Today I met with the last of 4 recommended surgeons. Per his order I scheduled an MRI/MRA with and without Gadolinium and an MRI with Brain Lab Sequence at Georgetown Univ. Hospital.
He thinks my Grade 1 AVM would be reasonably easy to remove via micro-surgical resection, although he did not rule out radio-surgery pending results of the MRI/MRA. He reiterated that radio-surgery is not always successful, plus he has seen multiple patients whose AVMs hemorrhaged while waiting the 2 years necessary for the AVMs to shrink after radio-surgery.
Next step: Monday's MRIs.
--Mike N
Hi bpgvdad, Good luck. It sounds like your surgeon knows what he's talking about. That's good. :) He is right about the radiation. I had Gamma Knife (mine is inoporable)and it took 3 years for to it run it's course and it still didn't desolve all of it. The dr.'s wanted to give me another treatment. Plus, I did have a subtle bleed during that 3 year period. It's good to hear a story where the dr. knows what he's doing. :)
Good Luck
Ben
Keep in touch with us, Mike...Every case is so different..You can look at my profile and look at others and each story is different. My feeling is that you find the BEST neurosurgen you can find..the one you have trust in and go for whatever they suggest. Stay Strong!