The does and Don'ts of Avm survivors

What are something thing I can never do again?

Never is a long time, midnight shuffle. There are many things you should not do if you can avoid -- like smoking, illegal drugs, heavy drinking, deep sea diving, banging your head against a wall. It may be best to stay away from rollercoasters, too. There are some things that may be difficult to do without running into obstacles -- becoming an airplane pilot, astronaut, sharpshooter, or racecar driver, or running for president. But there are still so many things, important things, that you can do. Just be kind to your brain.

You may also wish to see Cindy Phillips's list of do's and dont's for AVMs:
http://www.avmsurvivors.org/profiles/blogs/precautions-what-to-do-a...

Hi Midnight Shuffle-I agree with Dancermom, especially about being kind to your brain.



Many of the other things that you can do depend on your abilities as well as your choices and your attitude-or barriers, excuses, etc.

You can still do plenty of things; now, you will probably need to do some of them differently.

There are a few things that you should probably avoid like Dancersmom said. Smoking and heavy drinking and of course illegal drugs. Deep sea diving is probably not something that you would want to do (sucks for me since I am a certified drysuit diver) and possibly even climbing mount everest may be out of the question.

But don't stop your life because of an AVM. I was told by my doc to keep on living the way I did before as long as i feel I am able to.

I think we can do everything that we use to do prior to finding out we had an AVM...its just now you need to be more careful...i mean i wouldnt go boxing where you are insisting someone else beats your head up.

In saying that i use to box and do martial arts that i stopped ever since i was treated out of precaution...life itself is far more important to me to risk it over some minor things in life i can live without doing like most anyway.

God bless....and NEVER say NEVER!!!!!

Hate to say it, but I went deep sea diving right after I had my Proton Beam Radiation and didn't have a problem. My neurosurg doctor never said I couldn't dive. The answer to your question is ask your doctor what you should and shouldn't do.

Louisa, I am really glad that you have shared this with us! I was so upset that I thought I couldn't SCUBA or Skydive again or fly in my little plane, but I am glad to know someone with a known AVM has gone diving without issues!

The one thing my Neurosrgeon said I shouldn't do is to swim alone. That's it.