I’m taking a small break from my story to share a dilemma I’m currently facing because it is affecting me a bit at the moment. Also, the next part of my story will have to be written by my wife since I was in an induced coma for a few days. Lets give her about a week because shes been extremely busy.
You are all most likely wondering what in the world is an angiogram. I get it, we are all busy playing Fortnite or doing the Drake “In My Feelings” dance, so let me explain. It is a procedure done by a doctor with a team (Lucky for me Dr. Hoang D. Duong is amazing and if i am not mistaken he is a director for Memorial with over 30 years of experience).
Here is the general breakdown. The procedure requires the patient to be completely still in order to be effective and successful. Step one, you are sedated (I am typically maxed out due to fighting it and not relaxing). Step two, they will sterilize your groin area where a minuscule incision will be made for a specialized catheter. Step 3, the catheter is inserted and threaded through blood vessels to get into the carotid artery. It is located in your neck and carries blood to your brain. Experiencing these medical advancements first hand really surprises me as I learn about them myself.
Now onto the final steps. Once in the Carotid, a contrast dye is injected and it will travel into the blood vessels in your brain (sounds like a fun long weekend huh?). Finally, multiple X-rays are taken, however I’m not to sure how the logistics work throughout all that scanning process. Then everything is removed and the incision is closed.
The whole procedure lasts from one to three hours and because of what I recently went through I will be required to stay at least 24 hours. So why are you so stressed out Mario? Like with everything in life, risks exist and I have to sign off on them. The possibility of another stroke, excessive bleeding, formation of blood clots, puncturing an artery etc. My family and I went through so much already, nevertheless this is home stretch for me. If all goes well I should live the rest of my life worry free and lets face it you cannot put a price on peace of mind.
This will be my 2nd Angiogram, the other was done right after my craniotomy which is how the AVM was found and thankfully the embolization was successful. This is like the “lets double check follow up.” I have a good feeling everything will go well. My son’s birthday is right after all this mumbo jumbo and I cannot wait to spend time with him and my wife who has stuck by my side 24/7. I married the right woman hands down.
Now back to your regular scheduled program…
To learn more about AVM and its effects, you can visit this LINK.