Yeah, I did. I've been meaning to send you a thank you note, but it's
been really busy here at work, and I have no memory. (But at least
now I can blame it on the AVM!)

Sara

--- In neurovascular@yahoogroups.com, "gentleo" <gentleo@y...> wrote:
> ---
> Hi Sara. Did you check the websites I emailed you? Keep in touch.
> Kaye
>
>
> In neurovascular@yahoogroups.com, "Sara" <saelenn@y...> wrote:
> > Hi, Kaye.
> >
> > What exactly is gamma knife? I'm not familiar with it, and I
> haven't
> > found anything about it in the research I've done. Maybe you could
> > give me some more details?
> >
> > Sara
> >
> > --- In neurovascular@yahoogroups.com, Kaye McIntosh <gentleo@y...>
> wrote:
> > > Hi Sara. My name is Kaye. I live in Marathon, FL(in
> > > the keys). I am 47. I don't have an AVM. I have a CA
> > > (cavernous angioma). I was diagnosed Christmas Day.
> > > Actually they thought that it was a tumor. This
> > > happened when my husband and I were visiting my family
> > > in NC. I had a grand mal seizure and was taken by
> > > ambulance to the hospital. They did a CT and it
> > > showed a mass in my left temporpartial lobe. They
> > > refered me to a neurosurgeon in Cape Coral, FL( on the
> > > gulf coast). They put me on dialantin to control the
> > > seizures. I say the neuro a the first week of 1/05.
> > > He did a MRI and said that it was most likely it was a
> > > CA. I was scheduled to have another MRI and MRA in
> > > one month. On 1/10/05 I started getting dizzy and
> > > ended up in the local ER. My dilantin level was almost
> > > nil. They pumped me full of the stuff and kept me
> > > there for 2 days. I saw a local neurologist while
> > > there who ordered another mri and an eeg. While in
> > > the hospital one of the nurses told me about a
> > > neurosurgeon, Dr. Aizik Wolf from Miami, who comes to
> > > Key West once a month. I checked him out on the
> > > internet and found out that he uses the gamma knife.
> > > I saw him a couple of weeks later in Key West. He
> > > looked at my mri and mra and said that I was a good
> > > candidate for the procedure. I really didn't want
> > > open surguery. I don't like being cut on! I went to
> > > Doctor's Hospital in Miami on 2/22/05 and had the
> > > gamma knife. I will say it was an experience! It
> > > didn't really hurt, just a little uncomfortable. I
> > > had a followup mri last week and will see the neuro
> > > next week to see what he says about it. Hopefully the
> > > gamma knife has stoped the bleeding. I seems like it
> > > works better on AVMs than CA. Time will tell!
> > > Sorry I have been so long winded. Hope I have been
> > > helpful.
> > > Take care.
> > > Kaye
> > >
> > >
> > > --- Sara <saelenn@y...> wrote:
> > > > Hi, my name is Sara, and I'm new here. I'm 18, and
> > > > I'm a college
> > > > freshman in Alabama.
> > > >
> > > > I recently found out that I have an AVM in my left
> > > > frontal lobe. It
> > > > started about a year ago when I started having
> > > > random episodes where
> > > > I would pass out cold for several minutes with no
> > > > warning. I went
> > > > to my GP, and the first two times he wasn't
> > > > concerned. I'm
> > > > hypoglycemic, have a heart murmur, and have very low
> > > > blood
> > > > pressure. Both times, my blood sugar levels were at
> > > > the low end of
> > > > normal, and my blood pressure was around 90/60. He
> > > > said it was
> > > > probably just a combination of low blood sugar and
> > > > low blood
> > > > pressure.
> > > >
> > > > But the third time it happened, about a month and a
> > > > half ago, he
> > > > referred me to a neurologist because he was
> > > > concerned that I might
> > > > be having seizures. The EEG came up normal, but they
> > > > found
> > > > something abnormal in the MRI.
> > > >
> > > > Since then, I've had a head CT, a head CT with dye
> > > > contrast, and a
> > > > head angiogram with dye contrast. They found an AVM
> > > > about 1" x 1".
> > > > Tomorrow I go in for lab work and a 3-D CT scan, and
> > > > on May 5th I
> > > > finally see the neurosurgeon.
> > > >
> > > > I'm looking for whatever information anyone can
> > > > share because the
> > > > doctors aren't giving me much information. I got
> > > > more information
> > > > from my psychiatrist than I got from my neurologist.
> > > > I've done a
> > > > good bit of research on the internet, but I hoped
> > > > other people with
> > > > the same experiences could help me out and let me
> > > > know what to
> > > > expect.
> > > >
> > > > Thanks,
> > > > Sara
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > >
> > > __________________________________________________
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