The word of the day is FENTANYL! Haha, an ounce of that stuff and you could be in the middle of a sandstorm looking for a cold daquiri and place to rest your feet!
My embolization was scheduled for 2:30 pm last tuesday, but a patient cancelled last minute allowing me to take the surgeons first available slot. My mother and aunt Karen were there with me, and I got changed in the back room and waited on the anesthesiologist to arrive.
He was very welcoming and of course went over my litany of allergies with me (soy products, fruit skins [that always stumps them], just to name a couple. I told him that my anxiety had been agitated since hearing of the diagnosis and I did not take any of my usual medications, and only a sip of water since midnight. He said "not to worry, what I'm going to give you will make Xanax look like children's tylenol."
Boy, was he right --- As he injected the chemical into an IV attached to my arm I remember a warm sensation over coming my body and my limbs become loose and somewhat gummy (for lack of a better word). As I snapped the final few pictures with my mother, her fiance and my Aunt Karen I gave them a salute as I nodded off.
I awoke a few hours later, groggy and somewhat disoriented in the Post Anesthesia Care Unit to a very friendly nurse who answered as many of my questions as she could (and I was full of them) before the procedure. As she woke me, she did a few cognitive tests; stick out my tongue, spell my first and last name, name the date, the president of the USA, wiggle my toes, fingers, grab her fingers and push her away. As the sedative wore off I became more aware of the large catheter (TMI, I know) that they'd inserted during the procedure and the scratchiness in my throat from being intubated for about two and half hours total. I was told that they implanted four platinum coils in my right cerebellum to impede bloodflow to the problem area; over time this should shrink the AVM to a size treatable by gamma knife with a projected success rate of 95%!
As I came to, I was transferred to the neurorecovery ICU, where I was given a room with a nice view of the roof haha! My nurse was young and friendly and she complimented me on my good health; specifically my healthy blood pressure and athletic BPM. As she spoke, however, she pulled a slick move and removed the catheter abruptly. 
I never felt a pain quite like that, but thank God it was over quickly.
After a few more cognitive tests, my mom and a coworker were able to visit me. I was in particularly good spirits despite a soreness at the site of the catheterization in my thigh, and a stiffness in my neck accompanied by a throbbing headache. Other than that, I was up and watching television between naps. I was right, and I was VERY hungry almost immediately after I came to. The nurse brought me pot roast (I'm not entirely sure what it was exactly) and I coaxed my mother into buying a foot long Tuna sub from subway with all the trimmings.
Over the course of the rest of the day, my mother sat and chatted with me, nurses and other staff as they came to and from the room. Finally, she offered to stay the night in the hospital with me, but I assured her that I would be fine and that she should go home and get some rest. (I think she was more worried than I!) Throughout the night, nurses came in to administer the same cognitive checks, stat checks and make sure the blood in below the incision was circulating properly. This was the only rather annoying part as it seemed that just as I was dozing off, a nurse would come into to wake me and test me yet again.
As a sidenote: I rediscovered my love of "What's Love Got to Do With It" starring Angela Bassett (mostly because it was the only thing on television, but also because Laurence Fishburne just plays an awesome villain :)
The next day, I awoke and was quite ready to leave, I hadn't had much sleep and was eager to sleep in my own bed. After recieving a general time for checkout, I grew impatient (a habit I'm learning to control) and took the monitors off of me, washed myself and put new clothes on and sat upright waiting on discharge. I told the nurse my only concern was the dizziness, and after walking up and down the hall a few times and few stumbles later I was cleared to leave.
My mom retrieved her car as I was wheeled downstairs. I was given medication for post treatment; a painkiller and a steroid to prevent adverse immune reaction to the implants.
As far as pain went, it was definitely manageable, considering the doses of Fentanyl via IV every few hours and steady stream of popsicles to ease my sore throat.
Since the surgery, I have been somewhat lacking in energy, but still managed to make it out to see friends -- and have occasional spells of intense dizziness but all in all the side effects are minimal. Today, however, I did awaken with a very stiff neck and throbbing headache which my surgeon Dr. Putman told me is a normal reaction to the healing process; additionally the dizziness will subside because over time my body has learned to compensate to one side of the cerebellum and now that blood flow has been cut off to a portion, I will have to "re-learn" some of the finer motor controls.
I been bumping into things, dropping small items, my normally stellar handwriting is a bit 'off' and typing on a keyboard has more errors than normal. But I have been assured that in time my faculties will return to normal and may even be better than before!
I will provide updates as my recovery continues and keep everyone privy when I go in for my final radiation treatment!
Love and Peace
