In our last episode of The Adventures of an 11mm Brain Aneurysm, our pesky friend was allowing what appeared to be more blood into the neck of the aneurysm. After 16 platinum coils were inserted in 2006, then four more coils and even a stent were inserted in 2011, blood continues to find its way into the 1/2″ diameter aneurysm that almost cost me my life in 2006.
When we met with Dr. Ecker last year, I made the decision to wait another year and see how things looked. Well, the time to have a look is near.
On March 2nd, I will have an angiogram to see if that area on the neck of the aneurysm has changed or not. It might look the same, or there might be more blood accumulating and action would need to be taken since it is an aneurysm that has already ruptured once.
I’m used to the angiograms. I’ve had so many since 2006. I know many of the radiology folks at Maine Medical Center now. They’re great, but I do wish I didn’t have to see them so frequently.
However, during this year’s angiogram, I will also be given the balloon occlusion test I talked about in last year’s post. They test to see if my arteries can handle reversing the blood flow in that area in case they have to perform a bypass where the parent artery must be sacrificed and the blood flow bypassed for the aneurysm to be effectively treated. I got into a little more detail on last year’s post. Until I know we’ll NEED to do that procedure, I won’t get any more detailed just yet.
The first two steps are to get some pictures of the aneurysm, then see if I can handle the blood flow being cut off to that part of the brain. Sounds scary….and yes, I am scared, but I’d rather have it looked at and know what I have to deal with. It will mean an overnight stay in the hospital which I wasn’t planning on, but if I only have to stay one night, I can handle that.
That pesky, original brain aneurysm continues to taunt me and remind me of the fragility of life and the struggles many, many people have to go through when dealing with brain aneurysms.
Stay tuned for the continuing Adventures of an 11mm Brain Aneurysm!
Heidi's Brain Blog 
Heidi, had no idea how long and exactly what you’ve been battling. Thank you for sharing and making me aware. Wishing you all the best.
…….Ursula…….
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I think you’re amazing! I love you Aunt Heidi ❤ You're so educational to let people know what you've been through as well as being grateful for every day and showing people what it's like to live in your shoes. All of your heart and actions go into the prevention of Aneurysms as well as coping with it in your life. I am sure that you have touched others in many ways that you don't realize. I applaud you Aunt Heidi xxx,ooo
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