Recovery Period for Embolization

My Wife is going to have her 1st Embolization on April 18th. (other on May 2nd)
Wanted to know how long does the recovery take to plan her leave at work.
She doesn't have much of the symptoms now.. have some occasional blurriness in vision and headache..
Any suggestions will be of great help

Thanks

Hi Goud,

Of course, it depends and varies by individuals and AVMs. If there are no deficits from the embo, she'll be tired for a couple of days, maybe longer. Normal activities should be ok within a week, but fatigue could be an issue.

One of the key things is to try to make sure they get the tubes out as soon as you are out of the OR, and have to begin a long period (6 hrs?) on your back after they remove the probes.

Best wishes,
Ron, KS

Hey,

Your wife will be in my thoughts througout her treatment. Tomorrow actually makes one yr since my first embo.All avms are different and unique for me like ur wife i had blurry vision and headaches..my avm was located in the occipital lobe so i was warned that i may lose some periphreal vision...i instantly noticed more blurriness i was extremely tired and felt confused....i was released the next day but i was in no shape to go back to work..my next embo was scheduled for the following week and a crani....i took the rest of the week off from work i was also put on hypertension meds to keep my blood pressure low...ur wife may react differently but i know i had a hard time i def needed someone to guide me...hope that helps

Thanks Nay for the reply. even my wife has large avm in right optical lobe and we were told the same thing. How are things with you now.. is the vision any better now and did you got your AVM completed cured.. how long does it took for you to completely recover from all these?

Hey,

Now im doing pretty well..still dealing with fatigue and adapting to no longer having any periphreal vision...im starting to drive now but im still very nervous..its crazy have we take these things for granted...u have to allow urself to heal and adapt...when i came home from my crani my vision was pretty bad everything was blurry...my legs were weak....i was very light sensitive....it took me 5 weeks to start feeling like myself...i needed pt for my legs..i needed help with everything for the first two weeks including taking a bath, dressing myself...etc...i returned to work within 12 weeks of my crani...i learned to listen to my body..if i was tired i slept hrs and hrs...what threw me off was the medication i was on..i was on keppra and oxycodene made me feelso out of it !!! i eventually got off keppra bc i had a allergic reaction to it and bc i never had a seizure knock on wood! I would have never been able to get through this without the support of my family and close friends..its an very emotional time ..just remember it does get better in time

Nay is right about how we are all different due to AVM and location. I am in the hospital right now and had embo. #1 out of 3 on Mon., 3/12/13. They felt it would take 2-4 hours. It took six because they found a clot and the cath tip got stuck in the onyx. Due to the amazing skill of Dr. Pride he removed the clot and was able to free the catheter tip as well. Everything is great. Severe headaches the first 24hours and nausea during the last 12 hrs of the 24 hr section. I have the expected deficits for this point in time. Next embo. is tomorrow and the last is set for Monday with the crani/resection to be done on Wednesday.Nay is also correct in saying and encouraging you to listen to your body and rest when needed. I hope things work out well for you quickly. -Elizabeth

Wow you had the two things that really worry me happen to you. The clot and catheter tip glueing together. That is amazing to not have any major deficits after that. Even though we don't always feel it--you were lucky!!

Hello Nay. I wanted to ask you. When you started your process of obliteration did you have a bleed? I too have a large avm in the right occipital lobe and also have/had anureysms. I am waiting for a date for embolization/crani at Duke University. were you told you would lose peripheal for sure and how much did you lose?

Wish all the best to you and your wife. keep us posted.

Thanks everyone for the response & wishes..

Hi Nay,
I'm new to this support group and I have read some of your posts and have been encouraged by your recovery. I have an AVM in my left occipital lobe and I'm looking at the option of having surgery on it. Would you be okay with sharing the size of your avm and if you have any loss of vision? Did you have embolization. Thank you for any help you can give me. I've been so scared since finding out about the AVM