Hello!
It’s Liz from San Diego. Well, my coil is in two days. I told my kiddo’s after Christmas and they took it well. I am the one who is thinking the worst. But I should be ok! What I have is a 8mm unruptured left carotid aneurysm arising from the dorsal surface and seems to be intradural. My right 3mm one is paraopthalmic and is being watched. So reading how others have had coils and been under many times gives me relief of the anxiety I have been feeling. I am on plavix and aspirin and will be on plavix for a few months afterwards. So how long after surgery will i not be able to drive? Depends on each person or is everyone very tired and the body is trying to recuperate?
Thanks for the insight and for keeping me calm.
Liz
Good Morning Liz! I moved your post from the December welcomes so you’ll hopefully get more replies from those of us who’ve had coils. Being you’re on Plavix and aspirin, it sounds as if the surgeon is installing some type of stent. I didn’t need Plavix for my first three coilings, just the stent so that’s what I’m basing my guess on. For those that may not know, an intradural is also known as a paraclinoid aneurysm. You can read about it here Distal dural ring | Radiology Reference Article | Radiopaedia.org
The ability to drive does depend on each person, some sooner, others later. It may also depend on the driving laws of California. In some States, surgeons have to report it to the DMV, others do not. I reside in NC and NC does not require a medical report. If I recall correctly, a member here knew a person in California and their doctor had sent in a report. I am not sure if that person ruptured or not. Apparently the DMV sent that person a letter and it was ignored. It’s not good to ignore the DMV. Call your doctor’s office and ask so you have no surprises. It’s been about 40 years since I had a California Driver’s License and don’t remember all their rules and 20 years since I was in Chula Vista visiting family. For me, my Neurosurgeon said not to drive until I was comfortable as a passenger. It took a bit of time but I had ruptured. Since I live in a semi rural community, I never had to get on the freeway or any busy boulevards. After my stent was placed, I have done a lot better than any of the three previous procedures!
Hopefully you’re already hydrating for your upcoming procedure. It makes the medical team’s job much easier which means easier for you! Most likely you’ll be a bit tired but some do better than others, again it’s an individual thing. A positive attitude really helps in recovery and I can’t stress that enough. Proper protein is also important and you’ll probably get some rules on the amount of weight you can lift and my favorite among all my rules- don’t strain when having a bowel movement, it always made me laugh when Dr. Quintero-Wolfe would tell me that for some reason, I’m odd.
Wishing you the best in your upcoming procedure!
Moltroub
Good luck today, Liz! I have a very similar situation to yours (9mm that was coiled and a 1.6mm being watched). My coiling was over a month ago and the surgery was “brutal” according to my very positive surgeon! But the side effects and recovery, while scary at times, were completely manageable and I am expecting to recover fully. So if you do as well as I did you will be just fine - and there is every chance that you will do far better. Sending you lots of healthy vibes and looking forward to hearing how well you do.
@Dessertsrule
Good luck to you. I hope everything will go smooth. I agree with @Moltroub “how long is a string “ ? no one can tell beforehand how you will recover, how long time you need and when you can start to drive again. One thing is the recommendations from your surgeon and the other factor is how you feel. My advice to you is as follows, don’t rush! Rest and recover for as long as it takes. You are in a better situation than I was, I ruptured my aneurysm and I can assure you that it was not a walk in the park. But here I am almost 2 1/2 years later and with two surgeries, first the coils and six months later a stent with more coils. I’m almost back to my normal life.
I asked my neurosurgeon after the one month follow up if and when I was able to drive a car. I had no intention to do that but I wanted to hear what he said. He said that in our state, the doctors don’t have to report to the DMV , so it was up to me and my family to decide whether I could drive or not.
I waited three months after the rupture and then I started to drive on the less busy roads with my husband by my side. He was convinced that I could start driving again and I slowly regained my confidence.
Best of luck to you.
Hi Liz, hope your recovery is going really well. I had an 8mm paraclinioid coiled and stented on Jan 12. I took it easy for a full 2 weeks, was quite tired the first week, plenty of headaches, and some vision auras. Second week, a bit tired, her and there headaches and vision. By third week I was back to normal activities, sports, and normal energy levels. Driving was fine for me even that first week, though I didn’t choose to go anywhere really. Feel free to reach out to the group if you have any concerns about things you are experiencing. So helpful to hear about others who had the same things and are no longer experiencing them.
Hello! I am doing well! The stent was a success and your kind words helped me tremendously. Thank you all!
I thought I was having a coil but Dr said a stent would be best. While in there he found a “sister” about 1.5 mm small and was able to stent both. The surgery went very well so he did not want to mess with my 3mm paraopthamolic one. I go back in four months for another follow up to see how I am doing.
I am so grateful for this forum.
I forgot to mention that I am at two and half weeks from having surgery and I am still winded going up stairs. I started driving at one week after and all is well. I do find myself not being able to “grasp” words when speaking. Not sure how long this will take to regain my memory but as my cousin said I probably am not fully calibrated
@Dessertsrule
Congratulations to a successful surgery! It is so nice to hear from you again. It’s definitely a relief when it is over. It seems that your recovery is coming along well. I hope that the problems you experience now will be resolved soon. I started to get some ocular auras in my left eye immediately after I got my stent, it made me very anxious at first but both my eye doctor and the neurosurgeon assured me that this was nothing to worry about. The auras has been less visible over time so I guess that the brain has a huge potential for healing. I have the same feeling as you about this forum, it really helped me before my second surgery.
Take care and stay healthy.
