a real drip
12-18-2007, 02:20 AM
I am pleased to report that the radiologist who performed the CT cisternogram got it right the first time. There were no pledgets, no 4- to 6-hour wait from the time the dye was injected to the time of scan, and I have not suffered from excruciating headaches resulting from dye injection. My only regret about the entire procedure? That I didn't bring my camera so they could take pictures of me on the tilt table upside down. (It's just as well, 'cause I'm sure it was not a pretty sight. ;) )
The worst parts of the procedure: The initial injection with local anesthetic and that there was NO PADDING on the bars my shoulders were resting against that supported much of my weight while I was upside-down! I made them level me out and put a couple of towels on there as padding! I couldn't believe that it was not protocol!
The best part of the procedure: I was wheeled up to a private room in amb-surg where I was required to rest for four hours so they could observe. While there, my ENT angel, Dr. Jeffrey Schonberg of Evanston Northwestern, called me with a confirmed diagnosis of cranial CSF leak! I got the results while I was still in the hospital! And check this out: He made an appointment for me for 1 pm TOMORROW with Dr. Ivan Ciric (http://www.enh.org/clinicalservices/neurosurgery/specialists/default.aspx?id=2464), the neurosurgeon who literally wrote the book on transsphenoidal surgery! Click on Publications & Presentations (http://www.enh.org/uploadedfiles/PubsCiric.pdf)and you'll see what I mean.
Let me make clear that I have chosen to post this positive experience not to brag, but to offer hope to others who may be going through what I have been going through. I feel incredibly blessed to have been referred to a physician who has gone further above and beyond the call of duty than any other doctor I have worked with. I mean, how many doctors do you know who actually make appointments for you? Dr Schonberg told me that when he called to make the appointment, Dr. Ciric was literally performing brain surgery at the time and, although Dr. Schonberg told him it could wait, Dr. Ciric had a nurse bring him a phone in the operating room. I mean, it sounded like something out of Grey's Anatomy or ER, right?
For any of you still trying to get a diagnosis, I highly, highly recommend Evanston Northwestern. Apart from the scheduling snafu and that the left hand didn't seem to know what the right was doing, once I physically arrived in Radiology, it went like clockwork. And I guess my leak was an easy one to locate. I forget the word Dr. Schonberg used: profuse? gushing? :rolleyes:
I guess the moral to this part of my story is that there are excellent healthcare practitioners out there who will really go the extra mile. And we deserve nothing less.
Thanks again for the kind words and useful information. I will post again once I've consulted with Dr. Ciric.
Hopeful in Chicago,
Phoebe
The worst parts of the procedure: The initial injection with local anesthetic and that there was NO PADDING on the bars my shoulders were resting against that supported much of my weight while I was upside-down! I made them level me out and put a couple of towels on there as padding! I couldn't believe that it was not protocol!
The best part of the procedure: I was wheeled up to a private room in amb-surg where I was required to rest for four hours so they could observe. While there, my ENT angel, Dr. Jeffrey Schonberg of Evanston Northwestern, called me with a confirmed diagnosis of cranial CSF leak! I got the results while I was still in the hospital! And check this out: He made an appointment for me for 1 pm TOMORROW with Dr. Ivan Ciric (http://www.enh.org/clinicalservices/neurosurgery/specialists/default.aspx?id=2464), the neurosurgeon who literally wrote the book on transsphenoidal surgery! Click on Publications & Presentations (http://www.enh.org/uploadedfiles/PubsCiric.pdf)and you'll see what I mean.
Let me make clear that I have chosen to post this positive experience not to brag, but to offer hope to others who may be going through what I have been going through. I feel incredibly blessed to have been referred to a physician who has gone further above and beyond the call of duty than any other doctor I have worked with. I mean, how many doctors do you know who actually make appointments for you? Dr Schonberg told me that when he called to make the appointment, Dr. Ciric was literally performing brain surgery at the time and, although Dr. Schonberg told him it could wait, Dr. Ciric had a nurse bring him a phone in the operating room. I mean, it sounded like something out of Grey's Anatomy or ER, right?
For any of you still trying to get a diagnosis, I highly, highly recommend Evanston Northwestern. Apart from the scheduling snafu and that the left hand didn't seem to know what the right was doing, once I physically arrived in Radiology, it went like clockwork. And I guess my leak was an easy one to locate. I forget the word Dr. Schonberg used: profuse? gushing? :rolleyes:
I guess the moral to this part of my story is that there are excellent healthcare practitioners out there who will really go the extra mile. And we deserve nothing less.
Thanks again for the kind words and useful information. I will post again once I've consulted with Dr. Ciric.
Hopeful in Chicago,
Phoebe