aneursym

[kys58]

I have been having headaches for 6 weeks finally got a CTA and it showed a 7mm aneurysm in my brain stem. I have not been able to get an appointment with a doctor since my PCP left just 4 weeks ago. Should I be worried? Is this serious? What can you tell me?

[crwstar]

You are welcome ;-) The people here were a huge help when I was first diagnosed and I came here. I met a woman named Cath278 and even though we didn't have the same stuff going on, she was my life line to sanity. And remember Brain aneurysm connection, they have over 100 members strong so lots of experience with surgery and recovery.

You take care.

[kys58]

Thanks for all of your support, I really do appreciate you.
You also keep me posted on how things are going for you.
Thanks again

[crwstar]

This is great - having confidence in your doctor takes sooo much stress off of you and your family. And it sounds like your doctor is being very thorough, though I understand the desire to get it over with sooner than later. I hope all goes well with your up coming test on Monday.

My annie is behind my left eye on or around my opthalmic artery(???) and is about 3.5 mm. Right now I'm on a wait and watch approach. I've only gotten one opinion and probably need to get another but I had so many other things going on I felt I needed to prioritize my appts. I've had an angiogram and two MRA's and there's been no growth so far which is good. I'll go back in in Oct for more testing unless things change between now and then.

Keep us posted!!

[kys58]

Thanks, I appreciate your post.
Yes, I feel very confident with my doctor. He spend  over a hour with me and my family explaining everything. I wish we could get this over with sooner, but he felt that I needed additional testing before the surgery. He said that the surgery would take 5 hours and that I would be on my stomach and side a lot and that would cause more stress on my heart, so he wanted to make sure there were no lurking problems there. I am scheduled for a stress echo on Monday and depending on what they find there will tell him what we need to do next.
Where is your annie and what size etc?

[crwstar]

So glad to hear you are on your way!!! And sorry you have to go through this. My annie is being watched at the moment so no surgery for me as of now. You are right the risks are scarry either way, whether it ruptures or surgery. Hopefully, you are feeling confident with your doctor. I want to offer you one more resource as once you have surgery you are going to want to have people who can relate to what you are going thru and who can offer words of support. Go to Brian Aneurysm Connection on yahoo and join up with them. I don't post on there as of now but find them to be incredibly supportive. Don't be a stranger here though ;-) Hopefully, this forum will continue to grow.

I wish you lots of support, comfort and ease as you go through this. please feel free to post to me anytime.

[kys58]

I  have finally seen a neurosurgeon, I will have surgery on May 20. The neck of the aneurysm is too large so they cannot do the coil procedure. The risks are somewhat scary. The doctor said I could loose my ability to swallow and require a feeding tube. I just want to hurry up and get this over with.

[crwstar]

Hopefully, you've gotten some answers since your last post. Definitetly don't wait. Your doctors offfice should be able to refer you to a neurologist or neurosurgeon right  away. Acutually, my neurologist was not equipped to deal with aneurysms so make sure who ever you see that they have experience in the area....this will save you time and money.

All the best..keep us posted.

[marielita]

I don't want to scare you but I think that an aneurysm, especially in such an important part of our body as the brain stem, is no joke.  I would not wait, get your CTA report and go to a Neurologist right now.

I have had headaches for 2 weeks now, just got an MRI/A done yesterday (waiting for the results) and I wonder if is an aneurysm what I have.  I am worried, but if you have the certainty about what you have, do something now, do not waste time.  There's 2 arms in our body, 2 legs, only 1 brain stem.

It may not rupture for years, but that size sounds big and it may rupture any moment and you don't want to take the chance!  I wish you the best and get well soon!