Good Morning y’all! Hope y’all had a great week, mine has been like the weather here in the South, full of ups and downs, which does make for an interesting time. We did get to listen to some pretty good music and watch some awesome fireworks. I thought we had a venue close to us, but our new neighbor said nope, it was someone throwing a party on the side road, complete with a DJ who covered the gamut of music. I love music and they played several of my favorite songs from bluegrass to ‘70’s, covered jazz and the blues, disco if you can believe it and of course threw in some country. If you haven’t found @oct20’s topic on music, go here Music that inspires us and add some of your favorites! Just remember to follow our guidelines as we don’t want to offend others being the world wide community we are.
We get to start this week with @Palemeano right here in NC! Jennifer had a serious car accident at the beginning of the year and they found her aneurysm. She’s had scans and tests and of course an angiogram. The doc has decided on a craniotomy scheduled for May 9. She’s scared and nervous. She is looking for survival stories after surgery to help her deal with the emotions that come pre surgery. We can understand why when you read that she is the mother of 7 children ages 3-13. She’s concerned that she won’t be able to communicate or function normally and more importantly she’s suffering from anxiety of dying during surgery. Jennifer, please start a new topic under the “General” tab so we can help. There are many, many members who survive a craniotomy and do extremely well.
@lclaypool is over in Missouri and experienced a ruptured aneurysm when she was 22 back in 2008. Lauren had a craniotomy the next day and had an ischemic stroke during the surgery. In 2021, she found out that she has a calcified mass at the site. Lauren has a stressful job and is looking for others to talk to. You’ve come to the right place Ms. Lauren, start a new topic under General and we can talk!
@SK1 is down in Georgia. SK has been diagnosed with a 5.4 aneurysm just last week. Feeling scared and overwhelmed right now needing medical and financial support. Also feeling very alone. You too have come to the right place SK! Though we cannot help with the medical and financial issues, we might be able to offer different avenues for you to look into to see if you qualify. We certainly can provide emotional support, which is what we do here in our group through our collective experiences.
@MTilds is out in California so we get to move to the West coast of the USA! Marianne is a young 75 year old who just recovered from cancer treatment only to find she has a 6mm brain aneurysm. She hasn’t seen a doctor for it yet but is having daily headaches and pulsatile tinnitus. I recall reading San Francisco has some wonderful neurosurgeons and have been ranked really high.
@Anna is in Central Florida, so back to the South we go! Anna had a flow diversion stent for an aneurysm a few years ago but has since moved. She has another that was being monitored but isn’t sure if she’s comfortable with her new provider. She’s looking for members that have some knowledge of providers in her area and has started a topic already! Surgeons in Florida For anyone in the Orlando area, please help her out!
@Tanalu is up in New Jersey. Denise has been put on the wait and watch list to see if it grows over the year. Apparently the neurosurgeon feels the radiologist is just being extra cautious. (Seems radiologists do that, especially when they don’t have back up images in my experience). Denise is frustrated that the Doctors are not agreeing and now is having to deal with anxiety of it possibly rupturing or even if it exists at all. She’s going to continue going on living but is concerned that daily activities may cause it to grow or rupture. That’s a lot on you Denise, please start a new topic under General so we can help you out!
We finish our welcomes with @Paisley59 up in Massachusetts. Her youngest sister had ruptured which led to everyone being tested and boy or boy does she have a sibling group that has aneurysms. You can read all about her family here as she’s looking for others with family history Anyone with any familial trends to anuerysms that are NOT brain? - #9 by Moltroub
That’s the round up this week, except for one that didn’t reply to the automated message. If you’re joining you need to do that so please look in your junk or spam folder. Also, please follow the Community Guidelines found here Community Guidelines it really makes my job easier as that of the folks @ModSupport who always have my back and yours too!
Also, I wanted to pass on something I’ve learned this week…if you have Alexa did you know she can give you a daily mental health tip? How awesome is that?! She hasn’t covered relaxation breathing this week so I’ll give a nice reminder to take deep slow breaths all the time just so it become second nature when you need it. Big hugs for the week, hugs do increase endorphins and a bunch of other things https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/four_ways_hugs_are_good_for_your_health
I’ve added a song to @oct20 topic - I was torn between two but settled on one…