I had an ultrasound of the carotid arteries done at 9:45am on July 13th. These tests were ordered by my neurologist Dr. Jessica Walter to test out the theory of poor blood flow to the brain causing daytime CPS seizures. (That theory was invented when I noticed that leaning too far forward or too far back triggers seizures when eating lunch or watching TV.)
Carotid ultrasounds measure plaque buildup in the arteries of the neck. This plaque is a common cause of reduced blood flow to the brain. While plaque reduced blood flow wasn’t 100% what I had in mind with my theory, I decided to go through with the tests. After all, it was a win-win situation. If the tests passed, they would pinpoint the cause of poor blood flow; if they didn’t, we would just be in the same place as before.
My dad was nice enough to drive me to the Stanford Cancer Center South Bay for the tests, despite having a super busy day himself. Believe it or not, that Tuesday happened to be his first full workday back in the office since the pandemic began.
I have no clue how ultrasounds work and was half expecting to be shoved into some tube with colorful blinking lights for an hour or two. Luckily, the testing process turned out to be nothing like that. All I had to do was swap my shirt for a hospital gown, lie down and turn my head left, then right. I was in and out of the 2589 Samaritan Drive building within forty-five minutes of arriving in Los Gatos.
As I was leaving, I was promised that Dr. Walter would have the results within a day. Once the results were accessible on Stanford MyHealth two hours later, I forwarded them to my physical therapist Kelly Maloney as well.
Anyway, I have yet to hear from Dr. Walter, but the results on MyHealth are easy enough to interpret. There is no plaque buildup and “flow within the external carotid and vertebral arteries is antegrade.” To summarize, reduced blood flow from plaque in the carotid arteries is not an issue. (During my 10am physical therapy session today, Kelly confirmed my findings.)
