Dear Heidi
I wish you well on your upcoming surgery; I will hold you in prayer until I hear back from you after your surgery.
Back in March of 2008, I was in the hospital being treated for Diverticulitis. I was complaining of nausea so they decided to do a CT of my head. I was joking that maybe they were looking for a brain tumor, and they said, yes, they were. I had the CT done and they found and anterior communicating artery aneurysm. Sorry, I donât remember the size of the aneurysm, but if I can remember I will send that info to you. The surgeons were going to operate immediately, but after thinking it through, they thought it would be better to get the diverticulitis cleared-up and then do the brain surgery. During that two week wait, I went to three other doctors/hospitals for their opinions; I went back to the initial doctors and had them do the surgery.
I had had an MRI/MRA done five years prior to March of 2008, because I was having some neurological symptoms after a gyne surgery. I was sent to top neurologist at a teaching hospital. I was told that everything was OK and they did not find anything wrong on the MRI/MRA. They could not explain why I had those neurological symptoms after surgery. They thought maybe it could be from the anesthesia, and said they did not know if it would ever happen again.
Forward to March 2008, while I was in the hospital before having the brain surgery done, I was able to get the report from the MRI/MRA that I had done five years prior. The current surgeons looked at the report and the films and pointed out the anterior communicating artery; It had been missed five years ago. I had been walking around for five years unaware I had a brain aneurysm.
I actually had two doctors work on me; I thought they were both wonderful. I always ask the doctor âwhat would you do if it were your wife or your loved one having this surgery doneâ. Before I could even ask that question the surgeon said, if you were my wife, you would be in there tomorrow and we would be doing a clipping. I am 60 years old now; I was 52 at time of surgery.
The other three opinions I had also recommend clipping over coiling. I was told I could have coiling if I really wanted to but it was explained to us that clipping was a one-time thing; after it was clipped it was done. With coiling there would most likely be more surgeries down the road, if the coils shrunk down, more would need to be added, etc. I know I would not be able to psych myself up to come back over and over again. It was explained to us (my husband and family) that with the clipping there were more risks up front, but that, once it is done, it is done for good. They were confident that I would come out of this OK.
As the doctor was wheeling me out of surgery, he saw my husband and told him that my aneurysm was very thin and that I would have been dead within four months if it had not been found.
I do not like having Diverticulitis, but it actually saved my life. If I had not been in the hospital with Diverticulitis I most likely would have died. We are upset that the first doctor missed the aneurysm five years ago, but I feel I was in the right place at the right time and I had the best surgeons doing my surgery.
Before the surgery, during the consult, the surgeon said that my life will change. After the surgery, I will refer to my life as âmy life before the brain surgeryâ and my life âafter the brain surgeryâ. I do not have any severe deficits from the aneurysm surgery. I am very blessed and very thankful!!!!
I do have some other very serious health problems, but the aneurysm surgery went very well and I am thankful to be so fortunate.
I spent one night in ICU and two weeks in the hospital. I was up and walking the next day after ICU (with a PT belt around my waist and a walker), but non the less, up and walking. They get you up and out of the bed no matter what.
I do have some weird sensations on the left side of my head where they went in by the temple, but this is a small price to pay for being alive. I tried Neurontin for this, but even at a low dose it makes me very sleepy; I was diagnosed with narcolepsy while on the Neurontin, so I do not take it. I try to deal with the sensations best I can. These sensations were much worse right after the surgery; the surgeons told me that it was expected as it is healing taking place. They have gotten much better over time. Everyone is different, so I am not saying this will happen to you.
The surgeon did put an acrylic patch in my head near the temple area, he said that people who have this surgery, that usually a few years down the road, their skull starts to sink in, and they have to come back to have an acrylic patch put in. If this has not been told to you by your surgeons, maybe you can ask about that before your surgery.
I have a long history of migraine headaches (since 1980), so I canât blame them on the brain surgery. I live with chronic pain due to severe fibromyalgia and âinflammatory process of unknown originâ, which also began in 1980, started shortly after the headaches, but again I canât blame any of this on the aneurysm surgery. In 2010, I was diagnosed with a DVT in my left calf and two Pulmonary Emboli in my lungs, again, canât blame any of this on the brain surgery.
Iâm glad I had the clipping; I am thankful to be alive.
Heidi, I wish you well with your surgery; I will be praying for you.
~Diana
