My brother, David, had an operation on May 14th, to remove two AVMs (his second surgery of this type) - they did an angiogram on the operating table, found some more AVM, went back in and removed it. Now his neurosurgeon has ordered another angiogram for tomorrow.
The thing is, David was otherwise healthy when he went for his last angiogram a few weeks ago. Now, he is only on Day 3 post-surgery, has some speech issues, loss of movement on the right side of his body, and is very angry and upset.
He's still recovering from the anesthesia and surgery and we're so worried about the trauma of having an angiogram at this point, especially the bit where you have to lie flat for hours afterwards. Has anyone else had one so close to surgery? What was it like?
Hey..My Surgery was on a Thursday and they did my angio on the following Tuesday to make sure they got everything out.This time I wished they would give me a bit more time to recover beore they do it, but it all went well...no problems from it ..its just the common procedure I think, and I hope ur bro will be fine, take care pls and stay strong XXXX
No, I only had an MRI that I know of. But I really don't remember much of the first couple weeks post-op. I woke up with less movement on the left side than I already had, it happens sometimes. It just means working harder than you were hoping:)They might have touched more of your brothers brain than expected. My Dr. told me mine was deeper than they thought and the deeper they go, the more they touch (that's how he simplified it for me) Best of luck to your brother and family.
From everything I read…an angiogram is still the best way to detect an AVM. We refer to an angiogram as the gold standard test on here. 3 days out from brain surgery is very early in the recovery stage. If your brother gets upset…just remind him that he lost a knife fight to the brain. You have my permission to show him my profile page. I know he is frustrated now but trust me a craniotomy is better than a AVM bleed. Please keep us posted.
I had an angiogram to detect my brain bleed and AVM. The next day they performed an embolisation of the AVM. I didn’t have my follow-up angiogram until 9 months later. Why don’t you ask the Dr why he wants to do another angiogram?
I had an angiogram the day after my surgery. I was so doped up after surgery that it pretty much is a blur...i hope everything works out for your brother and please tell him not to be angry in his state. He needs to be as positive as possible to recover well and he can take his issues up after hes up and about. God bless and keep us posted
My husband had his second crainitomy on a Monday which included an angiogram, then the next day they did a repeat angiogram with a better machine - found residual AVM not detected the day before, and on Wednesday a repeat crainitomy on Wednesday with another angiogram that day (while still under sedation).
For the full 3 days he did eat anything - either sick from the anesthesia or having to wait due to the scheduled procedures - he was very cranky/angry/uncomfortable.
Wow, that's a lot to go through, for both of you! I hope everything is ok now?! I'm curious as to why they used a different machine for the post-op angiogram...thank God they did, but it is kind of crazy that one machine would say it's ok and another not! I'm going to press my brother's neuro to do periodic angios (yearly, maybe? Not sure of protocol) to make sure everything is fine going forward!
Thanks everyone! We got the results of the post-op angiogram and it was all clear, as was the one done on the operating table a few days before. We're so pleased...if any of you have any insight on doing follow-up angiograms in the years following surgery, please let me know. David's neurosurgeon said we could do it if we wanted to, but didn't seem to think it was necessary. That's what they told my parents after surgery when David was a toddler, but there WAS residual AVM. Although his current neurosurgeon says that's because he was little at the time, and the brain was still creating blood vessels, or something like that. thanks all, for your kind words and support!