My first test wasn't until 10:00am, so we got to the hospital around 8:45 to get my blood drawn. As I sat there in the chair, the technician pulls out 7 vials. I did a double take, not realizing I was going to get 7 vials drawn. It turned out to be a lot easier and less painful than I thought. The phlebotomist was the best one I've been to in the last few months...I barely felt the prick.
We headed straight to the Stanford Imaging Center for my 10:00 appointment. The center was amazing and not that unexpected since this is part of Stanford. The waiting area had computers (with widescreen monitors) with high speed internet access, laser printers, and complementary hot drinks. They had private patient waiting rooms with a computer in each too. The technician explained that the MRI machine there was installed in July and is evidently 2x more powerful than any other of there MRI machines. The entire test went smoothly. The technician inserted an IV into my arm, since the test consisted of images with and without contrast. The whole test took almost two hours. Nearly two hours laying as still as I could with sounds similar to jack hammers, clicking, and beeping from the machine. I was kinda hoping for a nap during that time...oh well.
By the time we got through, it was lunch time and I was hungry. We walked along California Ave. which was nearby and stopped into a place called The Counter. This is a build your own burger place where you pick the cheese and toppings. I'm not a real hamburger lover, but this place was great! The sweet potato fries were out of this world.
I didn't have my camera at the time, but these are pictures off my phone.
After lunch (and a lot of burger remorse and guilt) we headed back to the hospital for my meeting with the man, the myth, the legend...Dr. Steinberg. My appointment was at 1:45pm, but since he had so many appointments today we didn't actually see him until around 4:30pm. While we were in the waiting area, John introduced us to a couple we overheard talking about their tests. We found out that the husband was diagnosed with Moyamoya, like me, and was scheduled for surgery next week too. Everything has happened so fast in the last month, that it's weird to meet someone else that is going through the same things I am. I'm still floored that we are actually in California right now.
We finally got called into the exam room around 3:45pm and met with Dr. Steinberg's fellow, Nadia. She explained to us that she was here on a one year fellowship from Switzerland. Wow! She answered all the questions we had on the disease, the surgery, and life after the surgery. She emphasized that I am very lucky that I was diagnosed so soon.
One of the head nurses came in to have me sign a consent form to allow the hospital to use my blood and tissue sample as part of their Moyamoya study. I gladly agreed, if it would help to find the cause of this disease. Finally, around 4:30pm, we got to meet Dr. Steinberg. He was very down-to-earth and reassured me that the risks of the surgery were very low. He explained the procedure and didn't seem too worried about the aneurysms on the left side of my head. He won't be able to know what type of treatment will be required on the left side until after my angiogram on Wednesday.
We didn't get home until after 6:00. I'm tired. We had to reschedule myappointment with the anethesiologist for tomorrow. On Wednesday, my cerebral angiogram has a check-in time of 6:00am.
Thanks to all for their words of encouragement. It really helps.
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