Neuro surgeon visit today at 3pm

General
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Thanks to all who have welcomed me to this support site.

Right now I am very nervous because I notice my eye seems to have a little more pressure behind it and my cheek gets kinda tingly. I don't know if it is that panic attack feeling or a worsening of the aneurysm. I have a posterior communicating aneurysm. It has been there for about 5 months. Symptoms are my left eye is lazy and it can't move up along with the right eye. I am scared. Can anyone offer insight into the current symptoms. I am doing my best to deep breathe but it is very difficult right now.

Thanks and God bless,

Pam

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Pam...belated welcome...I always wish we could welcome others for all the best thing in our lives!

W/the eye movement...suggest you call your neuro-doc....

Pat

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Hi Pam and welcome,

I have to agree with Pat, a visit to your neurosurgeon is warranted what with the pressure you feel as well as the limited ability of the eye movement...I too had trouble with my eyes similar to what you're describing. The eyes tend to give symptoms here in the Aneurysm World and the sooner these symptoms are acknowedged (and addressed) the better. Peace to you as you go thru this journey, its not easy, I know.

Janet

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HI Pam...good luck on today's appointment...my right eye since my brain aneurysm was coiled, droop and is very painful at times...My neurologist checks it from time to time...but to date nothing has been done...It is my new normal...keep us posted...~ Colleen

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Hello Pam. Welcome to BAF. I had problems with eye movement too, the aneurysm was pressing on the nerve that goes to the muscles which move the eye. My aneurysm was in a slightly different place, but i suspect aneurysms on the post communicating artery may also do this. The neurosurgeon will give you a better idea of what the exact cause for the eye movement problems is and the chance of it improving when they treat your aneurysm. The cheek tingling may be a similar problem, sensory nerves (5th cranial nerve) are also very close to your aneurysm site. I too had 5th nerve problems, but in the forehead area. The newer symptoms may indicate teh aneurysm is getting bigger, so I suspect the surgeon will arrange more imaging. Probably an angiogram if you haven't already had one. Let us know what is planned. Many of us will have been through similar things and will be able to answer your questions. Fear is to be expected, but it will probably ease as you get more information and a plan from the surgeon.

Judith

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Thanks Judith. My surgeon is opting for clipping surgery. Next Friday i go to the u of mn. I just returned home from an angiogram and i am trusting the surgeon to do clipping versus coiling. I am scared but i trust the Lord will bring me peace. I do have a headache but i think it might be from the dye. Need to rest now. Peace to you, Pam

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Hi everyone, my Angiogram showed my surgeon that the aneurysm would need to be clipped. It is over 9mm and in the position it is in, coiling would not be the best choice. So even though i have a great faith in the Lord i am still very concerned. My surgery is scheduled for this friday, the 19th early in the morning. The surgery is at the U of Minnesota Medical ctr. My surgeon has great experience and is considered “the best” by all the staff at the clinic so i feel very confident in him. He explained everything in detail and he is a surgeon and a radiologist. Anyway,I would appreciate any and all opinions, stories, and experiences with cranial surgery and clipping from pre surgery to the recovery process. God bless you, Pam L.

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Hi Pam !

I'm so glad you went to the doctor and that they're getting you set up for surgery (I know its no picnic for you as you wait it out ofcourse) , but getting this over and done with and behind you is paramount . I've undergone a clipping in 98, a coiling in 2006 then when the coil compacted on me in 2010 , i was able to get a clipping to 'end the madness' of the coil predicament. I've come thru my surgeries well but each clipping was different from the other in terms of recovery, as the 98 annie had grown so much/so quickly that that one snapped my 3rd optic nerve in two, so I had complete double vision to deal with for roughly 4 to 5 months after the clipping..also the surgeon had to cut thru my jaw muscle in order to access the annie so eating anything other then yogurt was a task for about 3 months or so....then after all that, I was fine and on the road again!

In 2006 I suffered a bleed on the opposite side while at work ,which resulted in a 6 week coma/coil/trache/shunt and the odds were not on my side..My angels were evidently watching over me though and I came back, left the hospital within a weeks time of 'awakening' and recovered at home with a bit of right sided weakness to work thru but that was ALL that was amiss....3 years later my coils compacted and I was able to get a clipping done instead of adding more coils--i'd do the clipping again in a New York minute( if ever I have to make the choice) as my 2nd clipping/recovery was so absolutely a breeze in comparison to the 1st clipping, it was like day to night. I took a walk around the 2.5 mile reservoir near our house on the 2nd day home, and was driving within a week or so. I felt very good and had no vision problems to deal with plus no jaw muscle involvement on the 2nd one, no pain meds other then Advil LiguidGels were needed, i don't recall being overly tired but my doc had put me on 3 months disability-leave anyway, which worked out fine. Getting the annie dealt with permenently by way of the clip was by all means, worth it. ..and I never had any of the after-headaches (on any of the procedures) so yeah my angels were hovering nearby for sure. and still are I think !

Well i've gone on and on as per usual, sorry about the book, but that's my story..My prayers and thoughts are with you Pam, for a very ho-hum surgery with a fantastic recovery. I wouldn't hesitate to ask the doc for something to calm the jitters though for the before-surgery waiting game (Xanax helped last time around for me..) and if you have questions or fears or just want to vent, we're here.

peace to you , Janet

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Thank you Janet,

Just hearing of your experiences has helped tremendously. It is the not knowing that makes me nervous. Can you tell me about where the craniotomy was done...for instance, my surgeon said he was going in by the temple in about 2". The cut would be along the hairline by my left eye.

Any information about the procedure and immediate recovery would be helpful.

Thanks again and God bless you,

Pam

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Pam,

I am so glad that you do not have to wait too long for your surgery. I had clipping surgery done Sept 17, 2012. I agree with Janet, if you can get something for the jitters before hand it will help. I was also given a tranquilizer to help me sleep. Faith in our Lord is truly what helped me through the entire process. I was at complete peace the morning of the surgery, it seemed that that was the time I had finally made peace that no matter which way the surgery went, I was going to be ok, either here on earth or in heaven. I had a hemorrhage during the surgery that has given me some deficits and caused some additional issues with recovery. But I will choose the clipping surgery again in a heartbeat should it be an option on a small aneurysm that is being watched now. My incision went from just above the center of my forehead about just inside the hairline to where the top of my ear attaches to my head so the temporal jaw muscle was cut as well. I still cannot open my mouth all the way without that muscle giving me some trouble. My surgeon entered above the eye and then dropped down behind the eye and drilled out the bone to access my aneurysm on the anterior cerebral artery at the junction of the anterior communicating artery. I was in on Monday for the surgery and the plan was to send me home on Wednesday but due to blood loss from the hemorrhage I was not ready to go home, they needed to see my blood counts come up and I needed to be able to get out of bed better. They sent me home late Thursday, which I felt was too early. I felt horrible. I had some pretty severe headaches, but thankfully I had great pain meds that were sent home with me. 5 weeks later my youngest son was married and I was able to dance with him on the dance floor for the Mother Son dance - granted I had to take pain medication to endure the day, but it was a beautiful day. If you would like to read how God orchestrated so beautifully getting me to my surgery date and saving my life here is a link to my story http://www.bafsupport.org/profiles/blogs/do-you-believe-in-miracles You are in my prayers for peace as you approach your surgery date and of course for your surgery and for your surgeon.

God bless you, Pam

~ Carol

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Hey Pam

Like Carol, my 1st annie incision point was a cut thru the temporal muscle as well, hopefully your surgeon will be able to avoid that area and you may want to ask him about that--That threw me for a loop in my 1st annie recovery, didn't expect that to happen and my surgeon didn't mention it either. The 2nd annie clipping was NOT thru the temporal muscle but was from the hairline at top dead center of my forehead, back toward the right side and ending about midway behind my right ear...had staples the first time and stitches the 2nd time around..

On the 1st annie they shaved about 2.5 to 3" back from the hairline on the left and on the 2nd annie only about 2" from the hair line was shaved on the right. on the 1st one I had plenty of numbness to my incision site and to this day I have a tad bit of numbness on the top of my head towards the left side....my surgeon said he didn't know if I'd ever have any feeling come back. On the 2nd annie clipping, no residual numbness at all after healing. On both, I had plenty of itching (the kind of itch that you can scratch and never make the itch go away) more so with the 1st recovery then the 2nd, even though I was the ultimate 'numbskull' on the 1st ! DUe to the 3rd cranial nerve involvement of the 1st annie, I had intensely bad double vision( right before I went to the hospital all the way til about 4 to 5 months after the clipping) so that wasn't fun to deal with really and had to constantly squint or wear an eyepatch (I chose the squinting technique for the most part) and I was very very light sensitive for a good month afterward...not so on the 2nd clipping as light and eyesight were non-issues for me.

Funny, I've noticed that I have more laugh lines --okay more wrinkles--around my left eye then my right eye, and it wasn't until the other day that I stopped and thought about WHY that was the case, and my 1998 recovery mode was undoubtably the culprit of my added lines on my left side (Only took 15 years for me to figure that out! geez) lol

And as Carol also noted, faith and a trust in God was something that was also a huge part of my recovery on each , or all of my, procedures. Until the night of my horrendously insane ,pounding headache in 1998...I questioned everything, and God was also on that hit-list...but out of no -where and very suddenly, as I felt something rip and boomerang inside of my skull (which happened to be the 3rd optic nerve splitting in two) ..The strangest, most vivid thing happened to me...and I had a word with The Man Upstairs, as I stood in the middle of my studio apartment, looking upwards...it was as if everything stopped momentarily and seriously, it was like everything else around me was swirling except for me and Him...and I beleive the exact wording I used was: "Just please make this 'handle-able' for Jason and I to get thru this "....and the Lord agreed with me on this...and that was IT. I knew from that point forward that I'd be alright somehow or another, I also knew He was for real and I could forever bank on that fact (But up until that moment, I didn't know if He was really around or not) Recently I attended a graveside service...and the Reverand who officiated was a rather stylish, semi flamboyant black man with a southern accent..I commented to him afterward that I enjoyed his Service, and the man hit me with a question I didn't expect, "Have YOU found Jesus!?!" I told him I did, back in 1998 and ran the scenario down to him and his response totally blew me away..As he said that if it takes an aneurysm to be able to know Him and to find Jesus, so be it!

Well now that i've completed 'Chapter #2, (OMG--sorry about this rampling!) , I'd best get it to press !! Peace to you Pam, Janet

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Carol,

I JUST now read your entire story ( Thank you for posting the link), and My God, yes I do believe in Miracles, and I also believe that you and I should schedule some time and 'do lunch' one of these days, soon! ! Wow, You are an inspirational lady indeed. Peace and big huggs! Janet

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Thanks Carol,

You are so right about God's blessings. Since I have learned of this aneurysm, God has revealed himself 2 times through a stranger on the internet(Craigslist) and with my spouse and family.

I have every confidence in the Lord that He will orchestrate my surgery as well and whatever the outcome I know it will ultimately be for my good and for the good of those around me.

Your friend,

Pam

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Janet,

I am available any time to come up your way and have lunch ~ would love to actually! Have read both of your chapters here (LOL) and I am completely amazed at how God works ~ you continue to be an inspiration to me. I have said that if going through this would bring one person to Christ it would all be worth it and I would go through it all again if it would bring just one more person and then I found out I have another one. Quite a journey we all are on . . .

~ Carol

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Pam,

Yes, He will orchestrate your surgery as well and has already started. It was about 2 weeks after my surgery that things started to be revealed to me as to how everything in the year worked together. I have never been so blown away by God's love in my entire life. Then He revealed Himself again in a very real way January 30th when I was being woken up after having a gangrene gallbladder removed. I was in His presence while asleep and fought to stay there and He told me to wake up as the nurse was calling me name and several times I opened my eyes to force them closed again and be in His presence again. He continued to tell me to go and that that was where I was supposed to be for now. I knew that He was with me throughout the surgery.

Keep me posted on your appointments so I can lift them up in prayer.

~ Carol