My condition is a fusiform enlargement of the basilar artery. It’s not your normal bump-in-the-road aneurysm, which is treated by coiling or snipping ... so Dr Z 'dismissed' me because his expertise is in coiling (filling the pothole from the inside out) and there’s not much we can do about this (although he did a super job with the angiogram and didn’t make any wrong turns on the way to my brain). Sat’y evening – having retched all the morphine and anesthesia out of my system - Connie picked me up from Cottage and I got to ride in the silver sex machine with the top down ;-) to Simi where I had a relaxing night. ‘Went to a BBQ Sunday, didn’t drop dead, took it easy, let everyone wait on me hand and foot and fawn all over me, and stayed in Simi in the hopes of getting back in to see the funny neurologist (Dr Y) Monday.
Being the lucky girl I am, Dr Y had a cancellation this morning so we drove like the wind to get there. (And I was scolded for being late: he being the ONLY doctor on the planet who is concerned about being on time)
The short story is: we don’t know how long I’ve had this condition, how bad it is or not, if the artery walls are weak or not, if it’s getting worse or static … really we don’t know too much at all. What we do know is that it hasn’t leaked - as I had two imaging CT scans, an imaging MRI and angiogram all within three days so we would know – so this is really good. (Although all that iodine does nasty things to your innards:-P) So now, we have a baseline, and follow up with more exciting imaging tests in six months.
In the meantime, Dr Y is all about not stressing out, and taking things one step at a time. I’m on some new meds to quash the headache and keep my arteries all loosey goosey and my blood pressure (which is already impressive) down. My cholesterol and BP and general health are superb anyway, so I just need to keep that happening, and stay hydrated and stress free. FINALLY I have an excuse to just stick out my hand and say ‘what-ever…’ when drama arises. Sweet!
I can start ramping up my activities again – perhaps not at the breakneck pace I was at before - and see how it all goes. All in all life is great! I have my daughter back, I’ve met a wonderful man, and – as if I ever needed to test this – I have affirmed the affection and dedication of my friends and family. I feel well loved.
Initially I thought I was despondent over the thought of any more medical issues ... but I got over that QUICK! Now, I'm just determined to figure out how to live with this: the operable word being LIVE.
IMAGES: #1 - sketch made by Dr Z, #2 - oh yeah, that is Cameron Diaz, not me - we get mixed up so often, doing her 'talk to the hand' dance
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