Welcome to the site.  Glad you were able to find us.  We are all here to support you in any way we can. 

It is my understanding that if you have been diagnosed with Moyamoya, then you will need one of the surgeries and quickly since you did have a small stroke. 

Before my surgeries, I had problems with my blood pressure and pulse being high.  I was on a beta blocker called atenolol at 50 mg. twice a day which is a pretty high dosage.  Right before my surgeries, I was taken off the atenolol by Dr. Steinberg and was not told to continue it after the surgeries.  However, when I got home, my pulse started running high again (over 100 at rest) and was put back on a smaller dosage of 25mg twice a day and it has regulated my pulse but still kept my blood pressure a little higher than the standard 120/80 which is normal.  How high is you blood pressure running?  I know they like you to go into the surgery with a little higher than normal blood pressure.  I can't tell you if this is normal though with moya moya.

Also, as for the recovery time, I think it depends on the person and the situation.  Everyone is different.  I think others here would echo the same to this as well.  It's really hard to say what the recovery time would be for you.  There are a lot of factors that go into that.  For instance, mine has taken me 3 months and that was because I had a small stroke after the surgeries that left me with a small disability that I have gone to physical therapy for.  And I'm sure others have their stories to as to how long it took them to recover. 

Hope this helps!  And good luck to you. 

Michelle

Thank you for your replies!   

My current blood pressure ranges from a resting 117/84 to a 160/101 when I start going out.  I have my neurologist's appointment today so I guess I will see what he has to say.

Thanks again!

Hello,
  Ditto what Jill said as well as everyone else.  Move quickly.  If you are not satisfied with the answers get another opinion.  If you read through this site you will surely see that everyone has had something different happen.  Don't be intimidated by anyone.  If the Drs. seem to delay things a bit it's probably because they don't have a lot of experience in treating this.  I'm not sure of the blood pressure.  Mark didn't seem to have a problem with that.  However they did keep it at different levels during the ptocedures.
                         Ron

Hi Hikaisista,  Welcome to our mm family!

I would just like to reiterate what Jill said; I too believe it’s so important that you have an experienced MM specialist/neurosurgeon to address your diagnosis. I’ve spoken with mm patients here on this website, that have had their high blood pressure regulated or lowered with meds, only to find out later from an expert on mm, that they would prefer your blood pressure at a (safe) high, to keep the best possible blood flow to the brain, in hopes of preventing a stroke until surgery. Mind you, every case is different, depending on the blockage, but that’s why it’s so important to have a mm specialist, one that is more qualified and aware of these important details and the many factors involved. In my family’s case, the doctors said wait to have the surgery, and my niece had 4 debilitating strokes and unfortunately that’s been the case with many with this disease because of the lack of knowledge. So that’s why we always emphasize a doctor with experience.

As far as recovery time goes, as stated above, it varies with each patient, but DJ was putting this website together and posting the same day after his surgery… amazing, huh?

I too again can’t emphasize enough what Jill said… READ, READ, READ all you can about MM, you’ll feel much more confident and comfortable with your decisions in the future. Just my 
In the mean time, feel free to ask us any questions.

God bless,
Mar

Wow!  This is just a wealth of knowledge!  I am still waiting to hear back from the neuro-surgeon in North Carolina.  I will also be consulting a local neuro-surgeon who has done by-passes here in Hawaii.

I hope to make a decision soon.  In the meantime, I will continue to rest and hope for the best.  I will be seeing a cardiologist next week.  My blood pressure continues to be all over the place but seems to be the norm for MM.

Mahalo everyone for your great suggestions!  I wil continue to read everything!