Okay it's official I have one of the dates

[beach1_gal@yahoo.com]

Hello everyone,

Well I am just going to recap the two annies I have for anyone new here. I have 2 annies one is on my Left Internal Carotid Artery and is 8mm by 4mm by 2.5mm and can be coiled.

The other one I have is 3mm by 2.5mm and is on my right MCA and can't be coiled as the neck is almost the same size as the annie, so this one will have to be clipped.

So I saw the doctor on Thursday and the office called yesterday to tell me I am scheduled for a clipping on the 15th of June. And then 3 weeks after that I will be having the other one coiled. Wow so I am a nervous wreck of course as I have no patience never did :p .

I guess it's the fact that they told me they would do them at the same time but the doc that does the clipping doesn't do the coiling and he's not comfortable with both on the same day as they are on both sides of my head and we need to be able to know if one goes bad which one it is right away, so that makes sense, but boy the wait is the hard hard hard part for me.

I have my good days and my off days and I am getting things together so they will be right by me since there is no one that will be with me during the day~some of my friends are going to try and get time to come over but it's still a little scary. Thank g-d my ex hubby is wonderful as he is going to come over everynight and stay over so I am not alone. Plus he is worried that I will forget that I took meds for anxiety or for pain and then accidently O.D. So he has this wonderful thing set up and it's on paper and everytime I take anything even if it's tums he told me to write down how many and what time. That way if I forget after a nap I can look at the paper and know that I just took something for pain and not to take anything else.

As for the clipping this doc is kinda reassuring he told me that I will be in ICU for 2 days then step down to a regular floor for one day and then I can go home. He said he thinks it should go well it's easy enough to get to and can just clip it off.

It's the second one that I am worried about I mean I am still going to be recovering from the clipping and then I go in 3 weeks later and get coiled but because of the size that doc is anxious to get it coiled a.s.a.p.

I of course will post along the way and will probably have tears in my eyes with some of my posts when I get fearful. But I am so lucky to have all of you here for support that it really helps to make me feel better.

So now I am off to get a nice big breakfast and I keep telling myself I can eat more cause I will probably loose weight from the stress and all (that's what my body does when I stress alot). So it's a good reason to eat alot that way I don't have to worry about loosing too much weight...good way to look at it huh!! LOL

Thanks so much to all of you for the support you have given and the support I know you will be giving me while we all wait.

Love and Prayers,
LaDawn

[Whippet]

Hi - I'm glad to hear you have your first surgery date set up. It sounds like you are getting as prepared as you can be. What I would love to offer is prayers. I haven't gone thru this type of surgery but have had others and know the wait can be one of the most challenging aspects.

Enjoy your yummy breakfast...by far the best meal of the day :)

Whippet

[svalmor]

Hi LaDawn,

Aren't you glad you finally got your date set for clipping? I know you're disappointed with not being able to get both done at the same time, but I'm sure your docs know what is best.

Hey! You're not too far behind me....only 17 days!! I know that I want the days to go by fast, yet I don't want them to go by at all. UGH!! I wish I could blink my eyes and have this darned thing fixed. But...it doesn't work that way!!

BTW.....were you ever told that your R MCA annie was too small to clip? Just wondering.

Take care and have a great weekend!

Sandy

[jsalava]

Hi LaDawn,

Good to hear you got a date. It really sounds like you are on top of things and have a plan. If only you could do that for the anxiety and worrying! http://brain.hastypastry.net/forums/images/smilies/redface.gif
I'll be thinking about you on the 15th and will keep an eye out for your posts.
We'll probably have our coiling done around the same time.. I don't have a date yet but probably around the first week of July.
Stay happy. :)

Jeff

[TropicalTrish]

Hey Beach1 Gal,

Well you must be relieved to have a date for clipping! There's nothing worse than the wait wait waiting.

So now you have a good long month+ to get everything organized and get as healthy as you can ~ in preparation for the clipping and the coiling to follow~ and to enjoy yourself as much as you can with family and friends.

I have never heard of 2 procedures at once as when you think of it they each have to be so very precise and both procedures take a long time! Your body can only take so much so I am glad to hear they are leaving 3 weeks between the 2 procedures.

That gives you time to rest from the first and heal from the first then the Coiling one won't be near as long to recover from. Yay!

In my mind I was happy to go for Coiling as the Dr. said a week to 10 days for recovery and he was right - it was less than that for me. Some folks go back to work in a few days to a week.

I only had or rather chose in my case one little tiny week to prepare and in some ways I wish I had more time to prepare and yet I was glad too that I didn't have to wait.

They key no matter the wait time ~ is to remain calm and get healthy! Eat good sleep good and de stress your life. Easier said than done right? :p

No matter how many times we say that to each other ~ of course it's stressful but you now know a date and that's a one stress down so now it's time to destress everywhere else you can.

I find the easiest way is to prepare and stay busy having fun! You sound like you have a fun life and good people around you and I imagine they will be doing all they can to help you thru this.

Of course you have this wonderful site too - could there be a better destressor than chatting on here?!!! :)

All my best thoughts to you for a stress free time as you proceed!

[beach1_gal@yahoo.com]

Thank you everyone for all your great advice and encouragement! I am going to make the best of the time I have before by clipping. My birthday is June 9th and I love escargo so my ex said he is going to take me out for my birthday to the best place that makes great escargo. The amazing part is he hates this club we are going to, they play all the 80's glam~poisen, ozzy, motley I love it!!! I can't wait..and what a great guy he is to go there and brave the crowds and loud music...he just said that if it's so loud and ruptures my annie he is going to shoot me!!!! LOL

Again it's great to be here and have all the support, but I do wish I only had a week to wait like you trish waiting until the 15th of June seems like forever and then seems like a nightmare I am waiting to have happen. There is good though my son just sent me a text and he is flying in on the Sat before my surgery and staying until Tuesday to make sure I am ok. That made my day..Especially since it's mothers day. I have a pic I am going to attach it's me and my granddaughter~just ignore me!! I just woke up and had no makeup on or my hair done..LOL :)

[Kath5]

Hi LaDawn,
Well, 5 and a bit weeks on I am finally back to being able to post properly ...

Glad to hear that you have got your date. It's a strange time emotionally though isn't it? You want the time to pass quickly - then on the other hand don't. I thought both the waiting times for my ops would never come and it was a rough time, but once I got to the hospital felt calmness wash over me. Wish I could be there to give you a big hug.

We will all be here for you, it's a fantastic place and is a lifeline .

Sounds like a great place to go for your birthday. I absolutely love Poison and Motley Crue and play them all the time...Shows how well I am now and how good I am feeling (apart from my slurring speech when I am tired sometimes), I am taking my 2 daughters (ages 12 and 14) to see Nickelback live on the 29th of this month :)

Thinking of you,

Take care,

Kath
xx

[shygirl268]

LaDawn.... you couldn't be in better place to get support for your procedures...I have to say that in my experience the waiting was far worse than the reality, not helped by the cancellations, failed coiling etc...I was dreading the recovery but it was not nearly as bad...Like Kath, i'm 6 weeks post op and doing just great, but did managed to bang my head a few times this weekend doing DIY, NOT a good idea....:mad: You've had loads of great advice, now keep calm and enjoy your time before the op.... Will be thinking of you.

Kath... so lovely to hear you are feeling much better... its great isn't it;)... i'm taking my daughter to see Michael Jackson.... cant wait. :o... Where are you seeing Nickleback?? XX

[Xtina M]

Hi LaDawn,

You are such a positive, fun person; enjoy what you do and who you are and look forward to the time when your surgery is over and you can quit the worrying! Think what a relief that will be.

I'll be thinking of you and praying for you over the next weeks. Keep us all posted.

Christina

[ESPNchick]

So glad you have a date for the clipping! Hoping that the next few weeks fly by! The waiting was BY FAR worse than the recovery has been!

[beach1_gal@yahoo.com]

Here is a question that I just thought of ~I know that there will be swelling when I have myh clipping. But is there any swelling when they do the coiling? The location for the coiling is the left internal carotid artery and it's 8mm x 4mm x 2.5mm. Just curious as I will just be recovering from the clipping and then in again for the coiling 3 weeks later.

Thanks for all the input.

LaDawn

[shygirl268]

Hi LaDawn. You may have swelling in the groin from the catheters they insert into both arteries. I was very swollen and bruised there for a couple of weeks after and it was painful to walk for the first couple of days post op. They used angioseals to close the artery and I think they put too much in!!:D Obviously your brain has been fiddled with so i'm guessing there may be some internal swelling but you cant see it!

It is remarkable how quickly you can heal from open brain surgery! Three weeks following my surgery you would be hard pushed to know, unless you looked closely and noticed a very thin scar on my forehead. All the swelling and most of the bruising had abated by then... however it takes some time for your body to heal internally and the best thing for this is to listen to your body and rest when ever you need to. I'm not one for sitting around and I found it so incredibly difficult and seriously depressing in the first couple of weeks.. but once i could start walking my dog I was off! I'm now back to walking 4 miles a day and pretty much at the speed I was prior to my ops and I'm 6 weeks post clipping.... I'm delighted!;) Keep asking lots of questions to put your mind at rest, you've got a big journey in front of you but our bodies are amazing at healing.... Lots of love to you. Julie XX