After almost a year of bouncing around the medical system, I had a brain angiogram Wednesday. This is the test where they stick a catheter in through the femoral artery in the groin area, near the front of the hip joint. The test itself wasn't too bad, although they didn't inject quite enough lidocaine at first, and it hurt a lot when they put in whatever they put in at first. I mentioned this, and they gave me some more lidocaine.
The catheter is guided by some sort of wire until they get it close to the aneurysm, and then dye is injected. This is all done under a fluoroscope so that they can see where it's going and steer it. Fortunately they also gave me more fentanyl when I asked for it.
Results: they don't like the way the aneurysm looks. It's small, but lumpy. The neurovascular surgeon wants to implant a new-ish sort of stent, called cPAX, to bypass the aneurysm. Fortunately, this is also an endovascular procedure, but for this one, I'll be unconscious. I like the sound of this better than the other two options - coiling and clipping. I've done some research on those methods, and while clipping seems more reliable, it's open surgery.
So I'll see the surgeon again next week, and we'll go over everything (I haven't seen any pictures yet), and most likely schedule the surgery.
The catheter is guided by some sort of wire until they get it close to the aneurysm, and then dye is injected. This is all done under a fluoroscope so that they can see where it's going and steer it. Fortunately they also gave me more fentanyl when I asked for it.
Results: they don't like the way the aneurysm looks. It's small, but lumpy. The neurovascular surgeon wants to implant a new-ish sort of stent, called cPAX, to bypass the aneurysm. Fortunately, this is also an endovascular procedure, but for this one, I'll be unconscious. I like the sound of this better than the other two options - coiling and clipping. I've done some research on those methods, and while clipping seems more reliable, it's open surgery.
So I'll see the surgeon again next week, and we'll go over everything (I haven't seen any pictures yet), and most likely schedule the surgery.
