Have a basilar tip aneurysm. Had web device, coil and stent put in last year. Been good for a year I thought, per MRA’s. Just did an Angio to get off of plavix and they see residual has grown by 1mm and doc wants to put another coil in. I had such a hard time post-op with last surgery. Is there any data on how many coils one can have and does a second coil keep this from growing further? Very distressed about this.
I’ve had coils installed four times in 8 years for one measly 5mm multilobed aneurysm. Coils compact. I’m unsure how long the coils were overall but on one of my procedures my Neurosurgeon told her Resident to keep them coming and she told us she “shoved them in”.
Oh my gosh. Did you have the same post-op experiences after each placement? I am not looking forward to the post-op stuff again.
Hi Jeanne. Sorry I can’t speak for coils, but I’ve had flow diverters put in 3 times. First one was a rough recovery. For the second one a new flow diverter was placed over the old one, and 3rd was a new one for a different aneurysm. Those were both easier recoveries. I think it was a combination of my brain being in “been there, done that” mode, plus much less anxiety. I hope the same is true for you.
Not the same experience at all. The first was when I ruptured, and got to stay in what I refer to as Spa treatment as I didn’t have to do anything but lay there and eat after they threatened to put a feeding tube in. Six months later was just more coils, woke up back in NSICU but just had to stay the night, also was gifted with Foreign Accent Syndrome. The third coiling was with a ballon assist and again one night stay and back home. We updated our wills for this one. Our Elder Attorney said the first wasn’t worth the paper it was written on. The last repair was in 2020, during COVID. I had the stent installed with more coils sent to the new NSICU which is really nice having the ability to look outside but there was an emergency and I was sent to CCU to give the guy who needed more care than I a bed. The Neurosurgeons were limited to how many beds they could have for “elective” procedures. Went home the next day and thought I still had the FAS did better with the stent than any other procedure. I don’t have the usual berry type aneurysm, mine is more like a blackberry with a lot of daughter sacs, so rare and difficult to treat,
When the Agency fired me due to my rupture, the County let me keep my badge. I can use it at a really nice hotel in Winston and we get a fantastic discount for government employees. If I didn’t have my badge, we could stay at the hotel that has an agreement with the hospital for a discount. We would go to a really nice restaurant which was nice and if I felt up to it, we would go to my favorite tea shop. We couldn’t stay at a hotel during COVID in fact we couldn’t go anywhere a week before or after I think it was, per the hospital rules. BH was working from home which was good since we had to stay isolated. I even had to have my pharmacy come out to the car to give me my premedication.
Thanks so much for your encouragement.
Did you ever have to be on plavix?
I was on Brilinta because Plavix didn’t work for me.
Can I ask what the plavix didn’t do for you and how did they know?
It did not adequately thin my blood (possibly due to my use of Prilosec which can interfere with it for some people). I had initial bloodwork. I think it’s an INR test and another for the aspirin. Then they switched me to Brilinta and 81 mg aspirin and I’ve used that with every flow diversion procedure since.