Mri showing swollen blood vessel

[flatterycat]

Please help
I posted on here when waiting for my results and yesterday wrote what has happened but noone has responded making me think it must be sooo bad.
My consultant rang me yesterday to go through the results of my mri and I am at the end of my tether and don't kow what to think or do. He told me that the mri shows no problems with the brain and that the area they were investigating (my ear) is clear. However he told me that they have found a swollen blood vessel deep in the neck below the brain. He said they want to do another mri to take a closer look. I am beside myself. He told me it was not an artery and nothing like an aneyersim. He also said that depending on the diagnosis I may stay with him (ent) or be referred to a neuro or bone specialist. I asked him if it was life threatening and all he would say was "It doesn't appear to be". I freaked out at this and pushed him on the use of the word "appear" and he said "well it doesn't appear to be" again! I also asked him if it would need an op and he said he didn't know.
I have been looking up swollen blood vessels and can't find much apart from aneryisms which he says it isn't. I then tried to figure out why I may need a bone specialist and apart from cancer of blood vessels couldn't figure it out. He did say it may just be "me" and that mris often pick up things we didn't know about.
All I can think is that it must be something deadly if they need to look again and that he hasn't been upfront with me and is hiding something.
Also his words "appear" are resounding in my head all the time.
Please help me get my head round this someone.

[macc noodle]

Please don't worry that no-one has replied - it is maybe just that no-one on this site has suffered from it.

I am sure that if it was really serious, they would have called you back to the hospital immediately.

All I know is that if you have a swollen blood vessel in the leg, they sometimes treat it with cortisone injections which reduces the swelling. More than likely, the treatment will be the same for neck/head area I guess (but, hey, I am not a quack just trying to make an educated guess).

:hugs:

And as for him using the words "doesn't appear to be life threatening" - it is just him covering himself in this litigation mad society in which we live.

[flatterycat]

Macnoodle
Thankyou for taking the time to reply. I really hope this turns out to be something and nothing. At the moment I can hardly eat or sleep and finding it hard to care for my lovely little toddler.

I can hardly find any info on the net, which is not helping. I just wanted to hear from people who had experienced the same.

thanks again xxxx

[snowgoose]

hello flatterycat :)

can well empathise how worried you are .but hope to reassure you a little bit .
first off ..if it was life threatening you would have been called in immediately .
second .........your gp is just that ...........a general medic ..he doesnt have the answers you crave cos he isnt the specialist and trots out all the vague answers .......cos he doesnt have the scan to hand or the specialist knowledge xx
please dont fret ........it isnt an artery and they want to investigate deeper yes ..........cos if they didnt they would be negligent . lots of things appear on mri scans that are normal for that person ....and if not detected we would be none the wiser . it is a good thing .....but can well understand your fear :flowers:
it is going to be looked at deeper by another scan and you will be looked after and treated . and dont think that means surgery necessarily or such.

I had a bleed in my carotid artery which clotted and travelled ..........the treatment ? aspirin daily . I am fine.
You will be ok ........I wonder if we scanned the nation what we would find to be honest .


keep strong and hugs xx

[countrygirl]

I have had two similar experiences like you with brain mri's and both seemed dreadful at the time but turned out to be nothing so take heart.

10 years ago I had first brain mri same as you for ear trouble and to rule out accoustic neuroma - it came back that I had lesions across top of my brain that could mean MS, at that time all they could say was that I may develop it:weep: but the lesions were not in typical place for MS. I had follow up brain mri 3 yrs later no change then again 5 yrs later again no change and told that they now know that what they used to think were MS lesions are not and are harmless BUT this scan picked up a cyst on my brain stem!! This cyst was the cause of my having a constant pulse in my left ear as it was transmitting sound from my jugular artery through my skull to me ear. Neurosurgeon said loads of people have these cysts and nothing to bother about but then added anyway nothing we can do as its in your brain stem ( gee thanks!) I have just had followu p brain mri and cyst not changed in last 2 yrs.

So mri pick up loads of things that can be totally benign or just you. The second scan will probably be with contrast so they can examine it more closely.

I know exactly how you feel having been through it twice but chances are at end of this it will be its just your personal physiology.

[jessicalittler79]

please keep me posted hun on this as i have to get a MRI and MRV MY DOC SAID HE IS LOOKING AT VESSLES TOO and iam scread also ....i go neek week ...can i ask why u had to have mri...? i am haven mri for pressure in my head and dizzyness just woundering why u had a mri ..thanks hun hope u feel better soon and i would think if it was serious u would be in hospiatl.....good luck if u wanna chatt please feel free to pm me hunni

[flatterycat]

Thankyou so so much. I have had an awful. Can't eat for the worry. Im also worried about why he said he may refer me to a bone specialist depending on results. he is a consultant in ent and said I may be referred to neuro which I get, but a bone specialist? Now I am thinking bone cancer!

[flatterycat]

Jessica

I had MI mri to look for an acoustic neuroma which is a benign tumour near ear. I have tinnitus in one ear which is why they wanted to check it out.

[jessicalittler79]

hi flatterycat ...iam so sceard ive had this pressure on my head for so long i no on the mri and mrv they will find something