Health Updates

The danger of any medical procedure is the discovery of all sorts of stuff that won’t kill you, but remind you that you are heading in that direction anyway.

As the investigation into the mysterious dizzy spells continues, I have this to report from Friday’s MRI/MRA.   

Please note all the adjectives that indicate I should not worry, words like “borderline” and “mild”, or my favorite, “incidental”:

• “Borderline mild cerebellum atrophy” – While this might impact balance, etc., it’s probably just age.
   
• “Small, incidental fenestration in proximal basilar artery” – sounds wild, but it just  means that my proximal basilar artery takes a detour (splits in two) but then comes back together on its way to supply blood to my brain.  My doctor likened it to the trip between Duluth and Two Harbors.  You can take the scenic route along Lake Superior or the faster route on the newer freeway.
  
• A little narrowing in right, middle cerebral artery – probably some plaque.
  
•  “Hyper-intense signals in sub cortical – white matter – non-specific”:  Doctor thinks it’s probably just little pieces of plaque – again, maybe age – but also cholesterol issue.
  
• And they saw the anachroid cyst – again.

Next steps:  I visit the neurologist next Tuesday for a more detailed discussion on the MRI – and the ultra sound performed today on the arteries in my neck.

For the record, I feel fine – except for the occasional incidences of dizziness.  The other night I felt like crap – but I think I was just tired after a rather poor night of sleep wearing that damn monitor.

The hardest part is the distraction – I wouldn’t call it worry – about what’s going to happen next with all these tests.