On yesterday, I had my 90-day post op MRA and directly afterward a visit with neurosurgeon. Neurosurgeon reviewed scan and is very happy with the progress of the annie and we are looking forward to the 6 mo. post-op angiogram in January which will allow us to determine to add a 2nd stent or just clip the annie. He is stopping the Plavix at the 6 mo. mark unless he add a 2nd stent then Plavix will stop six months after that. He indicated the filling has appeared to slow down, however, because the annie is not fully covered (as we agreed before placement) due to its unique wide neck and location on the left ophthalmic artery, the blood that is flowing well to that artery may be the reason there is still fill in the annie however it could also be flow from collateral arteries going into that ophthalmic artery but everything is progressing as he expects - no growth in the annie, no new annie(s) formed, and recovery is good .
Congrats on the progress with healing. I am not sure what you mean by “just” clipping, since that is a whole another level of intervention. I had a clipped aneurysm. It sounds like you have a wise surgeon who is keeping you informed. That’s not always easy to find!
Hey @Kate3 - my neurosurgeon and I discussed the option of clipping before the pipeline placement. The reason we did not initially go with clipping primarily is because I was on Plavix for a heart stent I received a year prior. There was concern that Cardiologist would say no to stopping the Plavix in favor of clipping since it has been officially under a year at that time. Coincidentally, I had my followup with the Cardiologist less than a week before Pipeline placement and he took me off the Plavix anyway but I had to remain on it because of the Pipeline placement and Cardiologist just said once Neurosurgery stop the Plavix, I no longer have to take it.
2nd reason is due to the unique shape of the annie and the location, if he clipped it at that time, there was no way of knowing if the collateral arteries would kick in the blood flow to that ophthalmic artery. We don’t want me going blind or experiencing major vision issues. We also discussed the possibility of a second stent before clipping. Overall, we have great plan and I have a wonderful team of doctors who keep me well informed every step of the way.
Jammies, you and your surgeon seem to be a great team! Good for you! I love reading about success! Thank you for posting, I’m doing a happy dance for you
