{Day 397 • Sydney Surgery No.3 } ❤

Just a quick message to my beautiful family and friends to let you know that after surgery at Westmead Hospital on Tuesday I am doing well. I share this info with love and laughter x

Two minutes prior to being rolled into my surgery on Tuesday my whizbang Interventional Radiologist advised me that for safety he was only going to coil the smaller aneurysm – but in a turn of events, the surgery went SO WELL that during the surgery it was decided to coil the large saccular 7cm x 8cm aneurysm too. I got a fantastic anaesthetist and woke up to learn that both aneurysms had been coiled. This was both an utter surprise and a personal relief as I had always worried about the larger one.

During surgery I also received another round of the Chemotherapy drug Bleomycin into the Venous Malformations in the deep spaces of my throat to help sclerose and kill them off further. Apparently Bleomycin is quite toxic and I got a laugh from my lovely nurse when he came in suited up in his HazMat Biohazard suit. 😂

Here are a few interesting stats and pics shared with me by my surgeon yesterday morning to help me understand more about the complex surgery he just performed. The pics have utterly blown my mind about the advancement of medical technology. By all accounts and the smile on his face- it went better than expected.

• The surgeon used 6 x 60cm titanium coils on the 3cm x 4cm Brachiocephalic aneurysm = 3.6 metres of coiling.
• He then used 10 x 60cm titanium coils on the large 7 x 8cm SVC aneurysm = 6 metres of coiling.

• I have learnt that I am now filled with about 16 x titanium coils measuring about 10 x metres of coiling. This will prevent the saccular aneurysms rupturing in the future and will also prevent blood pooling into the aneurysms causing them to expand greatly in size and push onto my other internal organs and structures which cause extreme pain and compression. This is such great news!! My nephews have even nicknamed me ‘The Titanium Terminator’ …😂😂

The titanium coils are now permanently a part of me and over the duration of six months the blood and tissue will calcify and heal around the coils within the aneurysms and not allow blood to flow into them. Instead the blood will now flow correctly up the SVC and Brachiocephalic to the heart, brain and other parts of my body.

Obviously I feel so relieved about everything – and have had a big cry. I now understand and accept that my BIG plans for a NETTY COMEBACK for Season 2019 have been thwarted once again as my surgeon has advised “light walking ONLY for 6 months and definitely NO sweating Megan!!!!” 😂OMG- You should have seen my face when he told me. 😭😭 But his face was dead serious and I have promised my family that I will listen.😂❤

I have had a two day recovery in hospital before I head back in for Surgery No.4 tomorrow morning to attack the multiple venous malformations at the base of the skull, spine and down the left neck. My surgeon is having trouble accessing the skull malformations as they are so deeply embedded, but I am sure he will hunt them down and kill them off with more Bleomycin!

I am so thankful that my sister Shelley Hamersley has been here right by my side to help me laugh through it all – And a loving WA family who are always on the phone to make me laugh even more.

Thank you for all your messages of love, Shell has been reading them all to me and I love them x they keep me connected to home which I am missing greatly. ❤❤

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#Sclerotherapy #Bleomycin #Sydney #Aneurysm #AneurysmRepair #SaccularAneurysm #EndovascularSurgery #EndovascularCoiling #VascularBirthmark #Vascular #Congenital #Rare #RareCondition #VascularMalformationSupport