Post CCSVI
It's done! Surgery went well. Vascular access center staff was amazing!!! Dr. McGuckin is kind and charismatic. I couldn't have asked for a better experience. Worst part? No bring able to eat! Lol I am not a person who deals well with low blood sugar.
I went in for 8am filled out the paper work got into a gown, had an IV started and waited a few minutes to meet the doctor. We met Dr. McGuckin and went over the risks, expectations, post procedure recommendations. and a little friendly banter. I waited a little while (it didn't seem long at all) and then they took me in to get prepped after to prep work was done we the nurses and I chatted and soon Dr. M came in and he got to work. I don't remember the whole thing but I do remember the first 2 veins being opened clearly and the third vaguely. The first area (the left iliac vein) ballooned felt like a bad menstral cramp so a totally manageable amount of pain. The azygos was the barely noticeable ( I'd had more drugs by then so that may have been a factor). The the left jugular was the third and I remember hearing a whooshing kind of noise and saying that was weird but the rest is fuzzy. The forth was my right jugular vein and I don't remember it at all. I will be posting some pictures and more notes about the blockages later as my helpful hubby needs to convert the files before I can use them.
I came to in the waiting/ recovery area a short while later. I was told my procedure was a shorter one and only took 45min. I didn't feel to badly when I woke just tired but not really sore. . I was groggy for a short while but soon was asking for food. I was told I had to wait (grr). Devin kept me distracted and soon they feed me a yummy veggie sandwhich, delicious chocolate chip cookies and apple juice! Wonderful blood sugar surge made me feel super human and I started asking to get up do I could go to the washroom. They let me start moving around with help and many words of caution and I was soon dressed and feeling good to go. I got a nice VAC bag with some pens, some brochures, my follow up care info and a CD with procedure pics on it. How cool is that? Souvenirs! Okay so I'm easily amused what can I say. I actually just finished looking at the pictures and I'm really excited to share them!
So the million dollar question... How do I feel? Moderately better? I don't feel the pressure around my neck that I've had for years anymore. My neck tension has also decreased. I don't feel like a million bucks but I'm happy to wait a while until I really feel like I'm recovered from the surgery, the trip, the steroid treatment, and having been in a major relapse for 5 weeks. I'm not in a rush for healing to happen. It took a while to get sick and it takes a while to recover. I'm tired so I'm resting and I'm looking forward to sleeping in my own bed as I'm not sleeping so well in the hotel. I'm also looking forward to getting back on my supplements and restarting my gluten free diet. I think those changes will also help set me up for some quality healing.
So that's the update for now. I will try to do another follow up soon.
~M
I went in for 8am filled out the paper work got into a gown, had an IV started and waited a few minutes to meet the doctor. We met Dr. McGuckin and went over the risks, expectations, post procedure recommendations. and a little friendly banter. I waited a little while (it didn't seem long at all) and then they took me in to get prepped after to prep work was done we the nurses and I chatted and soon Dr. M came in and he got to work. I don't remember the whole thing but I do remember the first 2 veins being opened clearly and the third vaguely. The first area (the left iliac vein) ballooned felt like a bad menstral cramp so a totally manageable amount of pain. The azygos was the barely noticeable ( I'd had more drugs by then so that may have been a factor). The the left jugular was the third and I remember hearing a whooshing kind of noise and saying that was weird but the rest is fuzzy. The forth was my right jugular vein and I don't remember it at all. I will be posting some pictures and more notes about the blockages later as my helpful hubby needs to convert the files before I can use them.
I came to in the waiting/ recovery area a short while later. I was told my procedure was a shorter one and only took 45min. I didn't feel to badly when I woke just tired but not really sore. . I was groggy for a short while but soon was asking for food. I was told I had to wait (grr). Devin kept me distracted and soon they feed me a yummy veggie sandwhich, delicious chocolate chip cookies and apple juice! Wonderful blood sugar surge made me feel super human and I started asking to get up do I could go to the washroom. They let me start moving around with help and many words of caution and I was soon dressed and feeling good to go. I got a nice VAC bag with some pens, some brochures, my follow up care info and a CD with procedure pics on it. How cool is that? Souvenirs! Okay so I'm easily amused what can I say. I actually just finished looking at the pictures and I'm really excited to share them!
So the million dollar question... How do I feel? Moderately better? I don't feel the pressure around my neck that I've had for years anymore. My neck tension has also decreased. I don't feel like a million bucks but I'm happy to wait a while until I really feel like I'm recovered from the surgery, the trip, the steroid treatment, and having been in a major relapse for 5 weeks. I'm not in a rush for healing to happen. It took a while to get sick and it takes a while to recover. I'm tired so I'm resting and I'm looking forward to sleeping in my own bed as I'm not sleeping so well in the hotel. I'm also looking forward to getting back on my supplements and restarting my gluten free diet. I think those changes will also help set me up for some quality healing.
So that's the update for now. I will try to do another follow up soon.
~M
Yay!!! So happy the surgery went well Morgan :)
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