Good Morning World! Surprise, welcomes are being done today because we are under an Ice Storm Threat! The weather forecast has been all over the place, we were told we’d get 12-18’ of snow with ice accumulation of over 1”. Today, they’re forecasting less than an inch of snow with ¾’ of ice. Our area isn’t really equipped for snow and ice, although the City, County and State have been spraying the roads for several days please don’t ask why they’re jumping the gun, I guess they wanted practice. Seriously, we haven’t had significant winter weather for several years now, well over a decade I think.
Surprisingly, we are in a very difficult area of the USA to forecast weather. The Appalachian mountains, if interested see Wiki here Appalachian Mountains - Wikipedia. I thought the range was only in the USA and Canada but apparently it gets France included, who knew? I do know that Mom and Dad were raised in the Allegheny Mountains but apparently Wiki says PA calls them the Appalachians as well. Don’t know when that changed, my Grandma who was born in 1895 always called the mountains around her the Alleghenies. Could be because the Allegheny River flows right by her town. Because of these old mountains, they can still change the direction of storms. They’ll turn the storm right up the western side when it comes that way all the way up north! Bless them, they can still affect weather patterns despite that I thought they were hills when I first came to NC.
Some coworkers were talking about the mountains and I turned west to see them. They laughed and told me to turn around. All my life, mountains, tall mountains where we could sometimes see snow on the peaks in the Summer was to the west. I asked them where the mountains were, all I saw were foothills. That did not go over well at all. I was told one does not disrespect the oldest mountain range in the United States. They also told me NC has a river that flows north instead of south which we do and I’ve canoed on it a few times as well as gone rafting. It’s good for us to connect with nature.
Anyhow, with the expected accumulation of ice, comes the expected loss of power and internet. BH and I are truly fortunate in that we listened to Mr. Curley and had a whole house Generac installed so no more messing with a gas generator BH cannot start, heck BH can’t even start a lawnmower or tiller! ROFLOL. It’s always been my job, for almost 31 years. But Mr. Curley was concerned that I wouldn’t be able to start it now with my bum shoulder and pinched nerve in my neck. I have range of motion issues now. Another change of life to try to work with, around or plow through.
We don’t have to fill the tub with water, nor any of the pots and pans and we don’t have to buy drinking water for us nor the dogs. Why would we need to do that, you might be asking. We are on a well, no electricity, no water. Cause and effect as I learned in college. We don’t have to flip the switch, the generator does it all. Pretty lazy if you ask me. In this case, lazy is good. Every month it starts up to ensure it will be there when needed. I do have to stop the dang alarm on the refrigerator because it senses a power outage. I’ve learned to wait until it switches back before pressing the button. I always forget which one to press so I put a sticky note on the dang thing. For the life of me, I cannot figure out why they would put an alarm on it and not a specific reset button one can read easily. Yet it’s a change to get used to.
If we get the ice they are calling for we can expect downed trees and downed lines. The internet lines are using the same poles. Mr. Curley informed me the other day when he came to shut and drain the water lines to the tractor shed that the poles are no longer called telephone poles, I’m to call them power poles. He then gave me a hug and laughed. He knows I probably won’t remember to switch my words out. My long term memory is better than my short term memory. Just a side effect of the rupture, another change, which we try to work around with sticky notes, notepads, smart phones, etc.
Oddly enough, despite the Generac, we are still preparing as always for loss of power. Yes, we went and got bread, milk and eggs, we needed them anyways. I thought it was a Southern thing but recently found out they do it up North as well. Went to gas up our old Edge and the line was long, so a bit of a wait. Then went to Sam’s Club to get Ohana’s medicine and guess what? They were almost completely out of bread! BH and I went yesterday for my medicine. The racks were completely empty but there was a young man filling them up.
Life is one constant change. It’s the cause and effect of getting older. Speaking of getting older, I was at PT on Thursday and was speaking to an elderly woman who was with a middle aged woman. Of course the conversation was about the upcoming storm. The elderly woman was concerned that she would lose power and has no alternate heat source. The younger woman reminded her she was welcome to come to her home where they do have alternate heat sources. Older woman says if she loses power the younger can come and get her. I said what if she can’t because of ice, downed trees and power lines. I strongly suggested she go to the younger’s home. The older woman doesn’t want to leave her home if not needed. She’s not willing to adapt to a bit of change. I get it, change is hard. But sometimes we need to use a bit of common sense if it means a choice between potential death or staying alive. What’s a few days of inconvenience?
Sometimes I envy those of you who have an incidental find and know about it before you rupture. Sometimes I’m thinking I’m better off since I didn’t have to go through the stress of the knowing. But knowing there is the possibility of having an aneurysm repaired would have been a great stress reliever for me, personally.
Life is full of stressors, we know that. We also know different people handle stress differently. How do you handle stress? You can start by learning relaxation breathing of course. Search the internet for different ways, journaling, therapy (a good therapist will do wonders if you’re willing to put in the effort. Bad therapists can make matters worse.) coloring, hobbies, gardening. You can also vent here, where members who’ve had similar experiences and know about the change aneurysms create can help you on your journey.
Now for the welcomes, before the storm comes…
@FEEB26 is down in TX where the storm is already hitting. Felicia had coiling, stent and is on plavix and aspirin. She was diagnosed in 2023, was watched and her aneurysm started to grow a new lobe. So she just had surgery on the 16th of this month! Felicia shares she is concerned with a pulsating headache at the top right side of her head near her hairline. Please reach out to your surgeon today if you can, through your portal. It may be nothing, but it might be something, either way they can tell you how to treat it. Don’t forget to hydrate, eat protein and rest. Ask your team how much hydration, if you need to add electrolytes and how much protein. The brain requires a significant amount of both and rest. Felicia is also a wife and mother of 2 amazing young adults! Good for you and your husband for raising amazing children!
@Dori is up in the Northeast part of the USA (Storm is coming in case you didn’t know lol). Dori has a fusiform aneurysm on the basilar artery tip. She’s been recently diagnosed and there’s no treatment plan yet. Please let us know when you see the specialist.
@Athena08 is out in California where the mountains are tall in case y’all didn’t know and they are to the east. Athena is a student researching brain aneurysms. Her interest is due to having an aunt pass away when she ruptured back in 2023. Athena is hoping to gain more insight. She also shares she loves reading books during her free time! We hope you learn a lot about aneurysms and the frustrations we incur with the specialists, hospitals and after care.
@SaraJane is up in Wisconsin I wonder if they run to the store for bread, milk and eggs when they’re told a storm is coming or do they stay prepared due to the amount of snow they get? Sara Jane had a craniotomy for a left bifurcated unruptured aneurysm in Sept 2025. She’d had her throat scanned in April when they found it. Sara Jane shares that now 4 months out, she is still suffering from headaches and severe fatigue which is incredibly frustrating to her. The surgeon told her she was luck to be alive because her aneurysm was bi-lobed and so thin he could see the blood swirling around in it! SaraJane shares her interests in crafting, reading and being a cat mom. She also collects dolls and Halloween is her lifestyle! You can find her here with her first topic New to Community… and Grateful! ( really proud of you figuring out how to do that!) and she’s responded to a couple of posts! Let’s help her out folks!
@lil_tecka is over in Colorado the storm’s there too, it’s a big one. Abigail shares that her mother passed away from a ruptured brain aneurysm when she was 13 years old. She say her mother lived a mostly normal active, adventurous life but didn’t know about her aneurysms. Abigail comes to us in memory of her mother and the beautiful life she lived. Abigail is currently a college student who loves to read and run! What a beautiful sentiment to honor your mother! Welcome!
@Zalerhea ends this week’s welcomes. Stephanie shares that she fell unconscious at work Jan 31, 2025 was taken to the hospital and then a life flight to a larger hospital where she was diagnosed with a subarachnoid hemorrhage. Stephanie stayed in ICU for a few weeks, released to a rehab facility in late February for a few days and then got to go home. She did have a stent put in and her drain removed before she left hospital. Glad you survived the rupture Stephanie!
That’s it for this week. Please, if you live in a part of the world that’s experiencing dangerous storms, be prepared, make decisions early before the storm hits you if possible, stay off the roads if possible and most of all stay safe.
Don’t forget to breathe, stay hydrated, eat protein and rest as needed. Exercise is healthy for the brain, walking about is a great way to ge your exercise but there are many other ways. Your homework for this week is to find three positive things each day…Enjoy the week y’all! Stay safe! I’ll do the welcomes next Sunday as usual if we have internet connection.
We were fortunate this round in that we didn’t get much snow, but instead received more than frigid temperatures from the Polar Vortex… -19F on the thermometer with blasting winds giving us a wind chill of -40F! I think we’re being prepped for survival in the next Ice Age! I hope everyone here takes the proper precautions and stays safe… and remember to check in with family and neighbors!
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The spring bulbs are already showing green spikes.