Aneurysm

[kcowan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nemo2 Our Family Doctors (if you can get one) are (generally all) General Practitioners.....if you want/need to see a specialist you require a referral...can't knock on their doors.....ah, bureaucracy.

and BTW you need a new referral after 6 months has passed and you are lucky enough to be still here.

OTOH if they are convinced that you are really sick, no problem getting care. My son is getting great care for his cancer treatments in Ontario. (Of course, age may have been a factor?)

[kcowan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nemo2 they won't operate until it's considerably larger, due to the fact that the risk from the operation is greater than the risk from the aneurysm for anything smaller. Future CT scans will be ordered.

Same with my artery blockage. Watch and hope for the best. Take an aspirin and lay down.

[Nemo2]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kcowan Same with my artery blockage. Watch and hope for the best. Take an aspirin and lay down.

You & I have both had a good kick at the can, and it's coming sooner or later; but, as the boy from Ottawa wrote, "Regrets, I've had a few;
But then again, too few to mention."

[kcowan]

Yes he even got some guy from Hoboken to sing it!

Me, I prefer MJs "Gone too soon"!

[NW-Bound]

Knowing little about aortic aneurysm, I looked on the Web and learned that it can grow enormous, and as large as a kidney if the following diagram is correct.

Yikes!

Another Web page says it can be as large as 8 in. or 20 cm. Holy mackerel! Nemo's 4.2 cm one is just a baby aneurysm.

[Nemo2]

Quote:

Originally Posted by NW-Bound Knowing little about aortic aneurysm, I looked on the Web and learned that it can grow enormous, and as large as a kidney if the following diagram is correct. Yikes! Another Web page says it can be as large as 8 in. or 20 cm. Holy mackerel! Nemo's 4.2 cm one is just a baby aneurysm.

Yabbut, that's abdominal.....mine's in the 'arch' just below the heart where all the feeder tubes meet: http://static.wixstatic.com/media/61...503cb3a351.jpg

http://emedicine.medscape.com/articl...-treatment#d19

Quote:

Aortic arch aneurysm repairs Cannulation for arch repairs varies among groups. They include the femoral artery, right axillary artery, and ascending aorta. Hypothermic circulatory arrest is required for arch repairs; the safe period of arrest to avoid neurologic injury is 30-45* minutes at 18°C (64.4°F), but some advocate a shorter period of 25 minutes. Antegrade cerebral perfusion to minimize neurologic injury is thus advocated. Others advocate cooling to 11-14°C (51.8-57.2°F).

(*The patient is apparently clinically dead during that time.)

[redduck]

FWIW, here's what the scan image looks like... #107... Taken from the CD.

Attached Thumbnails
I

Imoldernu:
I think your Doc was playing a joke on you. It looks as if he snuck in a Rorschach (sp)? picture onto your CD. I see a woman with a nice set of breasts, spreading her extremely long arms (maybe they are wings) or it might be a man with unfortunate breasts. I also see the outline of Alfred E. Newman's face (ears included).

[NW-Bound]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nemo2 Yabbut, that's abdominal.....mine's in the 'arch' just below the heart where all the feeder tubes meet...

Below, or above the heart?

Ugh! The "plumbing" is definitely quite complex there. It's amazing that surgeons can deal with that. These guys deserve to make beaucoup money.

[Nemo2]

Quote:

Originally Posted by NW-Bound Below, or above the heart?

Above...sorry temporary confusion on my part.

Quote:

Originally Posted by NW-Bound Ugh! The "plumbing" is definitely quite complex there. It's amazing that surgeons can deal with that. These guys deserve to make beaucoup

Amen to that. Truly amazing......on numerous sites the caution "This is an operation you don't want to undergo" abounds.

I presume that there are multiple surgeons involved.....something like an 8-10 hour op, the patient being 'dead' for as long as it's (relatively) 'safe', with the body temperature deliberately lowered.

It's also amazing that the patient mortality rate is so low......somewhere in the region of 2-4% depending upon where you read.......DW and I agree that, if it's about to blow, (with 100% certainty of death), I'd go for the op even if they had a 99% mortality rate.

[aja8888]

Quote:

Originally Posted by NW-Bound Below, or above the heart? Ugh! The "plumbing" is definitely quite complex there. It's amazing that surgeons can deal with that. These guys deserve to make beaucoup money.

Yes, quite so. My BIL's heart transplant was quite the thing last year as we got to see some of the photos taken during the process and the new heart beating (video) before they sewed him up. Quite amazing!

[JoeWras]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nemo2 Yabbut, that's abdominal.....mine's in the 'arch' just below the heart where all the feeder tubes meet:

Nemo2, if you don't mind me asking, I find it interesting they found your arch aneurysm from an MRI for sciatica.

My sciatica MRI stopped at the thoracic vertebra. What's cool I is I can see my abdominal aorta and kidneys, but that's it for vessels. Nothing higher.

Abdominal aneurysms can get so large that your doc feels it when they press on your stomach in the typical routine exam.

[Nemo2]

Quote:

Originally Posted by JoeWras Nemo2, if you don't mind me asking, I find it interesting they found your arch aneurysm from an MRI for sciatica. My sciatica MRI stopped at the thoracic vertebra. What's cool I is I can see my abdominal aorta and kidneys, but that's it for vessels. Nothing higher. Abdominal aneurysms can get so large that your doc feels it when they press on your stomach in the typical routine exam.

I'm presuming, (the techs were too busy for discussion, and I've never seen the hospital doctor that ordered the MRI again, nor did I see the original requisition), that they ran a full scan right up to the neck, or above, but I really don't know.

Our new doc, who I saw for the first time this week, had only received a copy of the MRI report that morning (he and his staff were on vacation), and, due to patient load, time constraints were in effect, so I had a fifteen minute consultation limit...not a lot of time to review multiple problems.

Now I'm waiting for the CT scan wherein contrast dye is pumped into the veins.

[JoeWras]

I'm pretty sure mine was targeted only for the low spine. They gave me a digital copy of the results, and I don't see much above L1.

Then again this is USA and the insurance companies rule. They were pumping us through that MRI in record time. Then again, my wait was only 2 days! Canada protocols are probably different for MRI.

[Nemo2]

Quote:

Originally Posted by JoeWras Canada protocols are probably different for MRI.

In Ontario the medical system is simultaneously overloaded and underfunded.

[NW-Bound]

Are you saying that Canadians, at least in Ontario, need to pay more for healthcare?

Like we do down here in the South?

[Nemo2]

Quote:

Originally Posted by NW-Bound Are you saying that Canadians, at least in Ontario, need to pay more for healthcare?

What I would say, (but won't, in order to avoid the appearance of Porky Pig, unless the political restrictions pertain to the US only), is......................

[kcowan]

Before this thread ends, let me say that I have had no problem with access to specialists and equipment once the GPs realized that I need help. MRIs, CT Scans, Ultrasound scanning. Of course, I thought it was better before when they were not concerned so much....

(This is BC not Baja. In PV it is even better.)

[JoeWras]

Oh gee, I'm sorry to bring up even a whiff of bacon. In no ways was I making a political statement.

All I meant was for MRIs and back pain, the protocol of the type of MRI/CAT etc. differs by <the entity>.

<the entity> may be a national program, or it may be a specific insurance provider. It can even be a protocol followed by a specific specialist.

nemo's MRI protocol was different than mine, that's all. No politics meant! And I think my insurance company errs on fast, but focused protocols over slow, but comprehensive ones. There are pluses and minuses to either.

[NW-Bound]

No need for political statements, if we recognise that people are motivated by financial gains, healthcare workers included.

When they can make money, they move very fast, whether it's a surgeon, or a smartphone engineer, or a roofer.

[Nemo2]

Just had a call from the doctor's office.....the Cat Scan results are in......and I DON'T have an aneurysm! (I forget what he called it, I was so stunned by the news, but will be into their office to pick up a copy of the data, probably today).......whatever it is I DO have, it's apparently benign and doesn't require monitoring.......whoopee!!!!)

On the other hand.....WTF? How could the MRI be so wrong?