Here’s what I know 5 days later:

•I’ll be on Plavix and Aspirin for at least 3 months.
•The coiling will possibly be scheduled for the end of April. Probably the 20th or the 27th. Dr. Ecker leaves for Finland for three weeks in May to study with a top surgeon there and he wants to make sure he has a follow-up appointment with me before he leaves.
•He doesn’t feel the dizziness and acid reflux are a result of the stenting. I’m checking into one more medication issue with my reg. Dr. now that what I’m experiencing isn’t a common after-effect of stenting. He almost felt it might be from being taken OFF the prozac because of its complication with Plavix.
•The Dr. said if I’m still having dizzy issues at the end of the week to give him a call and he’d order up another CT Scan.
•He said, once I’m not dizzy (LOL), I can have a drink or two. Yippee!! I have some Guinness waiting in the fridge for me to have my delayed St Patrick’s Day drink when the time comes.
•He performed the usual balance and vision tests on me. Had to walk in a straight line forwards and backwards and follow the number of fingers he’s holding up, etc. I passed, even though I did lose my balance briefly and had to grab his leg for support. Ooops! Was that inappropriate? His leg was closer than Dave’s was. LOL
•I’ll still have to continue to take the 4 propholactic antibiotics before every dental visit. Probably the rest of
my life.

I love his confidence with what he does. It really rubs off. I asked him so many questions about things I could and shouldn’t be doing like gardening or soaking in the tub. He basically said, unless something occurs, continue with my life as I lived it prior to the stent insertion. I think he deals with a LOT of elderly people so having a younger person he can joke with and encourage to live my life and enjoy it, is probably
a nice change.

He showed us the images taken during my procedure and pointed out the stent. It sure is an odd shaped artery, but the
stent opens up the walls very, very well. Dr. Ecker seemed to think coiling wouldn’t be an issue at all now. He did start to try coiling during the procedure last week, but during that process the lower part of the artery “shut down”, meaning I had a vasospam and he had to inject me with some Nitroglycerin. In looking at the notes Dr. Kwan reported after my initial coiling in 2006, the same thing happened in that surgery too, so I guess it’s a really good thing it happens on the table, that’s for sure.

Dr. Ecker was also VERY pleased to see the vascular arterial structure on the right side of my brain and all around
the aneurysms looked very good. So, I was happy he was happy.

Dave and I discussed any symptoms to look for in the next few days, but Dr. Ecker was quick to point out that the first 6 hours after the procedure then the next 24 hours were the most critical and he felt I was doing very well. Tell my head, throat, bruises and dizziness that! I got no sleep last night because of this new acid reflux crap along with a dandy headache, so I ended up sitting up in the wing back chair all night. Which I’m sure just does wonders for my neck and my back. I just popped two pills to help with the headache I’ve had all day.