Femoral catheterization before carotid tumor removed?

Hi, I have a Paraganglioma on the carotid artery (left side). Specifically it is 3cm and is at the bifurcation of the artery. I have visited and spoken to surgeons at Swedish (Seattle), Fred Hutch (Seattle) and Mayo (Arizona). Of those three doctors 1 wanted to embolize the day before (Swedish) and the other 2 told me that they would not embolize. I spent some time researching this myself and found two medical papers detailing studies on whether or not embolization was advantageous. In both studies the conclusion was that the results of the removal of the tumor were not affected by having or not having an embolization.
I felt that the surgeon at Swedish was a little too casual in his attitude towards my surgery and seemed to treat it as 'routine' telling me he always embolizes the day before. The surgeon at Fred Hutch was very efficient and professional but a little too clinical for me, although her treatment plan was the same as the final doctor I met at Mayo - I really liked him. Very experienced and very willing to take the time to explain everything. When I asked him about embolization his response was 'there is a 3 percent risk of stroke with embolization and I don't consider that it is a risk worth taking'.
So, this is my experience to date and I hope you might find it helpful.
FYI I will be having this removed by the surgeon at Mayo as soon as I get my date, hopefully 4 - 5weeks time.

Wow! So much in the same boat as me! Going back to Mayo Rochester end of April to line up the surgical plan. The did tell me there would be an embolization to be able to route the blood elsewhere during the surgery. My triage team there is an endocrinologist, ENT, and vascular neurosurgeon. My tumor is 1.5 cm & at the bifurcation of the carotid arteries on the right side. I was told about all the risks and like your Mayo Dr, mine took all the time I needed to answer all my questions and thoroughly explain everything. They discussed Watchful Waiting; the neurosurgeon and ENT both said I was a very healthy 68 yr old, and the tumor isn't gonna get smaller and I'm not gonna get younger, and that if I was their daughter or sister, they would remove it.
THANKNYOU for responding! Please, keep me posted on your journey, and I'll do the same!

Hello @fas,

It looks like you have a good medical team in place at Mayo. As @gangcarotid1 said, I would also be interested in hearing from you again as you prepare for this surgery.

Will you continue to post?

So, 2 days of back to back surgeries now complete. Was discharged July 11. Surgery for embolization to reroute blood flow from tumor but still going sufficiently to my brain was Something Wild. I was told I would be lightly sedated to be able to respond to questions, and requests to move various parts of my body. Was told I wouldn't remember any of it after I "woke up". WRONG. I remember every single grueling detail, play by play, surgeons and nurses names, punctures into the femoral AND wrist arteries, tubes moving all the way from entrance points through my heart to my neck. I was EXHAUSTED. At that point, I really would have liked to stay in hospital overnight for next day surgery of tumor removal. But after a few hours of almost convulsing shivering and intermittent sweating I stabilized and was released. I was so miserable, and just plain SHOT, that I failed to adequately hydrate during that short window til early the next a.m. when I was restricted from any fluids intake before the tumor removal. First time I've ever had a Mayo phlebotomist have to poke me twice.
Tumor removal went PERFECTLY, per my surgeons. It was benign, it is gone, and it will not come back. I was in surgery for only 2 hours, but in Recovery for over 4, maybe 5 hrs. Doing pretty good now. Only using Extra strength Tylenol every 6 hrs. But am setting alarm to not delay dosages; i went 3 hrs over in the hospital and had to have an oxy. Want to avoid those; they scare me. Pain's staying between 3-4, which i can manage. My husband found a large dried blood spot on top of my head; for those of you still planning your tumor resection in your neck, they'll use a head holder attached by pinning it through your scalp to your skull, and you'll have washable marks across your forehead.
I'm not a fan of Watchful Waiting, unless it was back when I was having babies. The tumor is gone! Thank you @fas for your support!

Hello @gangcartoid1,

I appreciate your update and glad to know that the tumor is gone. I'm sure you must be relieved. Are there any plans for follow-up in the future?

Yes, I am scheduled to fly back to Rochester for appts Sept 29 through Oct 1. This will be for scans of my brain, my neck where the tumor resection was done, and my chest/abdomen/pelvis to check on the kidneys where they removed 2 tumors last Oct on the left and are keeping an eye on 3+cm cyst on the right, plus a nodule that decided to present itself in my lung several months after the partial nephrectomy. The brain scan is a new 1. When the were reviewing my scans before this paraganglioma removal, the scan of the neck didn't go high enough to see but a small portion of my frontal skull base, where they saw what they said looks like a PARTIALLY calcified lesion, possibly meningioma, in the inner table of my skull, but not in brain tissue. I want that checked out to be sure. Right now the score is Wendy-3, Tumors-0 & I want to keep winning any more innings.

I look forward to hearing from you again, @gangcarotid1. Will you post updates as you have questions and as you go through the follow-up appointments?

Will try to do that. 🙂🙃