Hi Cutthroat!  (What's your real name?)

I don't know anything about the drug you mentioned, but I am curious about your wife's recent EDAS procedure.  Most people on here have had other procedures, but my sister is having her first EDAS tomorrow, and a second one in June.  I would like to know more from you, if you don't mind, about what recovery from an EDAS is like.  Where and by whom was your wife's procedure done?

Thanks,
Diane

Hi Diane and Nancy - Siri's recovery has been sort of up and down.  She was diagnosed with an obstructed Internal carotid artery on the left side in 1999.  No MM was diagnosed at that time.  The surgery was done in Phoenix at Barrow Neurological Institute.  The surgeon was Dr. Robert Spetzler.  He is one of the world's finest neurosurgeons.  The STA/MCA bypass provided immediate blood flow to the left hemisphere with a steady reduction in TIA like symptoms over time.  We thought we were over everything until December 2004 when her symptoms came back again in a bad way.  This time Dr. Spetzler diagnosed the MM and did an EDAS (or similar procedure - not 100% sure of the name) procedure.  Basically drilled 4 bore holes and flipped the Dura matter onto the surface of the brain tissue over the ischemic areas.  Siri's progress has been mixed - generally trending better but still having a variety of right sided symptoms.  I believe the indirect procedures take 6-12 months to really show an effect due to the time needed for arterial growth.  None of the symptoms have permanent effects and seem to pass in an hour or so.  The symptoms are notably worse around her menstrual cycle which makes some sense due to blood loss.  So far the MM seems to be purely unilateral so we are keeping our finger crossed.  Hope your surgery goes well.  We will be doing our follow up with Dr. Steinberg just to get another perspective.  Dr. Spetzler's technical skill is amazing, but the follow up care has been less than we would like.  It's also due to us being in Colorado and not AZ.  John

Hi Nancy - They had already done the STA/MCA bypass in 1999, so the only option was to try an indirect procedure using the dura matter.  The bypass was still functioning but not as robust as they had hoped.  The idea was that the EDAMS procedure would supplement the bypass.  Siris' MM is only on the left side, her right side arteries appear normal.