ErienneRomaine.com Up and Running

...which is AWESOME! Firstly, I'd like to thank Todd Reid with 'ntegritydesign' for doing such a great job on the artwork for The Scenic Route and this site. The past few days have most certainly been interesting... I just returned from the hospital yesterday after having my first embolization. For those of you who aren't hip to all of the latest neurological lingo, this particular embolization is a procedure in which a very tiny cathoder is inserted into an artery in the leg and strung up all the way into the brain. The goal is to get this cathoder as close to/inside of the arteriovenous malformation as possble so that a glue-like agent can be inserted inside of the malformed veins; the glue solidifies inside of the malformation which starts to cut off some of the blood circulation, and that will ultimately make the final surgery safer/easier by reducing the amount of internal bleeding when the surgeon clips off the malformation. That's what an embolization is in a nutshell. Anyway, I had one of those on Monday. I had to be at the hospital at 5:45 in the morning which was somewhat nice because I was already half asleep even before the anesthesia was given to me. I had to get an IV of course so that they could administer the anesthesia, and for some reason my veins were not feeling particularly cooperative that morning, because it took 4 tries before the nurses found a vein that would work. *Quiver* No me gusta VEINS! So they hooked me up with some yummy saline through the IV and wheeled me off to the interventional radiology unit. The room in which they did the procedure was filled wall to wall with all sorts of multi-million dollar equipment that resembled the set of some weird sci-fi film. They lifted me from my bed onto the operating table, and really I don't remember much after that, I was out like a light. Approximately 4 hours later I woke up on that same table, and I saw some pictures of my ole buddy AVM with a cathoder in it on the monitors. Before I could form another cognitive thought, I was on the go again; they had put me back in the bed and they were taking me to the post-operation recovery room. There I noticed that had another IV-like contraption in an artery in my wrist, and a long tube lodged in the artery of my leg. One of the most painfully uncomfortable things I've ever felt was Ed the anesthesiologist pulling that tube out of my artery. It was just a bit OUCH. Eventually I got a room in the critical care unit, and there is where I spent the rest of my stay. I just needed to stay there overnight so that they could monitor my vitals and ensure that my head wouldn't explode. My head obviously didn't explode, and I had a very quick recovery. Dr. Frei (the head radiologist on my case) was extremely pleased with the procedure. They were using this new glue that just came out on the market, and I was the first person in the state of Colorado to have it. Dr. Frei claims that this new agent will "revolutionize the way AVMs are treated", and I thought that was pretty amazing. I was discharged the very afternoon following my procedure (yesterday) after a restless night and multiple POKES (they really like needles over there), and I am soooo glad to be home. I've spent a lot of time over the past couple months waiting for this first procedure to happen, and I'm realizing how I've been neglecting my days as of late. I've been spending more time waiting than living which is really a shame. I'm making it my intention now to try and change that- because now is all we really have. No past or future; just now, and when there is only now the memories and worries are no longer. UGH, life: sooo much easier said than done. :-P
I'm meeting with Dr. Frei on Wednesday, October 19th to schedule the next embolization, so once that's over with I'll let y'all know what's going on... if there is a y'all... does anybody read this??
If you actually are reading this, then I wish you a beautiful day, week, month, even year. Thank you for your time.

Erienne Christiana Romaine
xx