Hi Richard and welcome to the moyamoya family!

My brother flew home from Stanford (2,500 miles) approximately 2 weeks after his second surgery. So it is safe to fly.

As for returning to work, that is very individual depending on the person's current medical state and surgery outcome. It sounds like you have caught this progressive disease early before any major event like a stroke. For that reason, you may do very well and be able to return to work sooner than someone who has had a major event. Again, it is very individualized.

As for resuming to regular activity, again it depends on a number of factors and what you define as normal activity. Dr. Steinberg at Stanford prohibits any skydiving, as an example, for anyone simply due to the neurological effects of the quick  and abrupt jerking that takes place when skydiving. One of our family members, Tara, is a swimmer. Dr. Steinberg suggested she wear a wetsuit which makes sense as she swims competition in places like the San Francisco Bay.

Other MMers will most likely share their stories and their doctor's recommendations regarding return to work and activites restrictions.

Again, welcome to the family and best wishes for a smooth surgery and a quick recovery.

Please keep us posted on your progress.

Lore

Hi Richard, Welcome to our MM family!

The first thing in advance of the procedure that I’d want to know is how much MM experience my neurosurgeon had. There is a great deal of factors involved with this rare disease and sadly there’s a huge lack of knowledge and understanding about MM throughout most of the medical profession, so I would want to be sure my doctor understood the disease and had success in treating it.

Every MM case is different because of each patient’s individual factors, so it wouldn’t be accurate to assume your surgical experience would be the same as another’s. I’ve heard some say they’ve had dental work that was far worse than their MM surgery, and yet another may have struggled, so it seems to be different for each patient, depending on their personal specifics, their doctor, the degree of blockage, etc. I was amazed that DJ was sitting up in ICU putting this website online after his surgery, so you see it’s different for everyone. You may be up and around in no time or a bit longer than some.

That’s not to say you shouldn’t ask questions, you should always ask plenty of questions. No question is too small. The more you know about this disease the less frightened you’ll be knowing that it is successfully treatable if you go the proper route for your particular case with a MM experienced surgeon.

Everyone I know who’s had successful treatment were able to resume normal everyday type activities bases on their own capabilities, but some other activities, such as driving, sports, etc, I would think only your doctor would be able to answer that for you. Like Lore said, it would depend on your medical condition and your surgical outcome, and only he would know those specifics.

There are so many good people here who have traveled the road you and your family are on, so please feel free to ask anything and gather all the info you can. We’re all here to help and support you in any way we can.

Please know you’ll be in my thoughts and prayers.

Please keep us posted.

Mar

I said a prayer for you!
God Bless You!
Michele