Brain surgeon...

Today Mom met with the brain surgeon and he explained more about her condition. Her AVM is stage 2 out of 5, 5 being the most serious, so that is good news. But the doctor made it clear that it is important to take this seriously. Basically, he gave her 3 choices. 1. She can wait it out and see if her headaches go away, since radiation is over, which runs the risk of having a stroke, seizure or the veins bleeding more 2. Radiation on her brain, which she definitely does not want to do because of the experience she had with her breast radiation 3. Brain surgery, which comes with many more risks, but gives her the chance to be completely normal once the surgery is over. Because of where the malformation is located, it is easy to access in surgery but poses the risk of having more difficulties after surgery, like not being able to talk, move, etc. The doctor said he had a similar case last year with a 19 year old who was not able to move her hands for a week after, but lives a normal healthy life now. So Mom has a lot to think about, but she is most likely leaning towards the surgery. She says she wants to be able to have the surgery and move on if everything goes well, instead of sitting on it and worrying about new symptoms. The doctor told her to weigh her options and in the mean time, take 2 tests that will give him even more information about the location and situation. She will see him in 4 weeks, and he will have the results to take the next step. He also told her that she should go along with her original schedule for port-a-cath surgery on Tuesday, May 5 to have it removed.