Just a general question that I have in regards to blood thinners.  How many of you are still on blood thinners after the completion of your bypass? If so, what blood thinners are you taking (Plavix, Aspirin, etc)?  I am just wondering, because with other bypasses (heart), thinners in some form are given to avoid any buildup at the newly formed connection.  I was wondering if it is the same for Neurovascular bypasses.  

Again, heart bypasses in most cases are because of plaque build up and MM is not.  But as MM survivors age and plaque levels increase in the blood stream, will this lead to build up around the bypass as it does in other bypass cases?  Thanks


Wayne

Thanks

Wayne

Wayne,

My daughter Tara, 17,  had her surgeries in June of this year.  She was told that she'd be on a regular aspirin (not baby aspirin) every day for the rest of her life.

Hope that helps!

Jill

Hi!
My daughter Cally had her surgeries in 2001.  She is on one baby aspirin daily.  She will have to take it for the rest of her life.
                                              Sincerely,
                                               Michelle

Hi Wayne....Cara was on 81mg baby aspirin since she was 2.5...possible DX of MM....and continues to take them still now.  Her doctor said maybe in a year she'll go off of them if all goes well ...but from what I see everyone is taking them for rest of their life.  

:), CarasMOM

Hi Wayne!

My daughter Louise is still on bloodthinner (Fragmin in Swedish) on daily basis. One shot a day and according to the doctors they hope she will "grow" out of it, meaning as she grows the dose will decrease. She had the EDA (pial syangios)on both sides almost two years ago and her Swedish doctors were in contact with Dr. Scott before and after the surgery.
Louise is still hoping they will some day take her off the daily shots and put her on some pill like aspirin.

Take Care :)

Annica

Hi Wayne,

I hate to be the exception to the rule but I was on aspirin until I was 21. When I was first put on it, I thought that I too would be on it for the rest of my life but my doctors told me that as an adult, there is an increased risk of bleeding into the brain and so they took me off it. I had my surgeries done at age 14 and 15. I noticed that Annica's daughter, Louise, is on Fragmin - I was given that (if it's the same thing) in the weeks that I had my surgery - only while I was in hospital. I'm really sorry if this confuses people but I thought I'd add it to share what I've been told.

Best Wishes to you all,

Roselyn

Mandy was on Lovenox injections before and for a year after sugery but when we went to see Dr. Steinberg for check up he seemed like she didn't need to be on it that long. Being from another state and not seeing him regularly and just her neuro. here in VA. he didn't know it. She now takes 325 mg Ecotrin a day and will for life.
                     Nancy

Hi all:

    Just wanted to add my two cents.  I have not had my surgery, but I bombarded my neurosurgeon with questions.  He told me to expect to be on my daily aspirin regiment for at least a year after surgery.  He also stated that adults tend to have 'bleeds' in the brain from too much aspirin, so he administers it carefully, depending on each patient's case.  Just my two cents.  Of course, who knows what will be decided after the surgery?  

Lee

I am taking a 81mg (baby) aspirin every day.  I was told that I will be taking this for the rest of my life (my surgeries were with Dr. Scott).  I was on heparin between my surgeries (due to the fact that I was having TIAs almost every hour).

I do have a question for Sara - if she happens to read this...Have you been taking aspirin?  Were you told to stop during your pregnancy?

-Shari

Shari...you mentioning "TIA's almost every hour" before your second surgery....I am wondering if you remember what they were like.  If you see my post of today on "TIA's vs Seizures" I explained further why I'd like to know.  Theres a stroke, theres a TIA, and theres a seizure (so many kinds I have read)...and I wonder if there is an even smaller "TIA" that is not really a seizure and not really a TIA....but we or our children are put on "stronger blood thinners"(Cara not yet) or "anti-seizure medication" (which is obviously helping Cara...clock is ticking to fourth day without a spell).  A line keeps coming back to my head of what Dr. Stienberg said (he would have been my 3rd choice) when he told Nancy N. that her daughters "spells" previously labeled as "seizures" were actually "spells" caused from MM.  (Nancy - correct me if this isn't right) but I feel all this is a worthwhile thing especially my wondering why some doctors put their patients on anti-seizure medication as a pre-cautionary measure.

:)CarasMOM

Your correct thats what he said, but your are definately not wasting your time I would explore every avenue until they're exactly sure. Your doing right I'd do the same thing.
                    Nancy

Wayne,

I'm on 325mg of aspirin a day for the rest of my life too.

-Deej

Holly takes a baby aspirin every day...probably will for the rest of her life.

Hillary

Tyler takes baby asprin also. He even had to keep taking it right thru the surgery times.

They had my mom on 81mgs of asprin after ehr first bleed, but she had the second on ewhich was even larger(probably because ahe was on the asprin) My question is, what do the patients do if they have already had a bleed?

CarasMOM wrote on Sep 24^th, 2004 at 2:37pm:

Shari...you mentioning "TIA's almost every hour" before your second surgery....I am wondering if you remember what they were like.

My TIAs felt like my hand fell asleep (if it was in my hand).  There was "tingling" and it lasted anywhere from 2 minutes to a half hour....no pain though.  Sometimes the tingling traveled...for example...it would start in my hand and then move to my arm.

-Shari

Chris is doing very well since he had his surgery on 8-18.
He is taking 325 mg coated asprin 1 per day and I was told he will take them the rest of his life. I think he eats a little more -maybe due to the asprin causing some stomach irratation? Just a quess on my part but not a real problem.

Trey (15 months old today) is on Lovenox 2 injections a day until around December and then will be put back on either a half baby asprin (he had been taking half before the second stroke) or I guess, maybe (he has never been on a whole one) a whole one.  He is also on Tegratol for seizure precaution until one year from the last seizure.  He only had seizures when he had a stroke.  I have been led to believe he will be on ASA for the rest of his life.  He will have a repeat Angiogram sometime between December 2004 and June 2005.  December will be 6 months post op both sides and June will be one year.

Michell

It is our understanding that Sean will most likely be on ASA for the rest of his life.  We will know more when we meet Dr. Scott next week.  Will keep ever yone posted ... they have told us that we can create a personal "Sean" website that we can update during his stay at BCH.  Once we get there, we will post the URL here so that those who are interested can keep up to date on his progress.

[smiley=thumb.gif]

Thank you all for your responses.  You all have given me an idea on what to expect.   You are all wonderful and thank you from the bottom of my heart.  

Wayne

hey wayne,
        I am an identical twin and we both take 81mg of aspirin. I even have to take it through my next surgery on Oct 14,2004.  According to Dr. Rose(our surgeon), we are to take it for life.

                                                         Lisa -twinb

Well, here's more to add to your "wealth" of knowledge:
My son, Kyle, at age 3 1/2, was put on Dilantin from the time they realized he'd had a stroke due to MM until he went home frm the hosp. after the 2nd surgery (about one month total).  After that, he took 1/2 baby aspirin (40.5mg)/day for two years.  Then, the neurosurg said we could probably stop the aspirin if we were concerned (Reyes Syndrom, etc.)  But about 2 1/2 yrs later (3 yrs ago), Kyle started having garbled speech episodes and the neurologists & neurosurg both agreed he should go back to taking 1/2 baby aspirin/day.  An MRI showed no problem with blood flow or other reasons for the speech difficulty.  We just plan to keep him on the aspirin for now until someone comes up with a better solution.  
Good luck, Wayne.  Fortunately, you can get good benefit from a low dosage of aspirin apparently, so if you and your Dr. decide that is the best route for you, just stay aware of trouble symptoms and don't hesitate to contact your Dr. if you're suspicious that it's causing more problem than benifit.  I think aspirin has pretty low side effects compared to some of the alternatives.

sue