I am 60 years old; have been married for 40 years; at present I have two living children and three grandchildren. I am employed at the same organization for 22 years. In general my health has been wonderful; and I look forward to continuing good health with the correction of my artery in my leg and my right eye muscle. I am still fortunate that I have only these minor problems.
I am a 60 year old woman. About 2 years ago, I had a headache on the right side of my temple and over my right eye and it seemed to go into my eye every day. I went to the doctor's and she thought it was a sinus infection and I had a scan of my sinuses. And yes indeed I had a bad sinus infection and took some medicine and the headaches subsided.
But after awhile they returned. I tolerated them (they were never full blown headaches; more like a constant ache) and after several months, I went back to my doctor and she said "I want another scan of your sinuses, and while you're at it, I'd like you to get an MRI - I want to make sure it's not a blood vessel." Sure enough, two days later she called to tell me that I had a bad sinus infection and a large aneurysm. She was as shocked as I was. I had a angiogram which showed the aneurysm in more detail.
I was then taken into the hospital on a Monday and they did a procedure whereby they blocked off the aneurysm and then woke me up to see if I could move my left extremities. I was able to do that and so the next day they went in and ballooned off the aneurysm. I was in the hospital from Monday and went home Wednesday evening. From that time on, I felt like I was hit with a truck. I was so tired and all I wanted to do was sleep. I was depressed and cried a lot. I was home for six weeks before returning back to work. And I forced myself, but I have been fine since.
I go for regular MRIs and doctor visits. The only complication I have is my right leg. I can't walk more than half a block or go up a flight of steps before my leg muscles start to hurt. The top of my thighs and the calves of my legs seem to hurt the most. It seems that when I had the final procedure for the aneurysm, the catheter that was put in my right groin was a very big one and was in for three days and evidently did some kind of damage to my artery. I was about to go through an arteriorgram in my leg and if they can, they will try to put a stint of some sort to open the artery to allow more blood flow to my leg muscles.
Other than this problem, I feel just fine. Oh I forgot to say that this aneurysm has caused muscle damage to my right eye. It was thought at lease 4 years before that I had a thyroid condition that cleared itself up. Sounds stupid but that's what big eye specialists thought. After the aneurysm was found, it was then confirmed that indeed the aneurysm caused the eye muscle damage and that I should wait for about a year before I saw a doctor who could try to correct it.
I feel fortunate in that the aneurysm could have ruptured and I could have suffered a major stroke or even death. I was told that I had this for a very long time. Sometimes, it still scares me.
Update 19 Oct 2000
On Friday, October 13 I had an arteriorgram done to see why the blood circulation in my right leg was not good. If they could, they would have put a stint in to open the artery. What they found was that the artery is blocked on my right side and in the groin area, just where my leg bends and they could not put a stint in. I had to stay flat on my back for six hours and then released. I feel pretty good. I have an appointment with my vascular doctor, Dr. Carabasi, on Tuesday, October 24 at 8:30 and see what my options are. I believe they can do a by-pass. I'm not looking forward to this, but I know they have to do something. I will update again after my visit with the doctor.
Update 31 Oct 2000
I had an arteriorgram on Friday, October 13. They injected dye in my left leg (groin area) and the dye was able to penetrate from my stomach and down both my legs. When I finally saw a doctor 7 hours later he explained that they could not fix my narrowed artery in my right leg with a stint because the area was where I bend my leg.
I then saw my vascular surgeon two weeks later and he told me that not only did I have a narrowing in my leg (which was caused from the large catheter that they used to balloon off my aneursym), but that the artery in my stomach also was a problem. He described the artery as 'having spider webs' in it and so he wants to do a by-pass of the artery from my stomach down through my right leg. He described the operation as a major one; 7 days in the hospital and a month recuperation. I told the doctor I'm not physically nor mentally ready to take this on. I also want to talk to my primary doctor and get a second opinion before any surgery. In any event, I told the doctor I wouldn't consider any surgery before January 2001.
The strangest part of what the doctor told me was that this artery in my stomach with the cobwebs was probably something I had from birth. If I had it from birth, why didn't I ever have a problem with the blood flow to my leg. I can see a bypass for the artery in my leg; but I am questioning why touch my stomach. I need some more answers before I proceed. I will update after my primary doctor visit on 11/14.