So, NOW that Dr. Barbaro had found the reason for my stroke. He explained to me the AVM was the probable reason for this monster pain I had been having on the right side of my lower arm for the last 8 years. He explained that the site of the stroke was situated in my Thalamus, (yeah, I’d never heard of the Thalamus either), which is located deep in the brain near the brain stem. He told me that all of the nerves from everywhere in your body run through this part of the brain; and when the AVM had ruptured, then subsequently clotted over, it left scar tissue in this Thalamus; and when the nerve impulses passed through this scar tissue they were deflected causing them to go places that they weren’t supposed to go causing me all of this insane pain I had been experiencing. So THAT in a nutshell was why I was having all of this pain. Dr. Barbaro told me he was going to schedule me with another Neurologist who specialized in the Gamma Knife procedure and we would go from there. I was elated at the fact they were at least going somewhere with this. Bring it, I was thinking!
After a few months I received a letter from UCSF, from a Dr. Griffith Harsh, Gamma Knife specialist. He gave me the date and time to be at the UCSF hospital. This is AWESOME, I thought. The day finally came and I was there with bells on! I went into the hospital, much like before, weird pill, head shaved, heart monitor, oxygen, the whole 9 yards again. When Dr. Harsh came in I was surprised at how young he was. He asked how I was feeling, I said I was stoked! He laughed and proceeded to pull out this two part frame that he said he would attach to my skull, (and I thought in the back of my mind just HOW he was going to “attach” this frame to my skull). Then he told me they would give me an Angiogram to find the target in reference to the frame he was going to attach to my head. He asked if I was ready, I told him yes. He proceeded to attach this frame to my head using screws, (and yes, that part hurt like a big-dog), but he did numb me up as he was doing it, by this time the I figured out why they gave me the pill when I first got there. After that I was wheeled to Imaging for the Angiogram. If you’ve not had an Angiogram it’s a very lengthy procedure; Not to do the scan itself, but they insert a catheter into the artery in your groin and run a tube to the site of the image and put contrast in. After it’s done they take out the catheter out and put a bandage on the groin. You must then lay flat on your back for 8 hours to ensure the artery closes properly.
When it has stopped bleeding they take you into the OR. They set the gurney up and proceed to attach what sort of looks like a large helmet. There are aroud 200 wires attached that emit gamma radiation from each one, thus they don’t hit any of the surrounding tissue with the radiation, it just hits the target site, (the AVM).
This takes around an hour, then the remove all this and take you to a room to rest for the night. Then they let you go home in the morning. You’re scheduled for an Angiogram in three months… then another in three more months… then another in three more months. After it’s found that the Gamma Knife has worked, you are pronounced good-to-go!
I was SO stoked…. See you next post!