More Tests
Thursday January 17, 2008 | 3 comments
Yesterday I got a call from Dr. Samson’s scheduler, who is a man, but was mistaken for a woman by my coworkers (you can draw your own conclusions here). He is always fun to talk to and by fun I mean he always sounds like I have just interrupted him while he was in the middle of enjoying his most favorite thing in the world, but now he has to talk to me, how unfortunate. He calls me Misssisss Sm-eeeeeeee-th, drawing out that lone vowel all the way from Canada to Mexico and back. It makes me smile.
We scheduled two more appointments—CTA (computerized axial tomographic scan with angioplasty) and another appointment with the doc to discuss results. From what I understand, a CTA is considered the golden standard for diagnosing AMV’s and Dr. Samson wanted this particular test done at his clinic because the hospital I used before was at the ends of the earth and, apparently, not quite to the standard the doc was looking for.
Let me make something clear—there is no questions of whether or not I have an AVM. I do. It’s there. Big and bulgy. Four centimeters in diameter, fat and happy. The question now is whether I have any aneurysms within the AVM. Doc has to know this to determine a more concrete plan of action because if there are aneurysms in the AVM, then there will be only one plan—surgery, surgery, and more surgery.
Apparently, aneurysms present a greater risk than AVM’s, so when you combine the two, the risk of no treatment outweighs the risk of treatment. So, in a couple of weeks, we’ll meet with the doc again to map out a more concrete plan of action, so to speak.
After I scheduled the CTA, I caught myself thinking, “Of course I don’t have any aneurysms in there, how silly and what a waste of time!” But then I remembered that this is exactly what I thought a month ago going in for the initial CAT scan, “What a waste of time, it’s just a sinus infection, there’s nothing wrong with my brain.” The next thing I knew, I was standing in a tiny radiology office, my doctor telling me I have a brain tumor.
So, my conclusion is, you never know and that’s a little hard to swallow right now, maybe even more than a little. Actually, having to make a choice between wait-and-see and aggressive measures like surgery has been quite daunting. I appreciate everyone’s support and prayers through this time and I will definitely keep updating as things come up.
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Have they talked at all about putting you on blood thinners? Would those help any?
Kristin: I have to stay away from blood thinners. Aspirin is absolutely prohibited at this point. The problem is in the structure of the veins, not so much the blood itself. Doctors tell me blood thinners will actually hurt me, not help and I guess it is because the blood flow will increase due to blood thinners, but I am not really sure.
Olga, I sent you an email. Yes no blood thinners for me too.