Good Morning everyone, everywhere! It’s a beautiful overcast morning here in my part of the world. Storm came through and there are thousands of leaves on the ground. It’s rather difficult to blow wet leaves, on the other side of the coin, they rarely blow back at me. I will have to get the driveways and walkway blown off, don’t need any of us slipping on them. Always something isn’t it?
I never told you that we had a bidet put in our master bath when we had to gut it. Why am I talking about a bidet? Well, today is the USMC 250th birthday, my younger brother was in the Corps and we have two nephews, and a great nephew that are also Marines. (Once a Marine, always a Marine.) We don’t separate family members who have married into the family, they’re stuck being part of our crazy, often times dysfunctional family. So one nephew was in Embassy Duty and went to Milan, Italy. His son was around 2 or 3 and was so excited about using a bidet, he had to tell us all about it and how great it was. He also announced rather loudly to a park he was at with his sister and Mom that the Secret Service should wear shorts and t-shirts, not suits and ties when they’re at the park, they stand out. Gotta love what comes out of children’s mouths sometimes. He’s now in his early 20’s. Having gone through the shortage of toilet paper during the pandemic, we decided we would finally try one. After all, if a little tyke is so excited about a contraption, they insist on calling from Italy to NC, something must be great. He was correct. There is nothing better than sitting on a heated seat when it’s cold and one has been outside freezing their tush off, it also helps our septic tank. Obviously has nothing to do with cerebral aneurysms, just sharing. Stuff comes up in my brain is all.
Oh, I wanted to share a couple quotes I read this week that I do think applies to us! The first comes from a social media platform for woodworkers I belong to in which a member started a topic on health and aging issues. One of the members quoted Raymond Feist, American author “Life is problems. Living is solving problems.” The member adds “That’s the side of the coin I see ahead of me.” It really resonates doesn’t it? The other is “Meredith said when you change the way you look at something the thing you look at changes.” From the book “The Women of Arlington Hall” by Jane Healey.
Whether we rupture or have an incidental find of a cerebral aneurysm, we change. Some members have other serious health issues that go along with an aneurysm. We generally take everything for granted until the moment we are confronted with either or both. So we change the way we look at things and often see problems. Many want to go back to being “normal”, a word I generally don’t use and if you’ve been reading what I post you know why. Life is full of changes, our experiences in life creates an opportunity or forces us to look at things differently.
I like to believe I like to solve problems, gives me a sense of control, I imagine. Although I really have always liked puzzles and problems. In order to solve problems, we have to look at those hurdles differently. Can we barrel through them, jump over, or simply walk around? In the meantime I’m choosing to look at the hundreds if not thousands of leaves coming down in the wind as a positive, the beauty of reds, yellows and greens is simply magnificent. I’ll worry about clean up later.
On to our newest members!
@Nancy12 hails from Minnesota. Nanc shares she is a survivor of a double aneurysm rupture. Nanc shares she is living what appears to be a normal life but suffering from anxiety and fear and wants to know why. She needs help in looking for suggestions to overcome the anxiety . Nanc also wonders if she had a N DE which I think means Near Death Experience. She doesn’t remember any of the evens leading up to her rupture. We are here to help you Nanc, just start a new topic under the General or Support tab by clicking on the heading, then the + Add New Topic box. Type your heading and then ask away in the section below. After that hit the + Create Topic box on my tablet it’s blue.
@MeginMI up in Michigan. Meg had a MRA for pulsatile tinnitus and a 4mm aneurysm was found on the suprachroniod left internal carotid artery aka Opthalmalic Internal carotid artery: Anatomy, segments and branches | Kenhub. Meg shares she is schedule for an angiogram to determine what happens next. She is also a mother of 2 and a K-2 PE teacher. Come talk to us, start a new topic under General or Support. Meg, we are here to help you with our experiences. We know a thing or two about angiograms. There are also topics where members have discussed what to do, what to take, etc. But we would really like to get to know you! Don’t forget to hydrate well before and after your angiogram!
@Pogi is over in Scotland. Paula is waiting her embolisation procedure. Paula shares her basilar tip aneurysm was found on a MR scan, had the CTA and that was followed up with her MDT. She was then referred to Clinical Radiology and Interventional Neuro. Wow do they do things different in the UK! Sounds complicated but probably not so different from here in the States. Paula also shares she was an Interventional RN in Radiology at an Oncology hospital so she does have a little knowledge going in. Personally, I think being able to understand medical speak is great as most of us end up learning it and you’re ahead of the game. Being in Oncology, I imagine you’ve also learned the importance of support which is exactly what we are all about! Please start a new topic under the General tab and let us know how we can support you! Can’t wait to read more of your story…
Coming back across the pond and down to Florida is our last newest member for the week, @Jeff was having daily bouts of severe vertigo, went to the ER had a CT scan which identified a brain aneurysm. Jeff is waiting to see a neurosurgeon. Jeff also shares that he has been a commercial diver and supervisor for 35 years, having an aneurysm will disqualify him from working. Dang Jeff, that is a really hard blow! Sometimes CTs can be wrong as I’ve learned from members here, not always, but sometimes. Wait to see what the neurosurgeon says. Please start a new topic so we can help support you in this possible life changing event.
That’s it for this week y’all. Thank you from the bottom of my heart to the members who are active and posting links, I love it! To the ones who just read, take some time off your busy schedule and help someone out, please, pretty please with sugar on top!
Remember - living is solving problems and sometimes we need to look at things differently. Don’t forget to hug the ones you love!