So I went in for my embolization yesterday. The Doctor felt there was a 70 - 80% chance of the fistula being eliminated. The plan was to 1st perform a super specific angiogram to map it all out. Turns out the fistula is being fed by two arteries and a vein, he was only able to close one of the vessels of, the other two cannot be. The other's cannot be closed without risking the blood flow to my brain, apparently this was the furthest he's ever gone into a brain and he tried so hard with the glue the pressure broke the catheter and I now have a piece of plastic stuck in my head. It's in the now closed off part of the fistula so it's safe. When I woke up, they explained it was unsuccessful and now our only option is a Craniotomy, which they believe will be a 100% cure.
And now there's a Vascular Neurosurgeon on the team, Howard Rinna.
This news is of course very disappointing. The 1st treatment plan was you can either have gamma knife or embolization & surgery. Then after the diagnosis changed, it was embolization is the best option, surgery is too risky now. Now that the embolization failed, surgery is my only option. It went from bad, to worse, to even worse. This keeps getting more and more interesting.
While Dr. Patsalides was explaining that the embolization was unsuccessful I could see that he was extremely disappointed. I know he tried his best and I greatly appreciate it.