Hi I'm David

It was toward the end of March, I was like any other teenager just a goofball and had a care free living attitude. I was in my computer maintenance class when I forgot how to breathe, I went out to call for my teacher leading to me blacking out then waking up to a peramedic. Was in the ICU for a couple of days and from the ct scan found out I have a AVM on the part of the brain that controls my left motor function. The only option available to me was to have the gamma knife done. After that everything had gone fine until last earlier this February I had brain swelling as a result of the procedure working. Other than that I’m currently 17 and trying to just life my life to the fullest now.

Hey David,

Welcome to perhaps the most dubious club of all! I’m sorry to know you’ve started to have issues post gamma but you’re among family here, so we’ll all support you.

@Jerrod is a young man from your part of the world and I know Alyssa @amcoffey has had quite a journey post gamma.

Anything you need help on, someone to talk to, anything, we’re here.

Very best wishes,

Richard

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Hey David, anything you struggle with, need moral support, or just need someone to listen , never hesitate to shoot me a message.

Yours Truly,

Tex

P.S.

I first encountered mine eighteen years ago. Had sat down at my parents dinning room table to do my third grade math homework when a sinking feeling as I recall feeling. Now I’ve used this nemesis of mine to help others and spread the knowledge of hope, prayer, possibilities, and the word of AVMSUVIVIORS.

Yes if you have any questions please ask! I was 23 just at the gym and had a grand mal seizure. I have had cyberknife radiation and now about 9 months later I am also have significant brain swelling from the procedure and having trouble getting it down.

Do they have you on steroids still?

I am also trying to just live a normal life. I just wish the AVM was gone already. We are here for you

I had started to get brain swelling, they put me on steroids but after a week of use they took me off because the swelling had subsided.

Oh wow, thats good news though. They havn’t been able to take me off the steroids since June. I am just now trying for a 3rd time to taper off

Hey David, great you’re here! I had gamma knife November 10th, 2016. That was 6 months after a bleed and finding out I had an AVM, and what an AVM was. Lots of varied experiences here that really helped me out. Stay positive and take care!

David,

Over 3 decades ago, at 18 years of age, I found out I had a very large AVM up in my brain. I, too, know what is like when you think you have your whole life in front of you…then you get THIS kind of WHACK, then you are not sure what to do next, right?

Thank goodness you are on THIS site to help you out. There was no site like this at all for me when I found out about my AVM.

Hopefully, there were be more options for you if you need them.

In 1990, I got the surgery done by Dr. Robert Spetzler/St Joseph Hospital/Barrowlogical Neuro Institute/Phoenix, Arizona.

Good luck!!!

Sincerely,
Lisa A. Stuckel

Hi David,
Your story sounds so similar to mine. Although I am twenty now, I was ten years old when I suddenly had a headache at school. I remember my teacher sending me to the sick room, and once I got there, I realized it was much more serious than just a headache I would have to sleep off that afternoon. I passed out and have very few memories of being wheeled into an ambulance. A CT scan showed a bleed from an AVM. I was put in a coma for eleven days and air-lifted to another hospital, where they drained the blood. Because of the area it affected, I too was paralyzed on my left side when I woke up. I was released from hospital after a few weeks, but I had the gamma knife surgery six months later. I had the gamma knife again five years later to target an area that had been missed, and in my experience from both times, swelling was normal in the first few months. The AVM is just reacting to the gamma rays, and for both of my surgeries, the AVMs started shrinking over time (admittedly, three to four years later).
I wish you all the best!!
Yours Truly, Julia