Honestly all of my stuff came on really fast. In November I was all of the sudden hit with the worst headache of my life. My husband took me to an ER and they diagnosed me with a sprained neck. I suffered through the weekend and went to a chiro on Monday. She recommend me to my doctor who then sent me to get a CAT scan on Wednesday. Within twenty minutes of that we were on our way to a different ER and then in an ambulance to our University hospital. I remember my first night there. I ended up having surgery the next day. I had one aneurysm already leaking and I had a second one burst while they had me in surgery. I don’t remember about three days after my surgery which is honestly bugging me a lot. I have been out of the hospital a little over a week. Physically I feel okay other than fatigue and I’m having trouble with speech and concentration. My husband had been a Godsend. Family and friends have been so much help. I feel guilty for accepting all this help, I’m impatient with myself that I can’t do everything I want to. I know things will improve. I have small children that I think sometimes feel thing should be back to normal since I am home. Sorry I’m rambling just kinda needed to get stuff out.
Michelle, Thank goodness you were treated. I can only give you the same advise everyone gave me and it worked!! REST REST REST and be really really really patient with yourself. Sounds like you have a lot of support and if you can find it in yourself to relax and trust that you will be okay in time. This is a great place to get support anytime of the day or night!! We are here for you. Believe that you will be okay!; until you can believe that we will all believe it for you!!! God Bless and Rest! Chris
Hi Michele, Normally I don't post much but am an avid reader of most all posts. I'm glad you've found our online community ! For Survivors (such as yourself), Family & Friends this online community you will find amazing for information and support. Honestly, it has been just over a decade and I still continue to think back about those days following surgery and I can't remember them. Not sure but I imagine that happens to a great many of us after brain surgery. I've noticed that almost everyone that has had some sort of craniotomy has continued issues with chronic fatigue. Not saying that is your case but for the most part chronic fatigue is part of it all. If time permits and your vision and concentration allows there are a good number of discussions here that address various incumbrances (< for a better word) that people have experienced after surgery. Headaches, Speech, Concentration, Blurry vision, Neuropathy of hands/feet/etc. and various other types of unexplained things. These might help you have a better understanding and direction or plan ? Whatever it is take your time and don't let it frustrate you, because you are a new you now !
Just wanted reply and tell you, You and Yours are in my prayers !
Your a survivor and can ramble if you want. That is what this community is all about. I've seen some awesome conversations develop over a post just like yours. God Bless !
Hi Michelle,
Do not apologize for "rambling" You have every right to be upset and frustrated and believe me, if anybody understands, it's all of us on this website. What you've gone through is very traumatic. I can sympathize with you about losing days....especially when people would tell me what I was doing and I have no memory of it whatsoever! I lost 3 days and began to come around on the 4th day.
Have your husband get you some books that you will enjoy and read them out loud to yourself. This will help with both concentration and speech. Also journal your feelings so they won't get bottled up and when you go back and read some of it, you will see how much progress you've made. It's really hard for our loved ones, who haven't experienced what we have, to truly understand what we've gone through and the impact it has had on our lives. At the same time, we don't understand what it was like for them to have to watch it, while feeling helpless........
It's ok to accept help! Take this time to heal and recover and do not try to rush it! When I was recovering, I did a lot of research on aneurysms and what I found gave me a reality check about how fortunate I really was! I began counting my blessings instead of wondering why me. I will pray for you and your family. I wish you much success as you heal and continue this journey called life. :)
Michelle,
Welcome to this forum! My ruptured "annie" was a year ago Nov. I don't remember about a week and a half following but I count that as a blessing, since what I do remember of ICU wasn't all pleasant. Don't feel guilty for having help! You will be better in the long run for getting the rest you need. So glad you were diagnosed in time and that you have support! Just love on the kids and they will be fine letting others "do" for them.
I almost died the night of my aneurysm, but the Lord spared my life and I have had amazing recovery. I didn't drive for six months, because I had a seizure as part of the episode, so it took a while for things to get back to "normal". Now I find myself running around busy again. Thankful! Blessings on you!
Welcome to the group. I had an aneurysm 16 years ago and only found this group and another one about one year ago. It's nice to be able to vent and also to read what others have experienced and the problems some still have. It has made me realize that I'm not the only one going through something.
Have you ever helped anyone else? Just asking, because you should not feel guilty about accepting help. That's the way it goes sometimes - you help when you can and others will help you when needed.
Just take it easy and rest. It will take a while until everything will feel better again.
Monika
Michelle - thank God you got treated correctly! and found this site too. Please don’t be impatient with yourself. Right now you can’t control things as you may have and that will take time and patience. More time than you would think but day by day things will move forward. Accept help offered even if you feel uncomfortable with it. I’m a do it yourself person so that was hard for me but I found I was frequently overwhelmed and too tired to do a lot in the beginning. I didn’t have issues with speech but still with concentration and it’s been since February when I had the SAH. Ask your doctor for a referral to a good speech therapist and that will make a big difference and as others will tell you, rest. Please take time for yourself and lean on your husband for help too. Rest is so important in recovery. I wish you the best with everything and please keep us updated. Please post too as often as you need with questions or concerns. This site is chock full of very kind and caring people and even just reading posts has helped me with my recovery. Now, go take it easy and try to slow down. Everything will work itself out! You’ve survived a very traumatic experience and it took me some time to grasp that myself but go easy, rest and we are here for you!
Hi Michelle,
I can imagine that you are very unsettled after all you have experienced. You must relax and let healing take its time. The fact that you did get help fairly quickly puts you into a good place for recovery.
My wife's ruptured almost without notice, certainly without notice that we would understand, and she does not remember over a month's worth of time, all of which she was in the hospital. That was almost three years ago, and she is doing very well today. Her walking was affected a bit, but otherwise most people would not notice anything unusual about her.
Also, you have the added responsibility of children, and that can be difficult. But at your young age you have a great chance for full recovery.
I'm glad to hear that others are helping you. That is so important, and please accept their help--don't feel guilty about it. Many people helped us, some we know and some we don't.
But feel free to share. Some people may not understand you, but on this forum they will. You are among friends here!
Welcome to this very exclusive club Michelle. You have won the most amazing battle of your life. This is a great group of people and we will be here as you continue on this amazing, sometimes extremely frustrating, journey! Please feel free to ramble as much as you want, we all do. The great thing, we never have to apologize for it :) Carol
Welcome Michelle :). The first few months are the hardest as you deal with the shock of all that happened and try to process everything. It’s something that takes all of us by surprise. Thank goodness you survived the first days when they didn’t diagnose you correctly. You’ll come to realize that you are so lucky to be home and back with your family. Accept all help offered! Wouldn’t you help family or friends if the needed it? Yes you would :). There are specialists to help you work on things like speech, etc. Just take your time to recover. Your kids may need some time to get used to you needing help and not “running the show” - mine did! Even now, 18 months later, I work 9-4, and I’m back to taking care of things, but I still need to go to bed each night at 8:30 - way before my husband and kids. Takes time.
February 2012- I went to work like normal. I had been complaining all week that I had a headache. In the past I had suffered from migraines. Last thing I remember February 9,2012 is talking to my best friend on the phone. Next thing I remember is March 1, 2012-3weeks later. I was asking a nurse what happened and where was I. She said I had a ruptured aneurysm in my brain. I slapped her on the keg and said I did not. She assured me I did and had another un ruptured one. I asked her where was I. She said I was at U T Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas. I told her I must be dying then… I’m from Fort Worth & we don’t go to Dallas. She told me I was not dying any longer. That both of the aneurysms had been coiled. I also could not see. The blood from the rupture had filled my head and pressed on the optic nerves. They went in and got the blood out. My sight was back. I back to work on June 1st. Then my sight started going bad. I had developed cataracts in both eyes. Two more eye surgeries later and my sight has been good. I sympathize with your frustration. People have tried to fill me in on those 3 weeks that I have forgotten. I wasn’t in a coma. I talked to everyone that came in my room. It has been neatly 3 yrs and I have never remembered anything from those 1st 3 weeks. I am back to work full time and after having to go back and add more coils I haven’t had any real problems. I have intermittent vertigo and some short term memory loss but I turned 59 in September so some things aren’t remembering. You will love this site.
I didn't think you rambled. Don't be concerned about what you've forgotten. It's called retrograde amnesia and occurs after trauma or you may have been asleep due to drugs.
Hi Michelle,
Hearing your name and aneurysm in the same sentence seriously takes some getting used to, for both you and your family. It is wonderful that you got the treatment you needed. This forum will be helpful to vent and to read of others experience. In time, it is likely you will be e providing comfort to others.
It is likely that your life will change, if only in small ways. And it will take time to adjust to even the small changes. You have healing to do, and rest is the medicine for that. Nothing you can do to speed it up, you can only slow it down by not taking care of yourself. Trust that your family and friends are helping out of love and accept that gift freely. My husband was a superstar caregiver, support of family and friends was a huge benefit to him. He could take time to breath, rest and tend to his own job because of their support. I did not have small children during my recovery, but I suspect they will adjust to your new limitations. They are generally very resilient.
If you have not already done so, get a neurologist who will care over your care when the follow-ups with surgeon are over.
Be patience and take care of yourself.
Hi Michelle,
Welcome to this great community. It really means a lot to be in communication with people who UNDERSTAND! I got so fed up with well-meaning people who kept telling me how well I looked and how "nobody would know anything happened to you!" I would thank them, but think, "Huh! You don't know what it's like on the iinside." I felt like they were trivialising this catastrophic thing that had happened to me. I was so confused, anxious and depressed. I lost, not only the three months after my rupture (four years ago) but the three months before it as well - in fact, to begin with, when I awoke from the coma, I had retrograde amnesia, I thought it was 10 - 15 years earlier. I had daily fatigue, headaches, short-term memory issues, plus I was blind (due to bleeding into my eyes) and wheelchair-bound (due to muscle wasting). Now, after four eye operations, my distance sight is good again; after months of physio I can walk again; I am still battling the anxiety and depression (they say I have PTSD). But I no longer spend hours a day sobbing, or sleeping, and I have recently been able to start work again as a proofreader and copy editor - it's good to know I have enough brain left to do that work! My children were grown up when my rupture happened, I can hardly imagine how difficult it must be to cope with a young family while recovering, but you sound like a strong person, and a much-loved person surrounded by support. Just focus on slow, steady improvement, be good to yourself and curb your impatience - trust that normality WILL return!
Michelle, welcome, so glad you survived your leaky aneurysm. Be patient with yourself, your bodyand head will give you signals about resting and nurturing yourself. This medical calamity can teach you patience, to nurture yourself, and when to lean on others. Take it slow. I am two years since my burst aneurysm. I can drive but still have memory problem, fatigue and trouble with planning, organizing and learning new tasks. Executive deficits. Fatigue and spaciness is a daily companion. Take care of you, I found focusing on gratitude and meditation practice has been helpful. Take care and best wishes!!
Hi Michelle, this is my first post as well. On November 5 th I had the worstheadache of my life and it turned out to be a ruptured aneurysm. I came around a week later in ICU and left hospital 2 weeks after that. I don’t have my head wrapped around it all either, yes it happened to me but it sure seems like someone else’s story still. The recovery and lingering effects are real enough and all that I am working on at this time.
I am learning more about what is “my story” from this online community and feeling more thankful and lucky with all that I learn. Welcome and happy that you too can consider yourself a “survivor”.
Could not have said it better!
John R Penwarden said:
Hi Michele, Normally I don't post much but am an avid reader of most all posts. I'm glad you've found our online community ! For Survivors (such as yourself), Family & Friends this online community you will find amazing for information and support. Honestly, it has been just over a decade and I still continue to think back about those days following surgery and I can't remember them. Not sure but I imagine that happens to a great many of us after brain surgery. I've noticed that almost everyone that has had some sort of craniotomy has continued issues with chronic fatigue. Not saying that is your case but for the most part chronic fatigue is part of it all. If time permits and your vision and concentration allows there are a good number of discussions here that address various incumbrances (< for a better word) that people have experienced after surgery. Headaches, Speech, Concentration, Blurry vision, Neuropathy of hands/feet/etc. and various other types of unexplained things. These might help you have a better understanding and direction or plan ? Whatever it is take your time and don't let it frustrate you, because you are a new you now !
Just wanted reply and tell you, You and Yours are in my prayers !
Your a survivor and can ramble if you want. That is what this community is all about. I've seen some awesome conversations develop over a post just like yours. God Bless !
Hello Michelle,
This is the most fantastic place! No you were not rambling. All of us here have one thing in common, Aneurysm. Some are ruptured, some are not. Your brain has been invaded, the aneurysm and the surgery. I will take a lot of time to heal it self. Listen to your body as it will tell you that you need to rest. Let friends and family help you. Read to your children ( if they are young). It will give you " Mommy" time with them. Tell them that they are helping you. Young children love to be read to! You can also snuggle with them. Snuggling is the best part.
Wishing you the best recovery ever! Happy holidays to you and your family!
Hello Michelle! Take YOUR time, talk to YOUR self, and one of these days YOU'LL know about YOUR self and YOU'LL get there. I only say this because everybody has their own and we are all different but WE ARE ALL SURVIVORS and we all take time until we will know.
Love, M
Wothy of Love speaks with wisdom, this kind of injury and recovery is certainly different for each of us, and requires our patience and positive attitude for ourselves. Take care of yourself, be kind and patient with your journey!