Watching and Waiting

Hi @Moltroub @Kitty
Your experiences makes me a little bit worried. I asked my neuro radiologist after the last angiogram if I am able to fly over to Europe in the spring. He said yes, nothing will happen in your brain, the aneurysm is secure. I will make the looong trip by myself, three connections and many hours. My husband will join me later and we will make the trip back to the USA together. I guess I have to live with the worries and just go ahead and do it. Hopefully the worst has already happened and we survived it.

I didn’t mean to scare you I apologize! I was less than a week out from that procedure when I flew and things were just difficult right after a procedure with the anesthesia and the contrast dye I’m allergic to, coupled with the exhaustion of having lobbied the day before. My aneurysm wasn’t fully occluded back then but we didn’t know and I was still cleared to fly.

I enjoy flying, I love to look out the window. I have learned to take my ISOTunes so I can discretely listen to my music or watch something on my phone or tablet and not hear the others in the cabin. I chose not to use the bulky noise cancellation headphones, just because of the bulk. I am better able to focus on books and I always carry one. We also would upgrade to First Class if any seats were still available when we checked in, baggage is free and seats are much more comfortable, etc. I think after what we saved in baggage, it was equal to or maybe $10 more, always inside the country, I’ve not flown oversees, yet.

I would be extremely excited if I was able to fly oversees, it’s on my bucket list! If you need assistance, alert the airlines. I had great difficulty waking and couldn’t make it all the way back to where I needed to be, thus the wheelchair. If I had spoken up for myself when they put me in an odd place before boarding, I would have faired better but my brain was exhausted and I didn’t think.

Get a good night’s rest, stay hydrated and don’t drink too much alcohol on the plane. I can’t wait to hear how the trip goes and Spring is coming up! Maybe you can upgrade if you’re not already flying first class. OMG, I think my excitement level for you just jumped 100 notches!

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Hi @Moltroub
Don’t worry, I guess it’s the mood I’m in sometimes, I have days that if there is something to worry about, I will find it :laughing:. I have done that trip many times back and forth to my mother country so I’m used to it. We will attend a wedding two weeks after my arrival so there is so much to look forward to. I really need this after all the sadness of the rupture. We have decided to upgrade the flight over the Ocean so I can get some rest and hopefully sleep for a few hours. I have stayed away from alcohol since I started the Aspirin and I always drink a lot of water during the flight. It will be one year after the stent and coils and 18 months after the rupture so that will probably be a difference from your experience. I think I have to keep you posted :smile:, I guess that I will be more tired than usual and I have to take extra time to adjust to the six hour time difference. But something inside me tells me that if I survived the rupture, I can do this too. I’m ready to dress up, put some makeup on and a smile on my face, I need it. It’s getting time to celebrate that I’m alive.

We all have our daysđŸ€Ș. A big difference from flying so close to a coiling, I’m sure of it and you already know what to expect. You already know the changes that have occurred in your mother country which is helpful. It had been about 20 years since I returned to the area in California I grew up and it was a shocker. Good thing I hadn’t ruptured, I wouldn’t have been able to recognize anything. It was really nice to go back and be able to just eat the foods we loved that we can’t get in the South, not even a close proximity of it. Not to mention the familiarity of customs, words, etc.

And yes ma’am it is time to celebrate! It is always time to celebrate but a wedding can make it more fun with all the love and festivities that go with them. We used to have a yearly celebration dinner at the time of my rupture, where we would invite all those who supported us through the year. Your upcoming trip has me wanting to dust off my dress shoes and put on something nice! Hopefully this year we can start it back up again!

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80 does seem to be an age where the risk of a procedure can outweigh the procedure. My Neurosurgeon said when I reach 80, I wouldn’t have to worry about any more!

I recently discovered I have an 8mm aneurysm. Saw a few docs who all said it’s on the edge of operate or watch and wait. We had a family trip planned the next month, involving scuba diving. My neuro surgeon told me to go ahead, that he had no worries diving would be of any particular risk of triggering a rupture, nor would gardening, skiing or playing tennis, all of which I love. I of course know nothing about yours, but it may be that your doc will say the same thing. So hold on to that hope while you are researching and coming across the really scary stuff. And I am a coffee addict, but did switch to decaf and it’s not as bad as I thought it would be!! I am still an addict, but just a decaf addict now.

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When you are worrying about our experiences, remember that we are still here! There was some discomfort, but no tragedy. I have since flown a lot, we have kids in Alaska to visit! No problems with flying now.

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@Kitty
Thanks for letting me know.