How it all began - Round 1

Each time I tell someone that I was diagnosed with Moyamoya disease, the two most common questions are:

1. What is it?
2. How did you find out you had the disease?

I answered the "what" in my first post on this blog. Here's the story on "how" this all got started. I started experiencing somewhat intense headaches on the right side of my head back around late July/early August. The headaches did not last that long, but they were frequent throughout the day. At John's urging, I made an appointment to see my primary care physician. My doctor quickly scheduled me for a series of tests which included:

• MRI
  
• MRA with and without contrast
• Carotid Ultrasound - to evaluate the bloodflow thru my carotid arteries and structure

It was during my Carotid Ultrasound test where I spoke with the head radiologist at the imaging center. He mentioned a condition called Moyamoya that he suspected I had, but he was doubtful at the time. This was the first time I ever heard of this. I googled the word, but I figured my chances of having the disease was slim to none.

That was round 1 of testing to diagnose the reason for my headaches...no definitive answer yet.