So, It's the call you never want to get from your doctor... Saying there is a good chance you might be dead in the next week or 2. My left carotid artery is completely blocked in like 3 places and each spot has it's own personal aneurysm just to add some surprise factor to the party...

I already knew i was walking around with a couple of time bombs on my brain... The doctors found a matching set of aneurysms in my carotid arteries about 2 years ago... One on each side right near my temples...but those 2 time bombs are stable...its the 3 new ones on tbe left side that are trouble makers... Those 3 are all dressed up and ready to party like it's 1999.

I have to meet with my vascular surgeon as soon as they can get me in to discuss my options and decide which option of shitty choices I want to take...

There is Choice A is to do nothing and just walk around with my special surprise packages in My neck and wait for one or all of them to pop and hope for the best... That the massive stroke doesn't kill me...turn me into an eggplAnt or cripple or both...

Then there is curtain #2 where the vascular surgeon does angioplasty...which is tricky at best since he will need to place 4 stents...the procedure itself has a better survival rate than the more invasive Endarterectomy... With only about a 20% chance of stroking out for each blockage/aneurysm...so that brings it to a 80% chance of dying on the table... 20% chance of making it out of surgery... The downside of angioplasty is that the chances of the stents getting clogged right back up is very high...especially for me...i have 3 stents in my left leg under my knee already ...all 3 were clogged up within 30 days after getting placed...so odds say if i survived the surgery...i would need the Endarterectomy in a month or two anyway...so what's the point in doing a dangerous procedure that most likely wont work anyway..

Now...behind curtain #3 is the all or nothing grand prize Endarterectomy...where the vascular surgeon opens up my neck and then splices my carotid artery from temple to my breast bone...then he scrapes all the plaque out of the artery and then sews it all back up with a mesh to make it stronger...and in the process he will reinforce all the weak spots in the artery that are the aneurysms...the pros of this procedure is if i survive it...i have a much longer life span prognosis... The downside... 19% of people die during this procedure...so once again... I have 4 blockages/aneurysms...so 19% x 4 brings us back up to a 76% chance of dying during the surgery..add on my congestive heart failure...COPD & Renal failure...and that brings me up to about a 90% chance of stroking out during the surgery... That leaves only around a 10% chance of survival...and if i do survive the surgery...there is around a 50/50 chance i will have some stroke issues...brain damage..paralysis...etc...

So...those are my 3 shitty choices... I know myself well enough that i already know it would take a lot to talk me out of the all or nothing Endarterectomy... The only thing i can think of that might stop me would be the surgeon refusing to do it...which he can do if he personally thinks its too risky... Hopefully he says yes... The upside is he is one of the best vascular surgeons in Minnesota and the surgeon most other doctors would have do this surgery on their loved one... He has also done this procedure many many times and for this particular surgery...the number of times the surgeon has successfully performed it raises the patient's odds for survival...

So ...this is what is going on with me right now... This is on top of being homeless and having multiple.other medical issues... Right now what i need is $$ to meet basic needs... Food... Bus/train fare to and from doctor appointments, the pharmacy, the hospital...medication co-pays, lodging, etc... Any help is greatly appreciated... Please share this & bless you...Thanks