Hello everyone. I am so glad I came across this page. I am undecided about the surgery though it is scheduled for the 20th. My angio showed a 7mm aneurysm just at the base of the brain in the cavernous sinus. I am confused and frightened after researching. My dr would like to do the pipeline stent. Any thoughts and advice would be soo greatly appreciated.
Dont really have any expierence to help you out but will pray that everything goes well and you have a fast recovery. It is normal to be nervous, its a difficult thing to go through but there are so many nice people here and im sure that someone has been through a similar expierence and will be able to give you some advice.
Hi Stephanie,
Welcome to BAF.
There are several people who've had experience with pipeline stents who will likely respond to you. There is also another member, Susan Reilly, who has a cavernous sinus aneurysm. You may want to check her page.
My thoughts and prayers are with you.
Carole
Stephanie,
The group who have had Pipeline have had reasonably good success.
Prayers for your right decision; go to the blog site here...
Pat
HI Stephanie and welcome to BAF,
Please know that what you are feeling is completely normal, and we have all been there done that! For me, I had two annies in the internal carotid artery, one left side 3mm and one right side 9mm. Both of my annies are at the ophthalmic artery. My 9mm was stented with the PED on June 8, 2011, just a short month after the FDA approved it for use in the US. In our PED Group, you will see we have a few that had received the PED before me, two I believe got it with a compassionate use grant from the FDA and Giovanni who lives in Italy. All three I believe are just about 2 years since their PED surgery. My 3mm is a wait and see what happens, so I live every day with that lil sucker still in my brain!
My doctor, Dr. Pascal Jabbour, from Jefferson Hospital for Neuroscience in Philly is one of 6 doctors proctoring the PED surgery across the US so there is a 1 in 6 chance that he has taught your doc the surgery!
Please know that you are so lucky that your annie was found prior to rupture and that you have alright fought half the battle knowing that it is there and that there is a minimally invasive procedure that will take care of that little bugger.
Please feel free to ask any questions you may think of and rest assured that everyone of us at BAF will be right there with you going through your surgery with you.
I will keep you in my thoughts and prayers!
Linda
I see Dr. Alexander Coon at Hopkins in Baltimore. He is also teaching the procedure to others. I feel confident in him as a doctor, but the thought of what is going to happen once I close my eyes is bothersome.
How are you doing now? Did you have any problems?
Thank you for the prayers:)
Thank you Carole. I appreciate the welcome.
Thanks Pat:)
Hi Stephanie, and welcome to BAF. Of course you are frightened, it is a very scary concept. Medicine today had advanced in leaps and bounds. I at first wouldn''t have the surgery 2 months ago, but the angels at BAF encouraged and informed me every step and here I am today, coiled aneurysm in a precarious place (basilar tip) 10 days ago, and I am FINE FINE, thank heavens. Look at it like this- you have a chance of preventing a rupture which so many of the people here have suffered, which detroyed their lives. You are blessed to have a warning to prevent a rupture. In my case I would've bled to death into my brain. Save your own life and the quality of it.
All my best
Shauna
Stephanie, my anuerysm was in the cavernous sinus too, only solution is the pipeline and it will work, I believe it has 100% success rate! Mine was huge and pressing on trigeminal nerve which caused problems, but the PED will fix your anuerysm! Don't be nervous at all, only the BEST surgeons are allowed to use the pipeline, non invasive and your aneurysm will disappear! I will pray your headaches disappear, ask Dr if your aneurysm is touching trigeminal nerve. I was given 6 doses of antibiotics and steroids as mine was misdiagnosed as sinus infection for a year. The length of time was why they think I developed trigeminal neuralgia type II migraines. I am so happy for you! Please keep us updated!
Rick
If you are undecided on the surgery...have you contemplated a 2nd opinion...
Stephanie...you are surrounded by an enourmous amount of loving supportive people who can help with alot of your nerves .....You just have to to ask......we all have something to give and cant wait to do so.
dee
Hi Stephanie,
Just this morning a woman at my church shared with me her mother's experience with a cavernous sinus aneurysm back in the 70's. What she told me was that her doctors performed a miraculous procedure on her mother with an ingenious technique that basically resulted in having the circle of Willis reroute her blood flow. Whatever they did, her mother had a full recovery with only some residual blurred vision. WOW! Medical technology has certainly improved since her mother's surgery.
I pray that you will have an equally good or better outcome from your treatment. My suggestion is that you don't go into the procedure frightened. Your outlook can have an impact on your recovery. It is my opinion, given that this is not an emergency, that it would better to delay the procedure and get a second or third opinion to gain the confidence you need about what you are to do than to go into it frightened.
It is so good to know that you have the option of being treated at a hospital like Hopkins! They have so many resources available to you.
Please also see Kelly Hauf's post re: "Successful Surgery Meditation". The CDs she's written about may be helpful to you.
Carole
Oddly enough, I started to feel at peace with the decision to move forward, then my grandmother died yesterday. Now I am again feeling torn. I actually feel like I will have another guardian angel looking over me, but the sadness is overwhelming. I have not cancelled as of yet. The radiologists I work for think Dr. Coon is the best at what he does in our region, so I know I am in good hands.
Thank you for your prayers and good thoughts.
I just ordered the MP3 download. Thanks Carole:)
I don't know about the pipelines, but what I do know is that the best surgeons are the ones teaching the procedures, so that is great! And Maryland hospitals are amazing and top notch... As everyone has said, you don't want to wait until it ruptures, so you have a lot of the battle behind you. Call the anesthesiologist and talk about your concerns ahead of time....that can help a lot in my experience. You don't want to wait too long and have it rupture like mine did...at that point it can be life threatening. So, think about it, pray about it, and talk to them. Ask questions...like the risks of waiting, etc. If you have the best team on board, you 'll do just fine! I hope all goes well for you Stephanie! Good luck!
Stephanie, first, my condolences in the loss of your grandmother; she will be an angel....a fav of mine "perhaps they are not stars, but rather openings in heaven where the love of our lost ones pours through and shines down upon us to let us know they are happy" and, watching over.
She will be watching over you and protecting you. Tonight, I was amazed my skies were clear to view Venus and Pluto; they were magnificent and, they all share the space.
Hugs and prayers,
Pat
Hi Stephanie,
I'm so sorry to learn of your grandmother's death. The sadness will ease over time but your wonderful memories of her will be with you always along with the joy of knowing that she is another guardian angel looking over you.
May the Lord comfort you and your family during this difficult perio.d
Carole
Rick, you have been blessed w/Pipeline; and, thanks for the trigeminal / cavernous info...
Prayers to overcome that migraine.
Pat