Re: Personal Health Update
 

I hope you can sort this thing out as soon as possible. Glad to hear you got proactive and hope all turns out well, Paul.

Re: Personal Health Update
 

I am so sorry to hear about your health problems. Hopefully you will get them all sorted out!! My thoughts are with you!!!

Re: Personal Health Update
 

Good news.

I saw a neurosurgeon here in Cleveland yesterday. The clinic, doctors and nurses are as just as terrific as I hoped.

Here's what we've learned:

1. Yes, I definitely have a 3mm, unruptured cerebral aneurysm and maybe a tiny second one (1/2 mm or so).
2. My chance of rupture is approximately 1/1000 per year.
3. My chance of death during a surgery/procedure to fix the aneurysm is 3-4 percent.

My family and I are well satisfied that we took this trip as we got a real read on the aneurysm(s) that the local neurosurgeon was unclear about. Also, we found a world class neurosurgeon for me for the long haul
-- one who works on salary, not commission (which could make a difference in whether they went ahead with a risky but financially lucrative procedure). Finally, we got a real number for chance of rupture (based on multiple factors like size, shape, location, etc), one that looks a lot less ugly than the general population stats.

I can live with a .1% chance of aneurysm rupture per year. Of course, it's possibly that the aneurysm will grow over the years and will need to be dealt with surgically. But the neurosurgeon up here has offered to review my yearly scans for evidence of change and will perform the surgery if/when it becomes necessary in the future.

In conclusion, thanks once again for your support and positive wishes, everyone. It's been a harrowing past couple of weeks, and your messages literally helped me see all this through without having a nervous breakdown. Once more: thank you all.