I am trying to be calm but I do not know-how. I had to have a CT because I got sick and they found out I had had a mild stroke, THey did a CT and this is the jargon-keep in mind this pericollsal artery was less 2mm -it has now is larger, Here is what my report said. I think I am going to be sick.
1.Anatomic cerebral variant with an azygos anterior cerebral vein. AnA2
segment bifurcation 2.5 cm diameter aneurysm
2.Right middle cerebral artery trifurcation and fetal origin of the
right posterior cerebral artery is appreciated also representing an
anatomic variance.
May explain my headaches
Abbeycat70, I’m sorry to read that your aneurysm has grown from 2 mm to 2.5 cm. That’s a heck of a lot of growth isn’t it? Not to many months ago I ranted about the nitwit radiologist who took four months to get a final reading put in. He was correct almost in the neck of my multilobed aneurysm growing almost to the size of my aneurysm. Guess all those daughter sacs sucked up the coils. I did contact my neurosurgeon and I think my neurologist did as well, don’t remember. Anyhow after another MRI/A we had a virtual meeting and I didn’t need an angiogram, I needed fixed. She was talking about waiting until Spring, but after discussing my activity level (moving cement blocks and timber) she asked if I had a garden. I did, I had moved it to the front yard and it had to be dug by hand. We were anticipating a hobby shop being built. So with all of that, I had it done in December. Dr. Quintero-Wolfe didn’t think it would be good for me to wait. She used some more coils and the Neuroform Atlas Stent. It’s a stent that was approved by the FDA in 2019. I was never a candidate for a stent prior to this new type as my aneurysm isn’t in the ideal location for the other types. She only had to use one stent so I can get off the Plavix after 12 weeks, be on 325 mg aspirin for a year and then to the 81 mg for the rest of my life.
As for staying calm…go ahead and rant, get it out, that’s what we are here for. Practice relaxation breathing all the time, every hour, right when you wake up and right when you go to bed, every meal before and after, and times in between. Just focus on your breathing and nothing else! Stay away from the news, whether on TV or the paper, you can’t control it and it’s full of angst. Watch comedies or dramas, but stay away from horror movies or any type that can get your BP up. Take walks around your neighborhood if you’re able. I live in a semi rural area and just use the yard so I don’t have to drive somewhere. The dogs walk with me and are a great source of entertainment. On days when I can’t get outside, I get a good book and cuddle on the couch with them. My parents would be horrified knowing I let the dogs up on it LOL. I love mysteries and we have a member, @Stephen, who publishes books and are available through Amazon which I very much enjoy. You can PM me if you’re interested in a link to his writings.
Other than that, remember we are always here for you.
I’m very glad you got a scan. I’m so sorry there’s been a change, and that’s a big one if it went from mm to cm. Please keep us informed of your journey and feel free to get mad or sad or anything else here. We all understand the range of emotions. This is a safe place to vent. Like most things, it’s best to just take it all one day at a time. I’ll be praying for you for peace and comfort.
I went back and looked at the paperwork to make sure I was not seeing something and it said that the Annie was 2.5 cm in diameter. If one calculates mm-to cm that is a huge jump. I would imgine we will know more with the MRA.
I am pissed at my sister. I had a mild stroke and she invalidated me. Well, why would they even do a CT just because your heart rate was up? Because my arm was numb. Why did you say anything about Annie? What was the point, you know the headaches have nothing to do with it. GAWD. She had a CT a while back and they say that she had an old stroke. The whole time that they reassessed it she flipped out. NOT ONCE did I invalidate her.
The ER doc said my Annie was small so maybe they meant mm and not cm. Who knows. but growth is
growth.
My frontal lobe is a bit messed up from my 3 TBI’s and I find as I get older that things do not work as well. Head trauma can show up later in life, that I know.
Ahhh, family… …they can be such fun. Not. Mine where such ‘fun’ I moved to another country. Many years later I confronted the primary instigator and their response ‘…that was the dr’s. It wasn’t my fault…’ It was NEVER going to be them at fault. They could have been caught red handed, still holding the gun, it still wouldn’t have been them at fault.
I think that ‘invalidation’ helps keep them mentally safe. It can be so much easier to stand on the outside and pass judgement on others, because otherwise they may have to look at self. For some people looking at self, analysing their own self prejudices, can be a little (a lot) confronting, so to avoid it, they pass judgement on others. It’s a safety mechanism for them, but the cost to others can be huge. Trying to get others to see things, to comprehend it all from our view is near on impossible. I say this because I’ve tried to educate others on the realities of it all, I’ve tried to explain it and they look at me like I’ve grown a third eye or something or come out with the line ‘…Ohh it can’t be THAT bad…’
In my former profession I had a boss who did something very similar. No matter how bad a person’s situation may have been, she had always had it worse or done it harder, which would have been laughable if it wasn’t so insulting. I worked with some of the most disadvantaged members of our society, but she would still make out she had had it worse. It was her own insecurities that made her the perpetual victim.
Abbeycat70, when I was in ICU for my rupture, one of the nurses said I had a 25 cm ruptured aneurysm and BH went off. Fear can make folks react in peculiar ways. A Doctor and a med student came into the room and assured BH of the size and other strange things. It was only a 5mm multilobed one. The nurse must have had me confused with another patient is all we can think of. Despite the small size, it was touch and go for weeks, with vasospasms for 21 days
Families are peculiar. Some members are dramatic, some are calm and reassuring, some are leaches and some are helpers. When I ruptured, I was no longer in contact with my remaining siblings. Unfortunately the one sibling who may have given me support passed away. His passing caused a lot of drama and heartbreak with the other two and my parents. There are times when I miss my immediate family, but I have a chosen family that are very supportive. I also have nieces and cousins whom I love dearly and we contact each other regularly. BH has a close family and they are great!
I think with what my experience with family units is that some members react with fear and it comes across as denial. Perhaps this is where your sister is with your relationship. My guess is your the helper in the family and she doesn’t want to admit that you can have health issues that far surpass hers. She has probably leaned on you for your entire life no matter if you’re older or younger. It’s just your roles in your family unit. Perhaps you are the more mature one, and she just can’t get there. I have one sister who is older by almost a decade and I don’t think she will ever become a mature, responsible person. I feel your angst.
Keep in touch and let us know what the MRA reading is. You’re absolutely correct that any growth isn’t good.
Well I am at a growth of 2.5 to 3.2. So I went back to the doctor and they said because of the type of aneurysm it is, being very rare, and an extremely tricky spot that they felt it was too risky to do anything. My question is what am I supposed to do about it if it’s too risky for them?
My advice: Get a 2nd (3rd, 4th,…) opinion. That’s what I had to do. My first neuro recommend ‘wait and watch’. My view was ‘I have a timebomb in my head and you want me to wait???’ NO WAY.
Look, in all honesty, they maybe correct BUT if you get a differing opinion it may give you another option to investigate. If they come back with the same view, repeatedly, you may need to accept it. But I’d recommend you exhaust every avenue open to you.
I concur with Merl, a second opinion is needed. You can just call someone and see if they’ll look over your images. I know Dr. Quintero-Wolfe does that at WFBH in Winston-Salem NC. How far inside WA are you willing to travel? I know a guy ….Dr Shaw I believe he’s up near the mountains. For the life of me I can’t recall his first name but I can look him up. His wife is Flora, she was one of my best RNs in NSICU. They’d just gotten married. Dr. Shaw has the personality and bedside manner of an Angel! He was working with Dr, Q-W when I ruptured and he actually sat down next to my bed to speak with me, not hovering like they normally do. It’s funny because he is short, taller than me, but still short. Lol. He transferred to a place in WA a few months after my second procedure.
The other thing you may want to do is post the type and location here or start a new topic and ask members what they’ve experienced. For instance, my multilobed aneurysm is at the LICA bifurcation. Dr. Q-W has done four procedures for it - coils, coils, coils with ballon assist and the last in Dec 2020 coils and Neuroform Atlas Stent. We also have another member who was in the study when they were getting the Neuroform Atlas Stent approved!