Hi Jane,

Welcome to our MM family. I’m sorry to hear your brother has MM and is having continued problems, but if you have questions and need a friend or support, you’ve come to the right place. We have a great bunch of people here who have been through it, and will help you in any way they can.

I’ll start by saying; every case of MMD is different, because there are too many different factors involved in each individual case, but to answer your question though, yes, it is all together possible to have surgery and still have restricted blood flow afterwards, but then again, there are so many reasons as to why it could have happened. We may be able to say more if we had more information, like… what type of surgery did your brother have, direct or indirect? Who was his doctor, and is he experienced with MMD? How long has it been since his surgery on the right side? What was his clinical condition at the time of surgery, any strokes? What did they base the 3 month, “good blow flow” opinion on, a test or on the collateral blood flow? So, see what I mean? If we don’t have the specifics, it’s hard to give our opinions accurately. It has happened before to others IF they didn’t have the proper surgery for their particular case, or because their surgeon was not experienced enough with MMD, or perhaps because the donor artery they used was too small. Etc. See what I mean? We couldn’t really give an opinion in your brothers’ case though, without more information. There are options available in many cases, if you have a MM specialist who knows from experience.

I’d advise you to do what you’re doing, ask questions, get answers and learn all you can, so you can make the right decisions that’s best for your brother, especially if he can’t. Please keep us informed, and know we’ll help you in any way we can.

You both are in our thoughts and prayers.

Mar

Hi Jane,

I read your previous posts about your brother and am happy to hear that he was finally able to have the surgeries.  I'm also happy to hear that, as of yet, he has suffered no new strokes.

I'm wondering too if he had the direct or indirect bypass surgery as that can make a difference in the time-frame that one would see improvement.  What are his doctors suggesting he do at this point? 

While rare, at times the surgeries can fail.  Sometimes right away, sometimes a few years down the line.  I had the STA-MCA (direct) almost 3 years ago and while it immediately provided better blood flow, within a year I started having symptoms like your brother again.  I had to have another, but different, surgery just this April on the same side.  So far so good.

I have heard of a few other people having to have a repeat surgery also.  I have asked a several doctors why this would be but because so little is known about this disease in general, no one could really give me a clear cut answer.  Sometimes it is because the donor artery is too small so while there is BETTER blood flow after the surgery, it's not necessarily ENOUGH.  Others have told me that there appears to be no reason at all, that it just happens in some rare cases.  I was also told that, in general, the indirect surgeries work better with children as they are more capable/prone to grow the new vessels than adults.   There are just so many factors and so many unknowns.

Please know that he (and you) are not alone in this.  I will keep you both in my prayers that you get some concrete answers and a resolution soon. 

Lisa

Thanks for your replies.  A correction to my original post.  The side that is seeing restricted blood flow is on the side that was operated on in June.  He was scheduled to have that tested on the 25th when he started to experience these symptoms.  He had the EDAS surgery (I think) by Dr. Connelly at Columbia.  The testing after the first surgery on his left side showed normal blood flow so the problem seems to be with the side that was operated on in June.  Perhaps it is that the vessel was too small and will need to be operated on again or perhaps it is too early for the results of the surgery to take effect.  I guess time will tell. I really appreciate all the replies.  They have been very informative and have done a lot to ease my mind.