And even though I’m pretty sore from the procedure, I just have to say that I’ve never had such an easygoing/ comfortable angio done until now. I’ve had nothing but bad experiences with previous angios but the neurologists over at Ucsf made things easy and discomfort free ! My AVM is most definitely still active and it looks like the radiation hasn’t affected my avm yet so Dr. Lawton will want to remove it however , everyone keeps telling me that my avm is in such a deep area ( midbrain, thalamus) so it’s quite risky to do surgery . Has anyone had similar experiences where you had an avm in such a deep location and did surgery? Please share your experience 
Its good to hear the Angio went well but as far as the location of the AVM im sure someone here will be able to spread some light as we have so many members with great success stories...God bless and keep us posted!
Thanks Adrian ! I’ll be sure to post updates. The thought of all this seems so scary but I know there’s always hope Take care!
Hey Monica! Congrats on the easy going angiogram, I too have had my fair share of bad experiences so I know how relieving it is to have a good one. I saw the question you posed and I remember a video I watched here on this site. Here's the link: http://www.avmsurvivors.org/video/welcome-back
You should be able to copy and paste it into your browser, if not, then go to the media tab and hit video, her video entitled "Welcome Back" will come up pretty quick.
Like you, her AVM was located in the thalamus region of the brain she suffered a stroke and had to have surgery. Her story is inspiring and her operation was successful.
~Mica
hi mica ! Thanks for sharing ! I definitely could relate to her and what’s even more great is that she worked with the same surgeon who’s performing my surgery . Hoping for the best
Hi Monica - Glad your angio went well. Who is telling you the surgery is risky? Dr. Lawton is very very good and make sure you listen to him, as he is an expert with AVMs. Please be sure to ask Dr. Lawton any questions/concerns you may have about the surgery and have them addressed by him. Hang in there Monica. I know surgery is scary, but we are all scared, particularly when we are first told we need it. That doesn't mean that surgery is bad, that just means we are human. hugs!!!
Hi Debra ! Kaiser doctors and the radiologists and neurologists at Ucsf told me it’s risky but dr. Lawton didn’t seem to be concerned at all, he was very confident when he said he could remove it .
Hi Monica,
Great to hear about the angio. I think I would classify all brain surgery as risky, but then folks like Dr. Lawton are trained to evaluate risk. If he was confident, and you said he was, that would lead me to feel more confident too.
Take care and keep us posted.
Hi Monica; yes, my AVM was located “in the center of the brain” (that is how the MD’s described it) It was connected to the vein of galen. I was treated by Dr Wilson at UCSF in 1992. They performed neuroradiological intervention first, then followed with a craineotomy. I have mostly been symptom free. Hope this helps, Joyce