"long day" doesn't even begin to cover it

We are still on NY time, so my parents and I woke up at 3am (6am NY time) for our 9:30 appointment. They did a pre-op physical, pretty standard and nothing out of the ordinary-- all of my levels were good for surgery. Then they sent me for an MRI, also routine.
At 2 pm we met with a fellow of Dr. Spetzler (the surgeon). He was very knowledgeable and kept me confident in the success of the surgery on Thursday. Then, Dr. Spetzler himself came in. Surprising to me and my parents, he had a nice personality, had a sense of humor and gave us as much time as we needed to reiterate our concerns. I signed a waiver that he met with me and explained everything and answered all my questions and agreed that he can perform the craniotomy on Thursday.
Next up, we met with a fellow of Dr. McDougall (the doctor performing the angiogram tomorrow).We thought the harder of the two consultations was over. WRONG! During this consult we found out that the doctor plans to do an angiogram* tomorrow with the potential to embolize** while he is in there; if he sees an opportunity to. Understandably, I am very apprehensive to okay that because last year I had an embolization.... and we all know how well that worked out for me....
We sat with Dr. McDougall for over a half hour contemplating my comfort with a second embolization. He explained that, unlike last years procedure, this time they are not going to embolize to obliterate the AVM; rather, they will embolize only if they are confident it will reduce blood flow to the AVM-- thereby making the surgery less complicated for the surgeon and less risky for me.
Dr. McDougall reassured me that he will only embolize if he is absolutely certain that it is in my best interest and will stop any amount of bloodflow to the AVM.
Dr. McDougall explained to me and my parents that he and Dr. Spetzler work together, and much of Dr. Spetzlers successful cases were because of Dr. McDougall's pre-op emboliazation during the angiogram. 
At the end of our consultation, my parents and I were very on edge about what we were expecting to be the easiest part of the "vacation". With concerned eyes, I listened as the nurse read over the waiver that I signed saying that Dr. McDougall has my permission to perform an angiogram with potential embolization where he feels fit.
I spoke with my neurologist in NY after the consult and he very much agreed with everything McDougall said and he trusts McDougall's judgment and feels confident that when/if McDougall embolizes anything, it will be the right thing to do.
Since the consult I had a chance to absorb this possibility, I spoke it over with my neurologist, my parents, grandparents and sister. I came to the conclusion that I trust Dr. Spetzler and Dr. McDougall and if they feel I need part of my AVM embolized, I trust that they know what they are talking about and they know what to do to insure there is no complications this time.
So, Tuesday morning, 5:30am I go to the  hospital to prep for the angiogram. the angiogram is at about 8am. If they do the angiogram and they feel that there is no reason or leeway for embolization, then I finish in about an hour and come back to the hotel in the evening. However, if they find it necessary and safe to embolize, it will be around a 4 hour procedure and I will have to stay in the hospital overnight until Thursday morning surgery.
Anyways, been up since 3am, it's 10pm now and were waking up at 4:30 tomorrow--so, bed time for me! I will keep you posted on what happens tomorrow.Good night.




*angiogram is essentially an internal MRI. They snake a catheter through the groin to the neck and inject dye and take pictures and measure the AVM accurately.
**embolize/embolization is when they snake a catheter through the groin and inject a glue substance to the AVM to cut off blood supply to that area, thereby killing that part.