Well, I had my angio on the 9th in Albany.
Here is the quick breakdown:
40% stenosis in my right IJV and a slight narrowing in my left IJV. Azygos looked ok. Both IJV opened.
Nothing new to report. Still feel the same as I did when I went in.
Here is the long breakdown:
I hesitated to write here because I wanted to give my body plenty of rest after the surgery. About a week has passed and so I believe that the meds are out of my system.
I will be writing on the stickies and adding to the polls on TiMS.
My family and I (wife and 2 young children) drove to Albany from Pittsburgh. It is about a 7-8 hour drive. I heard from nurses that people drove in as far as Minnesota. The people at Albany Medical were great. I can't say that enough. From the nurses to the techs to Dr. Mandato. My family was all there and the nurses helped out so much. All were excited to hear/see results.
The procedure itself was 2 hours, though I remember only about 20 minutes of it. Pretty painless. I was up and moving about 2-3 hours after. There was the “heat” of the incision that lasted about 2-3 days but nothing which I couldn’t handle easily.
After the surgery, Dr. Mandato stopped by. He went over what he had done and what to do post op (325mg of aspirin for 3 months). He also stated that they are doing surveys about the results through the web – Survey Monkey. They want to track outcomes and sending it via email to everyone that is getting the angio. So far about 200 people have been through there… about 2 a day in the hospital. Before asking me how I felt, Dr. Mandato repeatedly mentioned to give it 3 months. 3 months, 3 months 3 months. So I guess they are seeing better results later rather than earlier.
The next day, I went in for a follow-up ultrasound and “passed with flying colors”.
So what did I have:
Heat intolerance and exercising are what makes this list even worse. My best case scenarios are to be "at rest" all the time. Exercise is a subset of heat intolerance. Heat can come from the environment (over 70-75 degrees) or internal such as exercising over 10-15 min.
Scales: 1-10 1 is the Best and 10 is the Worst
1. Optic Neuritis (rt eye). Typically a 2-3. With heat 8, to where I am for all practical purposes blind.
2. Rt "leg drop" Typically 2-3. With heat - 7. The right leg feels like a ton of weight. It drags and drops unless I am fully concentrating on moving it. Also have tingling from time to time - like a light weight funny bone hit.
3. Looking downwards, 50% of the time, shoots tingling sensation to all extremities.
4. Cog fog. I strive to remember easy name/terms/words. I may pause for a min to try to remember what word I am searching for.
5. Double vision. I can "fix it" when I notice it.
6. Massive Fatigue. Typically 3ish. With heat - 8. I mean bad. As soon as I walk around for more than 10 min I can feel it. Exercising... yeah right. Lifting... yeah right. I am literally laid out. I have to sit for about 25 min just to get down to a 3 again. Going to an amusement park - are you kidding?
7. Rt leg twitching during evening hours and later. Does have the ability to keep me up. Have not had a full night sleep in over a year.
8. Odd temperature sensations. Comes and goes. Cold feels hot and hot feels cold.
What has happened after the surgery:
Well nothing yet
Hate to say that here after all the good news that is going out but I do not feel any different. Took a warm shower – fatigued. Walked out in 72 degree heat – fatigued/footdrop in about 10-15 minutes. Cog fog and vision still the same.So I guess at this point, I will give it 3 months. I will be updating TiMS and Albany on my condition as time goes on.
