My dad asked me on Facebook if there was anything that my family could have done to prevent any of my post-bleed hoopla. I "told" him that mine being pretty noticable (the size of a golfball) in my brain, if I had an MRI of the brain, I would think that it would insight some question; however, as I understand it, docs. don't usually check for this.
Does anyone have any other info. on this?
I'm not understanding the question Julie. Are you asking if it would have been possible to prevent the bleed or prevent the damage the bleed caused?
I think the bleed, but if you have either, that would be great, too.
This may sound overly simplistic but you prevent a bleed by getting rid of the AVM and you prevent the damage from the bleed by not having a bleed! I'm only partially kidding because I don't know the answers. I guess you could try to prevent a bleed by keeping your blood pressure in check maybe? But I believe I had the very best care following my bleed and it was quick, no waiting around. My neurosurgeon minimized some of the damage by draining the blood that was still pooling around in my brain but the worst of the damage had already been done. I would guess you prevent the damage from a bleed by getting good quality care quickly. I'm not sure that helped you any.
My AVM is the size of a golf ball/wallnut, depending on which neurosurgeon was looking at it. I have also had a bleed (that I did not notice). There is nothing we can do different to stop the bleed. It is a random mass of arteries and veins that do not pump our blood properly. If we are pumping more blood, we bleed. It is like having a leak in a hose in your car, just not a constant leak. I have pictures up of my avm, although you cannot see the bleed or calcification, it is there. Good luck!
Julie..it sounds like your Dad thinks he did something wrong by not checking to see if you had an AVM. Having an MRI of the brain is because the patient is having issues, such as headaches, seizures, etc. Therefore, your Dad did nothing wrong. For me, I did have an MRI because of headaches, had treatment and still had a brain bleed. We are born with an AVM and ususally you don't even know you have one until you have a bleed. I hope I'm answering your question correctly.