Hi all, so my dad has been for his angiogram and the neurosurgeon was able to get a much clearer view of the aneurysm. Now we wait for the surgeons to get back to us. They are saying they will operate on his blocked carotid artery first and then they will do the aneurysm after he heals from that. Which worries me because he gets daily chronic headaches and that makes me worry that it will rupture any day. Anyway, thought I would give some info about my dad's aneursym because we have been told one thing and another before but now we finally know what we're dealing with.
So it's a 5mm wide-necked oblong shaped aneurysm on the left middle cerebral artery. Which scares the heck out of me because from everything I've read, that means he will have to undergo a craniotomy as they have told us it's in a risky area to coil. He's 64 so I'm worried that will be too much for him. The neurosurgeon said that whether they decide on clipping or coiling, either way they will also include a stent because of the wide neck. A good thing is that the surgeon has said it doesn't appear to have bled, which we actually thought for a while that it had bled. So hopefully he's right!
So for now he waits for the phone call from the surgeons to call him back into hospital to operate. In the meantime, he is getting daily chronic headaches. He's on medication for them and he said they've decreased in severity but they are still bad. This is happening every day.
A couple of questions - what do you all know about aneurysms on the middle cerebral artery? And have you or anyone you know of been able to have coiling on the mca? I know clipping means it's gone forever but it's the higher risks of the actual operation that scares me.
Wide necks in an oblong shaped aneurysm - are they more dangerous?? Or is it just a different type of shape with the same risk?
Also, these daily headaches/migraines - why is he getting them? Is it the aneurysm causing them? The surgeons say they don't think it's from the aneurysm but I've read of so many people getting bad headaches with aneurysms. Why do they say it's not from that? And do the headaches mean it's going to rupture soon?? I just hope they ring us up soon and get him admitted and operated on safely!!
Thankyou for reading this and for any help and opinions you can please offer. It is appreciated!!
The cartoid surgery should happen first and could easily be the cause of the headaches. It could also be contributing to the annie. Makes perfect sense to fix it. It may actually make the annie surgery easier. BTW 64 isn't terribly old for this surgery. Your surgeons have spent 20 years preparing for this surgery, while I can't vouch for certain they have read everything you have on the internet, its reasonably certain that if its correct information, they could have written it.
Let them worry about the surgery,you worry about and take care of your Dad. Your confidence in a great outcome will do a lot more for him than your worrying the details. Of course you are worried, I'm not saying not to, just share it here............... Hoping you get the call soon.
Thankyou tj. I actually was very worried about them operating on the carotid first because I thought it was best to get the aneurysm done first. But I guess we have to trust the surgeons. Plus I read on here about a lady who had her heart worked on before her aneurysm so that's the same type of thing. I just thought that because clearing the carotid will mean more blood going to the brain would be dangerous for the aneurysm. But the surgeon said he wants more blood going to the brain for when he operates on the aneurysm.
The surgeon said he will use a stent whichever way they go - I didn't know you could use stents with clipping. I just want to know whether they will clip or coil!
Please does anyone else have any opinions and their own experiences about wide-necked oblong anuerysms? And ones on the middle cerebral artery? I always tell Dad about the responses on this forum and it's really helped him. He's not a computer person so that's why he's not on the forum himself but he likes hearing from me about other people's stories from here.
My annie was in the same place - middle cerebral artery. Mine was also a weird shape, and it took 3 clips to secure it. I'm approximately 15 months post rupture after a craniotomy, and doing very well. Yes, craniotomies are scary business, but I like the fact that it's DONE and I don't have to worry about checks for coils.
TJ1 is correct - just be strong and positive for your Dad. As a patient, I had a huge aversion to the worriers - they chipped my confidence and hope and scared me. I was worried myself, I didn't have time to be giving them pep talks and telling them how I was going to be fine. You can worry in private, and worry here, but don't worry in front of your Dad while all of this is going down.
Hugs to you as you prepare for his initial surgery - sounds like you have a great surgeon, keep us posted!
I had a clipping for a wide neck 4mm middle cerebral artery aneurysm. It’s hard to coil but it’s one of the easiest to get to for brain surgery. My surgery was two hours long. I have a small dent above my left eyebrow and I had headaches, brain fog and fatigue for a few months. Other than that- I feel great!
I did not need a stent and I had one clip. Aneurysm was completely clipped and I have a follow up in one year, after which I go every five years.
Try not to stress if possible … I know, easier said than done!
Thanks, it's encouraging to hear your stories. That's what I love to hear and my Dad does too - people's experiences. I called him last night and he said he felt awful all day - ongoing headache all day and just no energy. I don't know whether this is coming from the aneurysm or the blocked carotid. I just want him to get better!! I wish the surgeons would just hurry up and decide what to do. I know it's taking a while because it's not the one thing they need to decide on, it's two different surgeons, one for carotid and one for aneursym. But how much longer do we have to wait?? I wish it was me in pain and not my Dad.
Update - neurologist called him last night, finally. He has said while the neurosurgery board still hasn't made an exact decision, they had possibly been thinking of putting Dad on a 'watch and wait' but because of his family history with aneurysms and they know how much we want it fixed, they will operate on him. But first they will do the carotid artery because they need that to be cleared for when they go in and use the other carotid artery to fix the aneurysm. It was good to finally hear from him because Dad's been feeling worse lately, headaches, dizziness, exhaustion. And because he lives 5 hours from the city, I think he was afraid he was getting lost in the system!
Did anyone else have headaches and dizziness while waiting for their aneurysm to be operated on?
I wrote to you on another topic. Fortunately, I am not dizzy, but I do have constant little headaches and mega ones. As far as I know I do not have a blocked carotid artery so this may be the reason I am not dizzy. My aneurysm is 8 mm, in the Circle of Willis. I am the same age as your dad.
Oh thankyou Campanile, I just went through your posts to see where you replied to me. How can they say that aneurysms don't cause headaches when there are so many people who suffer from both? Maybe not all aneurysms cause headaches but I don't think it's fair of the doctors to say to people like my dad and others that the headaches are not coming from that. Like your pain radiating from where your aneurysm is, my dad's pain is coming from where his aneurysm is. A bit too coincidental I think!
And barometic pressure relating to ruptures - that scares me!
I decided not to worry about the barometric pressure, because it also impacts my CRPS. It would destroy me emotionally if I thought about what might happen. I often wonder if there is something medically/physically that we could do to lessen the negative impact of severe barometric changes.
My life plan is “prepare for the worst, but hope for the best.” Since I have become physically limited due to CRPS I cannot do much, but I am doing what I can. Everyday I find several things in my house to liberate. My husband makes a weekly stop at Goodwill. This helps me keep my mind off negative outcomes, by getting my house in order I feel like I am preparing for the future.
My belief about the headaches is that the aneurysm somehow aggravates the surrounding tissue. I believe the brain senses that something is not as it should be.
I joined a website called “Patients Like Me” when I was a caregiver for my mother, who had Parkinson’s. It not only is a support group, but the site collects data from patients, which helps other patients. If everyone with aneursyms posted their data at a central site, it could potentially lead to better understanding about aneurysms
My mother joined 23andme, when she participated in their Parkinson’s research project, funded by google. She did this to find out if she had a PD gene. She did not, but her DNA provided our family with significant information and she had the satisfaction of being in the largest study cohort ever. I believe 23andme had 10,000+ participants for this.
Okay thankyou for those site suggestions, I'll have a look at them and enter my dad's statistics. It would be interesting to get more stats about different medicines. He's on Topamax and I know he gets side effects from that. And clearly it's not getting rid of the headaches.
That's an interesting theory about the aneurysm aggravating the brain tissue. I know that some aneurysms press on nerves and they cause headaches but for ones like my dad's, where it doesn't seem to be pressing on nerves and they say the headaches aren't coming from that, well, you really have to wonder why they say that because what else could it be??
My aneurysm is right between my eyes. Last year the eye doctor was baffled, because something seemed off, but did not register on the tests. I think my aneurysm may be the source of what she thought was "off."
She also put me on glaucoma meds, because I had one high pressure reading out of three. The morning of the high pressure reading I drank three cups of caffeinated coffee, a singular occurrence. The doctor said it had nothing to do with the reading. She is incorrect. I did not drink coffee on the days I had the very low readings and I found research that there was a connection between high eye pressure and caffeine.
Also, I found out that caffeine should be avoided if you have an aneurysm, also don’t drink it before an eye test. So now I have two good reasons to avoid it.
Please ask your dad if he is aware of something being off, other than headaches. I told my family for several years that I thought I had something wrong in my brain. My head feels heavy and congested as if my brain has a cold. I am always aware of the area behind and above my eyes, particularly the left eye.