Hi I am new here and am about 10 weeks post op for an un-ruptured 9mm right-side, internal carotid artery @ ophthalmic artery aneurysm. My story began when I went to the hospital on May 25, 2011 with a pain running down my left arm -- I thought I was having a heart attack! Fortunate for me, I wasn’t -- but again fortunate for me, the doctors discovered two aneurysms in my brain, one on the right side (9 mm) and one on the left side (2mm), both in the same ICA @ ophthalmic artery.
Once the doctors discovered my annies, on May 26, 2011 I was immediately transferred via ambulance to Thomas Jefferson Hospital for Neuroscience in Philadelphia for treatment. My surgical team, lead by Pascal Jabbour, M.D., got right to work. Dr. Jabbour is the Cerebrovascular, Interventional Neurosurgeon that saved my life! I was scheduled the next morning for an angiogram to be done and a possible coiling if Dr. Jabbour was able to do so. Surprise me when I awoke from the angio on May 27, 2011, to find that my annie was unable to be coiled due to the location and size of the neck.
Once I was somewhat cognizant and awake from the anesthesia, Dr. Jabbour then told my family and I about a brand new procedure that had recently been approved for use in the US by the FDA called a Pipeline Embolization Device, or PED as it is known. I was sent home that evening, and for the next 10 days had to take a regimen of plavix and 81 mg aspirin for 10 days before they could attempt to put this stent into my brain.
I immediately quit smoking (I smoked about a half pack to a pack a day since I was about 15 years old) and have not touched a cigarette since – no patches, no pills, no electronic cigarette. The best nicotine diversion for me is repeating my doc’s words ... “the next drag on a cigarette could be your last”. That has kept me smoke free all this time. Although there are days when I feel like I could beat someone over the head for a cigarette, I have not done so!! I really did enjoy my cigarettes!! LOL
Anyway, ten days later, on June 8, 2011 I was taken into surgery and 2 pipeline stents (they call it telescoping when there are more than one inserted) were put into a catheter and driven up the femoral artery in my groin and into the internal carotid artery @ the ophthalmic artery. Waaahhhh laaaahhhh blood flow to the annie diverted, my life saved! The doctor tells me I will be on plavix for about 6 months, and more than likely will continue with the 81 mg aspirin for the rest of my life. I have a follow up angio and MRA in December to check the PED and to check the other annie, and hopefully like most who were part of the PED clinical trials, my annie will be gone and the other one will not have grown.
I am now almost 10 weeks post op. I have returned to work and somewhat back to the existence I had before what I lovingly refer to as my pre-annie days. Because I still have an untouched annie that I must live with, I have good days and bad days where I wonder if that lil bugger in my head will decide to rupture or keep itself intact the way it is. I try hard every day not to let it rule my life, but sometimes it’s really hard knowing you have a ticking time bomb in your head which could explode at any moment! I guess I should feel comforted when they tell me that most likely it is too small to rupture, but I often wonder if the doctors would feel the same if they had the lil bugger in their brains????? Also, I often wonder if the first persons to have received a clipping or coiling felt the same way I do, being that the PED is so new and not much known about it. I don’t know. Sometimes I think I let my mind wander too much :).
Any hoo, I am curious is there anyone out there that has either (1) heard of or knows of anyone to have this pipeline and/or (2) still deals day to day with an annie which is not "ripe" for treatment. I am curious to the kinds of emotional and physical feelings of persons in similar situations as myself. Any information would be greatly appreciated.
BTW I am a 50 year old woman whose older sister had a clipping done a year and a half ago of the anterior communicating artery and whose grandmother and great uncle both died from aneurysms. I guess you could say it runs in the family! Not the genetics I was hoping for!
Thanks for listening to my story. Sometimes you just need to get things off your chest and it’s nice knowing that there are people out there that actually know and feel the same way you do.
Linda
Once the doctors discovered my annies, on May 26, 2011 I was immediately transferred via ambulance to Thomas Jefferson Hospital for Neuroscience in Philadelphia for treatment. My surgical team, lead by Pascal Jabbour, M.D., got right to work. Dr. Jabbour is the Cerebrovascular, Interventional Neurosurgeon that saved my life! I was scheduled the next morning for an angiogram to be done and a possible coiling if Dr. Jabbour was able to do so. Surprise me when I awoke from the angio on May 27, 2011, to find that my annie was unable to be coiled due to the location and size of the neck.
Once I was somewhat cognizant and awake from the anesthesia, Dr. Jabbour then told my family and I about a brand new procedure that had recently been approved for use in the US by the FDA called a Pipeline Embolization Device, or PED as it is known. I was sent home that evening, and for the next 10 days had to take a regimen of plavix and 81 mg aspirin for 10 days before they could attempt to put this stent into my brain.
I immediately quit smoking (I smoked about a half pack to a pack a day since I was about 15 years old) and have not touched a cigarette since – no patches, no pills, no electronic cigarette. The best nicotine diversion for me is repeating my doc’s words ... “the next drag on a cigarette could be your last”. That has kept me smoke free all this time. Although there are days when I feel like I could beat someone over the head for a cigarette, I have not done so!! I really did enjoy my cigarettes!! LOL
Anyway, ten days later, on June 8, 2011 I was taken into surgery and 2 pipeline stents (they call it telescoping when there are more than one inserted) were put into a catheter and driven up the femoral artery in my groin and into the internal carotid artery @ the ophthalmic artery. Waaahhhh laaaahhhh blood flow to the annie diverted, my life saved! The doctor tells me I will be on plavix for about 6 months, and more than likely will continue with the 81 mg aspirin for the rest of my life. I have a follow up angio and MRA in December to check the PED and to check the other annie, and hopefully like most who were part of the PED clinical trials, my annie will be gone and the other one will not have grown.
I am now almost 10 weeks post op. I have returned to work and somewhat back to the existence I had before what I lovingly refer to as my pre-annie days. Because I still have an untouched annie that I must live with, I have good days and bad days where I wonder if that lil bugger in my head will decide to rupture or keep itself intact the way it is. I try hard every day not to let it rule my life, but sometimes it’s really hard knowing you have a ticking time bomb in your head which could explode at any moment! I guess I should feel comforted when they tell me that most likely it is too small to rupture, but I often wonder if the doctors would feel the same if they had the lil bugger in their brains????? Also, I often wonder if the first persons to have received a clipping or coiling felt the same way I do, being that the PED is so new and not much known about it. I don’t know. Sometimes I think I let my mind wander too much :).
Any hoo, I am curious is there anyone out there that has either (1) heard of or knows of anyone to have this pipeline and/or (2) still deals day to day with an annie which is not "ripe" for treatment. I am curious to the kinds of emotional and physical feelings of persons in similar situations as myself. Any information would be greatly appreciated.
BTW I am a 50 year old woman whose older sister had a clipping done a year and a half ago of the anterior communicating artery and whose grandmother and great uncle both died from aneurysms. I guess you could say it runs in the family! Not the genetics I was hoping for!
Thanks for listening to my story. Sometimes you just need to get things off your chest and it’s nice knowing that there are people out there that actually know and feel the same way you do.
Linda