This is long overdue but hello all my discovery of my AVM was three days after my 25th birthday back in October 2024, waking up to the worst headache of my life. I initially thought I had sprained or broke my back in my sleep since I was not able to move so much I was extremely stiff luckily I was still mobile enough to walk around. I went downstairs to my kitchen and made myself a tea thinking this pain was gonna go away soon. I sat at my desk and was just contemplating what was going on with me for a brief moment my mind was saying this might be a stroke weirdly enough I did the BEFAST stroke assessment and I was fine nothing seemed out of the ordinary besides the obvious intense level 9/10 pain of a headache I simply didn’t want to acknowledge. At some point my parents had woken up and the last memory I had was me gagging in the toilet bowl and my mom telling me the nurses/doctors were gonna assume I’m pregnant (I obviously wasn’t but you know how mom’s are) from that moment on I had amnesia for two weeks and I snapped out of it as I was finally aware I was in the ICU. Now from what my mom told me from that moment forward I went upstairs to change to go to the ER and I had asked her for a cup of water she gave it to me and I wasn’t able to swallow the liquid so immediately she knew it was very serious. I was rushed to the ER and they said well you have a brain hemorrhage and we are going to transfer you over to the main hospital that has a neurology department. Was placed into an ambulance with my mom and rushed to the main hospital. Once arrived I had an emergency embolization and then that was when they discovered I had an AVM. Once again I had amnesia so I do not recall anything but it seems that I was still confused and kept saying I was in the first hospital instead of the main one but after a few days I was becoming aware of things. I guess my pain was always very high looking at my nurses notes my pain was usually an 7/8 in the initial days but gradually decreased. Around the time I was coming out of my amnesia I had hallucinations due to morphine so they stopped giving me that as pain relief. The hallucinations I had wasn’t scary it simply was me cooking pasta on a stove and me being mad I couldn’t find where the stove was. Oh yeah also from what my parents said I was a bit(very) mean or aggressive to them and I’m like I’m sorry that wasn’t the real me. I remember my doctor coming in one day and showing me where my avm was and explaining what it was to me and also showed me that I had two unruptured aneurysms that were burned off by my angiogram procedure. It was a lot to take in but I had already made terms with everything like yup this is my life now. By the third week in the ICU they finally moved me out to a normal room and I was discharged early November. Almost a month in the hospital but I was out finally. The time went by fast well for me the amnesia helped since I hardly remember anything. Now I knew this wasn’t the end of my journey so my main neurologist discussed with me treatment options it was wither gonna be surgery or radiation. So all of last year I thought it through also wanted to live my life with no interruptions. I ultimately decided on surgery being the best option for me considering how young I am and overall a healthy person with no important commitments. Also I had many consultations and it always ended with them saying surgery was a better option considering the size and location. The date was set and it happened late February of this year. I was in the ICU for only one week and now it’s been three weeks since then and I feel really good I’m recovering very well at home and it almost feels like nothing happened. From the MRI and CT scans done it shows that my AVM is completely gone. This was the peace of mind I needed as my anxiety was going rampant all of last year. I am taking one day at a time as I am still tired and know it’ll take months to fully recover but I feel good and I am a very optimistic person so lets see how things go. If anyone has questions feel free to ask I left out a lot of details but I chose what was best for me.
That is fantastic news! You will likely have a bump here and there as recovery is never linear but it sure sounds like you are on a great path! Thanks so much for sharing, John.
Thank you for sharing your journey. I’m so glad to hear that your surgery went well and that your scans show the AVM has been completely treated.
While each treatment option whether surgery, radiation, or others has its own considerations, it sounds like you made a thoughtful decision based on your situation and medical guidance. IMO, a successful surgery can bring a great deal of clarity and peace of mind moving forward, which is incredibly valuable.
Wishing you a smooth and steady recovery as you continue to heal.
Great news & thanks for sharing & offering help to others on here… it really does make a difference to others going through this… God bless!