I dont think I've been more ready for a surgery in my life than I am right now.  But it seems I have to wait 5-10 days to even hear about how my last angiogram turned out.  I know the basics of what was found...and I posted in an earlier message.

But I am ready to have this surgery.  I know as it get closer that the anxiety will set in, but for now...I just want to move forward.  Waiting has never been one of my best attributes. 

I've read many messages courtesy of SC_Girl (who I am sad to see hasnt posted in a long while...cool coincedence..she lives right up the road from me...assuming of course that her profile is still accurate.).  Anyway, her posts are the ones that inspired me to check into Dr. Barrow @ Emory Med. 

Now all I have to do is wait for Dr. Barrow to get my results from the angio I had done last Friday and schedule my first of 2 surgeries.   

**To SC_girl...wherever you are...Thank you!!!  Your story has really inspired me.  Along with the many stories I've read here.  It just puts me at more ease for some reason or another that you live so close to me.  I guess because its nice to know I'm not the only one around here.  Anyway...I hope all is still going well for you.  God Bless you and your family.  Maybe you'll see this and we can talk sometime. 

God Bless all....

nopi98
(Fred)

Amen, Fred!  I'm so glad to hear your news!  I've been meaning to post a reply to you for several days, and I'm sorry for not getting my act together and doing it sooner.  First of all - welcome to the exclusive club called Moyamoya!  I'm sorry that circumstances brought you here, but pleased that you found us.  You asked about the experiences of others.  Here's a nutshell version of ours:

My daughter (21) was diagnosed and had her two surgeries at age 17.  After years of migraines, we learned that she had had two small strokes early on in her life.  Once we finally had a diagnosis, she was in her first surgery two weeks later.  We've always considered ourselves very blessed to have caught it before something really devastating happened.

Today she (Tara) is an active college student, hoping to pursue a career in nursing.  She's a swimmer, and has recently become very focused on doing open water swims for moyamoya awareness.  She successfully completed a swim from Alcatraz to San Francisco about 3 weeks ago (more gray hair for me, but good for her!).

This said, I feel like I've glossed over some of the minute-to-minute happenings.  We had a brief scare after Tara's second surgery.  She had more than typical swelling in her brain, which caused her to lose her speech for a few days.  Scared us to death, as we feared we were going to bring home a permanently dependent almost-adult.  With increased steroids for a brief time, everything resolved.  My point in telling you this is so you know it's not always perfectly smooth sailing.  Every patient gets to surgery at a different starting point, and no two patients' experiences are exactly the same.  There may be bumps in the road, but in the hands of a neurosurgeon very familiar with MM, things should be fine. 

Anyway, you're about to embark on surgery, which is wonderful.  As with all MM patients, the hope is that we can keep you around for quite a number of decades!  Please don't hesitate to ask questions or to lean on the support of us here.  This is frightening stuff, but we're here to help in any way we can.  You obviously have a strong faith, and it will be your faith that gets you through this.  My prayers will be with you.  Please keep us posted.

Jill

Thank you Jill and MrsDeej...from the bottom of my heart.