March Stents Bring April Coils

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The date for my additional coils to be inserted into the brain aneurysm remnant has finally been scheduled for April 27th. I’m not crazy about waiting 3 more weeks, but it is what it is. I know there are other people out there with other needs and the scheduling at the hospital has been an issue because my Dr. is leaving for Finland for the entire month of May. At least I know when it’ll be done.

I forget that I have a stent in that artery, not something to BLOCK the blood flow into the aneurysms per say. So, there is still blood flowing into that remnant on the side of the aneurysm that has already ruptured once before. That makes me a little uneasy, but I’ll try not to think about it too much and continue on.

I’m hoping to get more seeds planted this weekend and continue to grow things as I normally would. It IS spring you know…the season of rebirth and renewal.

Another month…more metal in my brain! Yeee hawww!

Fatigue

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Even though what I went through almost two weeks ago wasn’t as traumatic as my rupture in 2006, it was still stressful on my brain. Coiling was attempted and then a stent was employed, so some things out of the norm still occurred.

Even though I know fatigue is a major after-effect of any brain issue, it can still be very frustrating and cause one to feel out of sorts and un-effective when all you want to do is sleep. Reading that it’s OK to feel fatigue and that it’s normal again has helped. It’s getting everyone else to understand that fatigue is a part of this that’s difficult some times.

People at work have been great and Dave is always understanding, but those who are outside of the realm may not get it and explaining it in depth just isn’t something I like to do with every person. Oh, well….it is what it is!!

And I’ll probably JUST get to feeling back to normal and I’ll get to do it all over again for the coiling at the end of April. Goody!

Back At It (sort of)

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I was back at work on Friday. Dave offered to take me in and pick me up, so I took him up on that offer. I could have done the drive in, but not the 30 mile drive back home after working all day.

The different setting took some getting used to and my office had been cleaned, so many things weren’t in the same place, but it felt good to get back to some kind of normalcy. It turned out to be a busier day than I was expecting, which was good and bad. It made the day go by very quickly, but I didn’t give myself enough breaks, so by mid-afternoon I was wiped out. I forget I need to pace myself and listen to my body after any
kind of a brain procedure. Simple things will take a lot of out of me for a time yet.

Dave arrived about a half an hour early and I promptly left. I kept yawning about every 30 seconds on the drive home. Poor Dave. Not much fun for him.

I was a zombie when we got home. I had planned on making dinner, but Dave talked me into laying down and resting. Of course I immediately fell asleep, which I knew I would. I woke up at 7:00 then was back into bed around 9 or so. Yep….the fatigue is alive and well. Frustrating, but it’s all a part of it.

Saturday I felt okay, but was still tired. I took two naps throughout the day, but that’s okay. I needed them….my mind and body needed them. I took a big step on Friday flying right back into work full-time like that. We’ll see how I do next week.

I want to sow some seeds, but just don’t have the energy right now. And I keep forgetting I have to do this all over again the end of April when I have the coiling done. Yippee!

What This Kind of Looks Like

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Although the diagram below isn’t exact, it’s a decent representation of how things are currently looking in my brain,
with regards to the larger aneurysm.

The one that ruptured in 2006 is approx. 1/2” in diameter. 16 platinum coils were inserted into the aneurysm. Since then, either the aneurysm has grown or the coils have compact resulting in a small pocket of blood to leak back into the aneurysm.

Last week, my neurointerventional radiologist attempted to add more coils to the aneurysm, but was uncomfortable doing that with the current conditions of my arteries and the wide neck of the aneurysm remnant, so a Neuform
Microdelivery Stent was implanted across the neck of the
aneurysm.

The stent will allow more control and easier delivery of coils to the aneurysm, which we will go back and try again
at the end of April.

According to the information I was given the size of the stent is a little less than 1/8” of an inch wide and a little over 3/4” of an inch long. The stent will allow blood to flow through that artery better and keep the artery open and clear for coil implants.

It’s pretty amazing to think of all this “metal” in my head now, but it’s saving my life.