This may be a stupid question, but Googling it doesn’t seem to work for me. I will ask my doctor at the next opportunity, but nothing scheduled at this point. I’m curious. Physiologically speaking - what happens to an artery after it is embolized? They put a glob of glue in the artery, completely blocking off blood flow as intended. Does it slowly get reabsorbed by the body? Just sit there in place forever? Has anyone been told the answer?
Don’t answer questions you are not educated to answer please!
What happens? Best case scenario - you’re me, 100% obliteration is reached on 1st attempt. The dAVF/AVM is filled with either Onyx Copolymer or TruFill & a cast is formed - it’s there forever
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Appreciate responses, but my question was not about what treatment to get. Given that an embolization is done, what happens to the treated artery over time?
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Fellow embolisation patient here. I’ve not asked but my expectation is that the intent is that it stays there blocking the artery ad infinitum. My doc was a consultant interventional radiologist and simply said “Resume life as normal”.
So just put it out of your mind as something in the past. With any operation, some AVMs may recur. I think this is where a fraction of the AVM was omitted in your op, so if you get some resumption of symptoms, go and get checked out again but, generally, put it out of your mind.
Hope you’re doing ok.
Richard
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Thanks to all who responded. Sounds like there are many answers. I worry that I need to be careful about lifting things after my embolization. I was told to come back in 6 months.
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I think it is sensible to take things easy post op. An embolisation seems like it is a quick and easy operation but I feel there is still plenty to get used to post op and messing around with your brain – whether having a craniotomy or having an embolisation – takes much longer to be back towards normal than you’d think. If you only had your op in September, you’re still early days to being back towards normal.
I had a rescan at about 8 weeks post op, so some review is normal. I believe each intervention can be less than 100% successful, so embolisations are regularly undertaken as one or more approaches. Whether your doc thinks a further approach is necessary is something I’d hope they’d already discussed with you. My doc indicated from the outset that I might need two trips round the operating theatre but he did indicate immediately after the op and again at the 8 week mark that he had got mine 100% in the one approach, so I’m 4.5 years now post embo only.
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Everyone is different & everyone’s case is different
I had a whole thread I had one here that had my updates
I am two weeks away from 17 months post embolization & this minute I am repping 225 on a incline bench press - and, have done quite a bit more(edit - make it, 235 today;)
I have been at this over a decade - so, we are all different. It’s not a race - that’s for sure
When leaving ICU I was only permitted to lift 10 pounds for 90 days - which I did over a thousand times per day
My follow up angiogram was at 5 weeks - which showed 100% occlusion 
I’ve been back to ER about a handful of times - but, all symptoms were “just” from CNS damage
GL to u & us all
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Thanks so much Mike. My doc was out of town when I was discharged so I only received written, general instructions. This was my 2nd surgery that month. In Sept. 2nd I had a Micra wireless pacemaker implanted in my heart. Now I’m thankful to be alive but not sure how much is safe to do. I can walk for about 30 minutes but I’m careful when I’m working at the Food Bank about lifting anything. I so appreciate your feedback.
Mary
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Hi Mike,
My embolization took 5 1/2 hours and after general anesthesia I was pretty crazy acting. My doc said to come back in 6 months. He was out of town when I was discharged so I just had general discharge papers but no way to get questions answered. I so appreciate this website. Thank you, Mary
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Pretty crazy is an understatement for myself - I woke up in full on restraints < boy, that was weird. The staff said it took a handful of staff to hold me down for about three hours < I remember none of this at all! This was after a 4.5 hour embolization procedure.
Just take it easy, do what you feel you’re okay with - when I got home from ICU it took about a week for me to be able to even drive around the block. It took me about a month to be able to walk around the block.
I followed my neuro’s instructions tho & so far everything has better than worked out
CNS issues are still somewhat present tho. Just last week, the outside of foot & ankle started to feel numb(ish), then my right pinky & ring finger. It’s still lingering around - but, I still have full strength < considering, this is just fine by me.
Take it easy, “relax” < this of course is so much easier said/typed than actually done.
I seem to feel numb sometimes, muted emotions. Also conversations are hard. They take a lot of work. Maybe I’m indifferent. I use fewer words when I’m working on a document. I think I had my fistula for a very long time. And things got very bad just before my surgery. I didn’t know what was happening. I’m not sure I want to have another procedure. I’m afraid I’ll be worse afterwards than I am now.
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I still cant quite figure out how to reply to a specific post as a quote -
I seem to feel numb sometimes, muted emotions. Also conversations are hard. They take a lot of work. Maybe I’m indifferent. I use fewer words when I’m working on a document. I think I had my fistula for a very long time. And things got very bad just before my surgery. I didn’t know what was happening.
But, this sounds spot on to what I am currently dealing with mentally - physically, I seem fine. But, from what I figure, it’s a way I figured to deal with things better - so, my blood pressure & anxiety doesn’t just fly off the charts.
Select the text you want to quote, then press “Quote”
Make sure you add any text after the quote rather than before. It needs to be the first piece of text in the block.
Or, use the “>” symbol as the first character of a line to indent a paragraph. When you do this
It looks like this.
Ok? I edited your post to add the “>”.
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Hi Mike,
Thanks for your comments. It seems like I no longer have a road map to where I’m headed. Now that I have some of my energy back I’m doing more service projects with our Rotary. Today I managed to volunteer at a local marathon at our Aid Station. On my feet for 6 hours handling out drinks to the runners. Wasn’t sure I’d be able to last that long. It worked out and we’re all proud of our efforts. I guess there are little windows where we can feel hope once again and a bit normal.
Mary
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Hi Dick, I’m feeling like some of my old symptoms are returning. I’m having dizziness, extreme fatigue that sends me back to bed and poor balance. This is all new. I plan to slow down for a week and see if that helps. Don’t think I’m ready for another hospitalization with all the COVID
Sounds like a plan. Don’t take us as able to give medical advice, though: if you’ve got symptoms you’re worried about, make sure to talk to your doctor.
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Thank you. Will do. Mary
Exactly how I am - I’m still avoiding medical facilities, within reason - now, my PCP is going through a spiel about me coming into the office for no real reason - I’ll pass, fill my Rx’s & shut it. I have been doing telemedicine since being sent home from ICU/ER - I, thankfully feel a ok
I just did have to do my yearly DOT physical, so I went in - along with my recent blood donation
But, feel yourself out - we’re definitely no medical professionals here, like Richard stated. If symptoms make you feel like you need to go in - definitely go
Hi Mike, thanks for your update. It’s comforting to hear from you and how you’re feeling. I’ve reduced my activities whenever possible. I’m still adjusting to my new Micra pacemaker inserted Sept 2nd that comes with a long list of things to avoid to prevent reduced effectiveness. Crazy situation. I never know what I need to avoid in a new setting. Store, friend’s home, etc. you fill in the blank. There’s no way to know what’s out there in my mine field. I’ll keep routine appointments for my pacemaker and also a low profile. With too many complaints they may decide not to replace it when it runs out. I may stop being a possible recipient.
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I’m responding to the question what is a Micra Pacemaker. The Medtronic Micra AV transcatheter pacemaker has no leads and is implanted directly into the right ventricle of the heart. It is one inch long and one-quarter inch wide. Medtronic provides much more information on their web site. It’s fairly new and it took me eight months to find a cardiologist who was performing this surgery.
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