Hi all.... I had a ruptured brain aneurysm in January and I don't remember it. I apparently was hit with it while watching TV. My husband came home and found me unresponsive and called 911. I was taken to Robert Wood Johnson Hospital in New Brunswick, NJ where fortunately for me they had a neurosurgeon who specialized in doing the coiling procedure. I had immediate surgery and had a drain put in my head to let all the blood out that had accumulated around my brain. I was in a coma and on a respirator and had all kinds of tubes going in me. I came very close to not making it as my doctor told my husband I had a 50/50 chance. I was later told I was in danger of having a stroke and they went back into my brain 2 more times. My first recollection after the incident was 2 months later when I found myself in a rehab hospital. I came home in March after 3 months. I then went for a angiogram and an MRA in April and they found the coils had shifted and there was an area of the aneurysm that was unprotected and again I faced a rupture occurring. So On May 1st I went back in the hospital for coiling and a stent was also placed in to seal it off. I am hoping for the best when I go for my next MRA Monday. Thankfully I had my husband who was my rock. I cannot thank Dr. Gupta enough for helping him through this.
Hello Debbie,
My God you've been thru so much and it sounds like you've come thru this in an excellent way ! So very happy you're here and you've found a great site...in retrospect, did you have ANY symptoms at all that you'd now relate to the aneurysm being a possible culprit? (balance/dizzyness, vision changes, numbness, etc etc) and when your coils shifted, again, any sort of symptoms? once more, glad you're here !
Peace, Janet
Hi Janet,
I am very lucky to be alive. I really had no symptoms that I noticed. I had headaches all my life so no one can really say if they were a symptom. And again, when they shifted the doctor said it was common since when they first went in I was in such bad shape they just did a patch job to try and save my life. Its scary that someone can be walking around with an aneurysm ready to burst without warning. My doctor said people are born with them and most go through life without problems.
Have you gone through having one?
hi Debbie! so glad your here writing-- it has helped me so much in the last year. Mine was 6-26-09 and your story sounds hauntingly familiar-i was in a 6 day coma-awoke in center city hospital-jeff in philly, Pa. then transported to rehab in the suburbs-there are no words to describe this surreal and un real come to mind. I'm so glad you have support-try to be as understanding as possible- the caregivers do not understand the brain fog, fatigue and confusion that accompany this, thanks for sharing- it somehow helps to talk to others with similar issues- i wish id found this site sooner-i thought i was all alone!!!! 1600 members a yr ago, now over 4,000!!!!!!- its unreal in that regard too!-God Bless you and yours~~
Thanks Ron! I was in a coma for about 2 weeks and awoke (at least when I start remembering) 7 weeks later. I have no recollection of January or February! Its scary! I am still struggling with fatigue and lack of strength. I am told I was in and out of consciousness and had good and bad days. They kept my hands tied down because I kept trying to take things out of me. I eventually pulled my feeding tube out of my nose. Funny that's the first thing I remember lol.
I am afraid to really go anywhere alone or even be alone at home. Is this normal? I keep thinking the coils will move if I bend over too much or exercise. No one really understands my fears.
My doctor tells me its a miracle I am still here and doing so well. He calls me his poster child for brain aneurysms.
Hi Debbie,
Yeah, I've been down the road with the aneurysms...one in 1998 which actually snapped my third optic nerve in two....an emergency clipping followed but no leakage/rupture, very lucky! and in 2006 another one on the opposite side, and although I tried like hell to ignore my symptoms (no insurance), I collapsed while at work and spent the next 6 weeks in a coma (after many tubes coming in/out/a trache/feeding tube, CSF shunt, oh yes and coils)! but made it thru that ordeal with only abit of right sided weakness to deal with and within a week of 'coming to', walked out of the hospital and was able to recover at home...than two weeks into that the shunt got infected so another 3 weeks in the hospital ( But they removed the shunt, CSF started circulating again),..all was well as can be until one night in 2010, the same horrid pain i'd recalled before I hit the ground in 2006 was back, and again I was found on the ground (this time, no coma)! which was great as this time I was able to choose which procedure I should get in order to get me back up and running again, and I went with the clipping as I didn't want to deal with the chance that the coils would compact again A (too dicey for me)! unlike most people, my doctor didn't have me scheduled for any sort of followup after I'd gotten the coils--I had no idea they could even compact ! Needless to say when I went back into the hospital in 2010 I got a new neurosurgeon at a much better facility-)-I've got some awesome Gaurdian Angels if you haven't already figured that out ! lol. )...I came across this website about 6 months ago and like Ronnie, I'm very glad I have--the knowledge i've gleened is really amazing and the freinds i've met are too.
Wishing good news today from your MRA...~ Colleen
hi Debbie! the fear of being alone is perfectly normal- I was so happy when pcp dr said I could be alone --the 10 yr old nephew used to babysit me!!-once in a store, the second store I got really tired and the boy had to sit with me in the car. Things will improve. They told me in therapy to never put my head lower than the level of my heart-- but the surgeon never said that- once I did when I forgot and wow-i'll never do that again---I could hear my pulse in my head--very uncomfortable pressure change. I'm so glad your dr is so happy with you!!!!! my pcp dr said i'm doing good- my first instinct was to argue with him-lol but I let it go--anything we improve on is success~~