worry, I would consider taking your concerns back to your doctor or another doctor to discuss. Anxiety can get in the way of healing and moving forward, so best bet, is not to sit back and worry, but to put your questions together and then go back and talk to your doctor. Best of luck. I wish you great health and the comfort and peace of mind, that all is well.
Background story on my Aneurysm. On March 19, 2014 I was working out, when I fainted and was rushed to the ER. After some test (MRI, CAT scan) I had a ruptured brain aneurysm. SAH (subarachnoid hemorrhage) due to ruptured R ACOM aneurysm - s/p clipping. Cerebral edema due to extensive SAH. I spent 2 weeks in the ICU, and another week under observation. After 3 weeks I was released and sent home. I did outpatient therapy for 2 months. Gained all of my mobility and straight, I was up on my feet by late August and was back at work and Driving. I was very lucky to be around people when the aneurysm ruptured. I never had any symptoms before the aneurysm ruptured. I was a “healthy” 29 year old that worked out and had a healthy life style. Now I am here, a few days before my 1 year anniversary and I thank god everyday for giving me another chance at life.
Thanks for the advice!
JulesinOH said:
Most likely, I would think the only 'extras' a Neuro surgeon would perform would be the typical Neuro exam....which should be done...like finger to nose, tandem gait walking ect, and they would order an MRI or CT to make sure clipping is still in place. If you can get your family dr to do both, I would think you are pretty safe...IMHO. best wishes!
Yes you should have the follow up. I have a very good internist and a very good neurosurgeon. The people who fill in for them when they are gone are very good as well. We also have some very good doctors at both hospitals in our area and the hospital in the next city over furthest from me is a very highly rated hospital with a very good neurology institute. However there have been a couple times when all of these experts looked at my scans, reported being able to see no change in my scans, said my vital signs were fine and sent me home saying I was perfectly well - when I wasn't well at all, far from it. Twice my neurosurgeon looking at the very same scans was able to see exactly what was wrong, going on with me the instant he looked at my imagining. What everyone else, multiple people missed going on with the AVM I had, he caught.
It's not that my other providers weren't good it's just good as they are at what they do they are not neurosurgeons. I'd be very leery, suspicious of any healthcare provider who was willing to tell you to ignore the advice of a previous specialist who operated on you. While it is true most of the time a follow up with the neurosurgeon only serves to confirm what your general practitioner and neurologist already suspect – things are looking good and you're going to be fine, then there are cases like mine. I could have quite literally died had had I listed to the reassurances of all of the providers in my areas who looked at my scans and said I was perfectly fine instead of taking those scans and my concerns to my neurosurgeon.
In regards to what an earlier poster mentioned - not all places do have the same equipment. The scans I get here the pictures look like little kindergarten children's drawings compared to imaging available in the city which come back looking like photos NASA took of some distant outer planets, nebulas and see the individual bit of space junk making up the rings of Saturn pics - that kind of breathtaking imagery and quality photography. Good grief the MRI pictures I get down here have more in common with ultrasounds that they do MRIs in the city.
When I look at studies done in the city it's so clear what's wrong. However my neurosurgeon doesn't need the better pictures to see exactly what is going on. He looks at the crummy pictures I've brought in and it will just jump right out at him, what I can't see and other medical providers have missed, he shows me. Later when images come back from the studies he's ordered either he or sometimes his staff will come in and show me the new pictures, contrast and compare the two. Then I can clearly see what he meant, was trying to point out in the images I brought from home. It's really interesting when they put the images I had done back home into their computer system and I can see them compared side by side with the ones taken at the hospital. However I still believe most neurologists and neurosurgeons are going to be able to detect problems without fancy machines.
That my neurosurgeon is able to see so much in the blurriest pictures, even in just standard X-rays is because he has been a neurosurgeon for a very long time so he knows a lot about many of the things that can possibly go wrong and what that will look like on film based on the type of equipment that was used to record the images. I've seen a lot of younger doctors struggle with bare bones basics imagery because the focus these days tends to be so much on the more sophisticated equipment and emerging technologies. It used to be that in medical school doctors would give students problems to solve that involved using high tech equipment to make the exercise challenging, difficult. But these days a lot of times the older doctors will stymie them by making them go back in time with the technology as opposed to forward. Which really tends to tick them off if they are like A students in a multitude of hard sciences and then wind up with some crummy B or C all because of some "stupid" project involving some obsolete piece of equipment.
Hi Silvia, Yes you should have a follow up scan after 12 months to determine that the existing aneurysm remains sealed and that there are no others, this is standard procedure in the UK for patients who have treated and untreated aneurysms.
I have 5, two have been coiled and stented and the remaining 3 are untreated, it is my choice to leave these 3, so annual scans/angiograms is considered to be the norm.
I would suggest a referral to a new Surgeon/Endovascular specialist and let them then recommend either a scan or an angiogram, if the existing aneurysm is the only one and it remains sealed, they may extend the period to 24 months for your next scan.
This is the sensible and cautious approach!
Kind Regards
martinc
Go for the 1 year check. It puts ur mind at rest knowing all is well.
Hi Sylvia,
I'm 61 years old and had a clipping surgery for an unruptured aneurysm last 3/5/14. I was told I need NO follow up. I would assume that each person has a unique set of circumstances. I was told that my chances of another aneurysm at this point are the same as the population at large. That sounds great to me!
My non-medical laymen's understanding is if you've been coiled they like to monitor them regularly but it may not be necessary to have follow up with a clipping. I would rely on your neurosurgeons advice.
Good luck.
Beth
I would absolutely recommend it!!
Hi, Silvia, I feel for peace of mind I would. I went for my 3 year follow up with my surgeon and was taken back after he review my scans and said the clip has not moved. I did not know that the clip could move. I am so grateful for my neurologist. I see him 3 times a year.
I had a clipping of MCA and coiling of SUCA aneurysm (this was mistakenly called basilar artery aneurysm but it actually is on the superior cerebellar artery branching from basilar artery and they told me it is a rare type of aneurysm). Anyway they told me I actually do not need any follow up for the clipped aneurysm just yearly MRI only for the coiled one. Now this year it is going to be my 3rd MRI and after this year they said they will extend the intervals to once in 2 years and so on. Since you had only clipping, if you actually had a follow up right after your surgery ( I had an angiography on the 5th day of the surgery) and if it was fine I guess you will not need to see the neurosurgeon but only the GP. That is how they handle you here in Germany.
I cannot believe your doctors attitude, to tell you that you look fine is plain stupid, I do not often get angry but when I read about such advice from a so called professional, my blood boils!
Firstly get a new Doctor/GP and tell them, not ask them to arrange for a follow up brain scan and or an angiogram brain scan, depending on the results of the scans, then get a new referral to either an Brain Surgeon or an Endovascular surgeon.
The above is not scare mongering, but simply common sense!
What you need to know and be re-assured about is that the clipping was successful and that there are no other risks.
Be firm and strong about this with the doctor.
Kind Regards
Martinc