I had my initial appointment with a neurosurgeon at Johns Hopkins yesterday. She is not happy with the quality of the angiogram I had done in March, and wants me to have one done at Hopkins. Then she would follow up with me, and also have me see another neuro-ophthalmalogist while I'm there. I will have to schedule it around my work, so it may not be until sometime next year.
She agrees with my doc at home that I am at low risk for rupture. She is not sure she agrees with the size mentioned in my reports, and the biggest news is that she's not sure the ophthalmic artery originates from the annie. That's the main reason she wants the new angio. In addition, she is the first doctor to say that it is possible the annie is related to my eye pain. If it is located at the point where the carotid enters the brain, it could be irritating the lining of the brain and cause my pain.
So, I guess it was worth the visit. Quite the system they have there. Best wishes to everyone on the east coast. I'm hightailing it out of here tomorrow before Frankenstorm hits.
Hi hnh! thank you for this update! sounds as tho things are progressing along! glad to hear your not hangin around to welcome "Frank"-no 'cane party here either & not much risk here 100 miles inland so we'll battin down the hatches. Our thoughts & prayers are with you & yours!
Thanks for the update...sounds like it was well~worth the second opinion ... ~anxious to hear how it goes when you do your angiogram at John Hopkins...
You are in a great place. Hopkins has an excellent reputation and when dealing with this you want precise. Had I lived in Baltimore I would have gone there. I live in the Washington, DC area and have been taken care of at Washington Hospital Center by some of the very best neuros in the region. I also had the first angio done someplace else and it wasn't at the level of quality my interventional neurosurgeon wanted so he did another which showed that not only was my aneurysm in the cavernous sinus, it was a convoluded shape which required expertise to reach. My first aneurysm was in the left internal carotid and was interfering with my vision. My vision has been, and continues to be noticeably blurry. My interventional neuroradiologist at Washington Hospital Center (in DC) wanted me to see a neuro-opthamologist too and now he is the only eye doctor I see on a yearly basis. I would encourage you get the angio sooner rather than later. Safe travels home and I too am preparing for the "Frankenstorm"...gotta love these storm nicknames. Blessings to you.
Yes, Hopkins is amazingly systematic, and just amazing too. Who did you see? Dr. Huang? Dr. Coon did my PED surgery, but I also met with Dr. Huang. I believe they like to do all of their own testing there since some of the top radiologists in the world work for them. They redid my scans from my local hospital just to make sure, then went forward with even more testing. Ask for a copy from radiology before you leave -- the images are breathtaking. I'm thinking of getting a few of mine professionally framed. lol I remember being in twilight sedation and the surgery team showing them to me. I was like, WOW! Ink splotches! hehe
I too have seen a neuro-opthalmologist at Hopkins -- Dr. Eric Singman who was fabulous and the most thorough eye doctor I have ever been to, and really the most thorough doctor I've ever been to. He knew the right questions to pry into to figure things out. The whole experience reminded me of an episode of House. I think Denise saw a different neruo-ophtalmologist, but she too had her PED inserted at Hopkins. My aneurysm is/was where the opthalmic artery and the carotid artery intersect, and whereas my home hospital had it listed as 8 mm, Hopkins narrowed it down to 5 mm when they did the angio.
Battening down the hatches for the Frankenstorm... muahahahhaa. I'm like 25 minutes inland from Ocean City, MD, so she's gonna hit hard. Glad you had a good visit. Let me know when you're going back -- maybe our paths will cross when I get a follow up. We'll do coffee and share angio pix....lol.
I had an angiogram at University Hospital in Baltimore in September and they recommended additional coiling. (Last October I had a SAH and they coiled at University) I went for a second opinion at Hopkins and Dr. Tamargo wanted yet another angiogram. That one was more extensive. He recommends clipping and wrapping of the residual that wants to keep on growing. I get it clipped on Election Day.
yes it is quit a system. I have had all my procedures there. What is most surprising is the doctors are all so young.My aneurysm was behind my right eye.10mm.and I had it for many years before the PED.