@AndreaG hi, I am glad to introduce you to the wonderful community of AVM Survivors Network! How’s the weather there in San Francisco right now? I am from the Philippines and the weather here is sunny as usual, though it would rain at times. It seems like you’ve been through a tough journey, I just can’t imagine how difficult it is suffering from a very rare condition at such a young age. We hope that you’re doing fine now. Our community’s main goal is to provide support to one another so that no one else feels alone and I hope that we could be of any help to you.
If you have any questions, please feel free to message me. There are tons of people here who love sharing their personal experiences and so, I’m encouraging you to start getting involved! If you want, you can start your own thread too! You can do this by going to the home page of the site (by clicking the big banner at the top) and then find the “+New Topic” button on the right side of the site and finally, click the “Create Topic” button. 
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Hi Eymie,
Thank you for the warm welcome. The weather is warm, although we are amid the California fires (air is smokey throughout the day, especially in the surrounding cities).
It has been 12 years since my cerebral AVM but I am doing great now (with no signs of an additional AVM coming back). I am grateful that my parents were in the medical field and were able to provide me the resources to have a great recovery, as I know a large portion of people do not have this. I am not sure if you have had a chance to look at my profile, but I am an aspiring pediatric neuropsychologist (currently in my second year in a Ph.D. program in clinical psychology). Currently, I am at a practicum site (practicum is essentially a internship that occurs while you are currently in school to receive clinical hours as required by the board) and am seeing patients with neurological disorders for psychotherapy. Following my graduation from my doctoral program, I intend on earning a post-doctoral degree in psychopharmacology so I can prescribe medication (in certain states).
I intend on being fairly active on this form and assisting others that have recently been diagnosed by providing my personal experience throughout my life and what I’ve learned by having this condition as a child.
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