What Questions Should I Ask?

Hi everyone and thank you for being so welcoming! I have posted my info before so to make a long story short, I suffered a stroke on 4/20 but didn't find out that I have an AVM with a possible Aneurysm until after I was discharged and my family doctor ordered an MRA (the Neurologist in the hospital did a Catscan, MRI and an ultrasound on my corrotid arteries but the AVM did not show up so he sent me home and told me if I wasn't any better to come and see him in 3 weeks) which revealed the AVM. He referred me to a Neurologist who said they would order a CTA, however, his staff never did so my family doctor once again ordered the CTA and it revealed the same information and the Radiologist report recommended a Cerebral Angiogram. The waiting is so frustrating!

I have an appointment with a new Neurologist at University of Cincinnati Hospital on June 5th and was wondering what questions I need to ask. My mind has been working overtime since all of this happened. My headaches and dizziness are worse, but my left side has been improving in the last 6 weeks. I walk with a cane and have memory issues, but overall, doing pretty well. I have bouts of depression and am very tired all the time. Luckily, I am still off work, but am wondering how much longer I will need to be off. I have not been released to drive and unfortunately my job is in contracts where I read all day long. I worry that I will not be able to do the same job.

What questions should I ask the Neurologist? Should I agree to have the Cerebral Angiogram done? My AVM is near my brain stem but I do not know what size it is so that is one question I will ask him.

Any information or questions you feel are important, would be greatly appreciated. This is all brand new to me and the more I read, the more I realize that I need to do more research and read a lot more of the Discussions on this page.

Thank you all in advance for all of your advice!

Hi Kristina,
I think one of the most important question to ask a neurologist is: how many AVM's have you diagnosed, managed, & followed up on? If he or she has not had much experience, I feel it's important to find one who does. Also, if surgery is required or recommended, who will he or she refer you to?
I ran searches & found these discussion @ http://www.avmsurvivors.org/forum/topic/search?q=questions+for+neurologist & http://www.avmsurvivors.org/forum/topic/search?q=brainstem.
There are also sub-groups you may be interested in @ http://www.avmsurvivors.org/groups.
Best wishes!