Thank you all so much for your help. It has been a rough few weeks. Later in the evening after posting my MRI images I was doing laundry and cleaning up the house (nothing too strenous) and the left side of my face went completely numb. I was terrified. My husband had been at our neighbors and I called him to come home and take me to the hospital. He encouraged me to wait a little bit ans see if I started feeling better or worse. It was near midnight and he didn't want to spend more time in our local ER here where they look at me and say nothing is ever wrong and then send me on my way. I was scared and upset (which didn't make anything better) but the pain in my head wasn't even as bad as my migraines usually are, so I went to bed. I still had severe numbness and 'puffiness' from my eyebrow down to my throat for the following few days. I called my local neurologist on Monday and told them what was happening, requesting that the doctor see me, and they said there are no appointments for 4 week so I should go to the ER. Upset and frazzled, I found the Aneuyrsm Hotline number for the Cleveland Clinic NeuroAccess department and they got me in on the 23rd. The day before I went I picked up the report on the ultrasound of my carotid and it indicated <50% stenosis of Left ICA with minimal plaque formation on bulb and <16% stenosis of Right ICA. At the clinic I spent about an hour and a half with a resident and 5 mintues with the doctor (Dr. Mary Ann Mays) before leaving. I asked the resident about what I saw on my MRI and she said it was probably my jugular (which it isn't). I was disappointed as I watched her breeze through the images so quickly as if flipping through a magazine. I had to ask her to go back several times to ask about things. She did say she would talk to the Doctor about it and left to consult. When they returned and I was introduced to Dr Mays, they indicated that they were going to an MRV of the Transverse and Saggital Sinus. Run bloodwork and then if they had not found the cause of the symptoms, a lumbar puncture. The following few days I developed a new symptom.....I live in Ohio and we had our first 80+ degree weekend. I absolutely love the heat, we have a pool that I try to spend the summer in and if given the opporutnity I would gladly retire to the desert, however, this weekend I found that if I would be on my feet for more than 15 minutes or so, the veins in my wrists/hands and ankles/feet would BULGE and my skin looked purple. They dizziness I had been experiencing had been quadrupled, my face was completely numb again and I lost the ability to control my fine motor skills (writing, using a knife and fork to cut my food, etc). After 4 days of this the weather went back to the mid 60's and those symptoms went away, leaving me where I had been. I had the MRV 2 days after that (last Wednesday). I left a message for Dr Mays and she called before the end of the day to tell me that I do have a low flow state in my transverse sinus. Which according the the Radiologist is consistent with Arachnoid Granulation. So apparently they believe the images I posted to be an arachnoid granulation and told me that it doesn't need addressed because they don't cause symptoms. (Not sure if I completely agree) We talked about the lumbar puncture and decided to wait 2 weeks (it is scheduled for May 15th) and see if any of the symptoms I am having will subside. She said if anything gets EXTREMELY worse, they should would try to get me in for an urgent procedure. This past weekend went unusually bad. After watering plants and taking the dogs for a walk I ended up in pain for the rest of the weekend and to make matters worse, now the newest symptom is that I am exhausted but when I lay down I can not sleep. Two days ago I finally had the follow up with the local neurologist who sent me for the Brain Mri in the first place. After telling me it was fine and there is nothing pathology wrong with me, he suggested we find a good anti-depressant and "wait it out for a while". At that point I let him know I was going to continue with the Cleveland Clinic staff hoping to find an answer. I told him they were considering pseudo-tumor cerebri. He said I didn't have the sings....then he decided to examine my eyes further. He "himmed and hawed" a bit then said that they were cloudy but he could see the disc and continued to tell me that all the symptoms are in my imagination. Finally, be-grudgingly he examined my neck as I had been complaining of constant pressure in the base of my skull. He said it felt fine to him but "if I really wanted him to" he could do an MRI of it. So I agreed and asked the to please schedule asap, so that I could have results before the LP. I went in today for the MRI. I took the images with me from my last post (who were read by the neurologist there) and the refused to even consider looking at them again and said that they will never re-review a test or talk directly to a patient. I get the whole liability issue, but if the doctor tells you "well the radiologist is the expert at reading these images so they know" and the radiologist wont talk to patients...............we have a very poor system in place!!! Anyhow, They always give me the CD of the images when I leave, but is takes 24-48 hours to be able to pick up a copy of the radiologists report. I have attached some of the sagittal slices for you to see. I am curious about the dark blobs that are in the CSF (in the 3rd & 4th picture) and I'm not too sure, but that giant cluster of nerves in the 4th picture doesn't look ideal either. I should have the report tomorrow or Saturday. Sadly I have lost any confidence in this imaging center and fully expect them to say they see nothing, regardless of whether or not something is there. I will put in another update as soon as I know something. Thank you for all of your feedback and please don't hesitate to send more if you have it.
Jenny

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