Easier said than done, I know. When they told me it looked like I might have a 1mm aneurysm or could just be an infundibulum, my life spiraled. I have never experienced fear like that. But the fear didn’t come from hearing this from the doctors. The fear came from going to Dr. Google and getting consumed by it. Learning about “blister” aneurysms about did me in. I was consumed by the numbers, by the locations, by the studies. Constantly looking at my 3D MRA on my computer and dwelling on it. I genuinely believed I could die if I sneezed. The start of every headache raised my blood pressure. Even to this day, I can barely even visit this website. Certain smells from that time in my life can push me down that path if I let it. I imagine others have been in my boat and stopped coming here too.
What I needed was to read good stories. So this isn’t the first time I’ve came back and posted mine. But I felt like I should do it again in case someone else needs to see it.
I’m happy to say that was almost 3 years and 4 scans ago. Nothing has changed. I won’t need another scan until 3 more years now. My headaches ended up being caused by Sucralose and my migraines were caused by a DHEA supplement.
My story won’t be the same as yours. But I just want to share some good news to those newly diagnosed. Don’t let your mind be betrayed by reading all the negative stories on this website. That’s just the nature of the beast. Those that things work out for tend to not stick around and finish their story. So you only get exposed to the worst cases and it took me a while to understand and believe that. I’d notice someone hadn’t posted in a long time and thought the worst. I thought my story was going to be terrible. As dramatic as it is, I told myself that if I made it past a year or so, I’d make sure to update the website.
So live your life any way you can. Don’t let it consume you. Know that there are many many more success stories out there than bad ones. And just be thankful we live in a time where we can get effective treatment and support.
I’m here if anyone needs me.