New user here. I tried to post last month but not sure where it went. Anyway while having an MRI to see how my small benign brain tumor was they found a 5.8mm aneurysm. After an MRA then a Ct angiogram they found CFD in my carotoids. So my dilema is do I have surgery or just wait. I started bvp meds and baby aspirin to keep my bp down. My brother had an aorta aneurysm in 2015 and multiple problems after that before he passed last yeAR. So I’m not sure about the risks that the neuro explained that sounded risky. So here I am worried and in the meantime would like to know if anyone has found a fall detection watch that works.
I’m sorry for your diagnoses. I am no Doctor but you do want avoid rupturing. My Spouse had a rupture around 3 years ago and she is still unable to care for herself. If your not sure about you Doctors recommendation consider a second opinion. Generally people do much better if they do not rupture.
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Hi @sunnyg1590,
After my rupture (and before we realized how bad my hydrocephalus* was, thus before that was under control), I was gifted with a Galaxy Watch 5.
Of course, at the time, it was the latest and greatest, but it is old now, but it still does all I need it to do. 
It does have a Hard Fall Detection so it can notify your designated contacts if it senses you fell. I can’t speak as to how reliable it is, as it hasn’t gone off much. The only time I remember was when I was sitting at a neuro’s appointment with one emergency contact who got a call from the second one reporting I had fallen. (Not true, I was in a chair! 
) I am not saying how well it does/does not work since I have not really had what I would consider to be a hard fall (but you remind me to check the settings to ensure it is turned on!).
So speaking of the worry, throughout my ruptured journey, I was encouraged to take up mindfulness, and breathing exercises are often included. My wearables suggest that they do work and it can calm me down!
My favorite video is linked below, if you want to try it out (only 1 minute, repeat as often as needed).
If this does not work for you, there are other options out there, so keep trying until you find one that does work for you. Also, please keep asking us any questions or just using us as a sounding board when you need to vent - we are here to support you!
Fin Whale Fan 
*My hydrocephalus seriously impacted my balance, so fixing that has done wonders for me! Before it was fixed, walking straight - even sitting up straight were not possible, so falling was even easier to do!)
Thank you. So how long did you know you had an aneurysm before it ruptured and what size was it? How long to make it to have surgery after it ruptured? So many questions
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Morning! I looked for the other post you mentioned but couldn’t find it. I’ve also moved this from where it was to General and gave it a title. If you don’t like the title you can change it, no worries!
I think you mean CAD, coronary artery disease and not CFD (computational fluid dynamics) but I’m unsure.
There’s a theory that aneurysms can be familial so that’s a concern with your brother’s history. There’s risks to everything in life I’ve determined. I’m a big one for a pro and con list. I’m also big on taking someone with me to an appointment with specialists for something this serious. Did you take someone? I always have BH drive me to my Neurosurgeon because I can’t drive that far safely by myself. We can help you out with our experiences.
First Alert is what my Mom’s internist recommended or it could have been the EMT, I’ve forgotten. She had fallen getting the mail and gave herself a nasty black eye. When the ED doc asked how she did it, she pointed to my Dad. They thought it hilarious but not the ED doc who I knew very well through work. Had to explain to my parents how serious DV is and how serious the ED takes it. Dr. G. still wasn’t fully convinced so I told Dad to walk across the room. Dad couldn’t walk so well, mom could have ran circles around him. What I’ve not forgotten is the fact that despite it being waterproof, she took it off to take a shower and fell. We had to move in with her and Dad. When you decide on an alert, please keep it on if it’s for you or have the person who needs it to keep it on. My bff wears an Apple Watch and apparently there’s some type of fall detection with it as well, not sure how reliable it is.
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Great questions, @sunnyg1590!
The short answers are:
A) I didn’t know I had one, it was a complete surprise (I only learned of the family history afterwards);
B) It was early Saturday afternoon. I called 9-1-1, made arrangements for them to get in, and passed out. [NO thunderclap headache, my leg gave out, and I coudn’t walk properly, but could only drag my leg.] Woke up 2-3 days later (was in a medically induced coma) in a big city far from home. I am sure they did some emergency procedures later that day to drain the fluids, and then place the coils over that day/next day.
C) As such, no idea what the size was pre-rupture. I was left with a 1.3 mm x 2.1 mm, which started growing again, so I had a pipeline flow diverter (stent) to take care of it.
You should be able to click the icon of anyone (“F” for me) to get more of their story if that helps!
I do questions all day long, so keep them coming!
Let us know what we can do to support you!
Fin Whale Fan
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Thank you for your input. Since they found the 5.8mm brain aneurysm they also found FMD. Fibro muscular dysplasia in my carotoids which is like a twisting of the arteries. Therefore I am on baby aspirin just to help thin blood going through those arteries. No clots.
And yes I took a good friend and another person and had my son listen both visits to the neurosurgeon. Of course it is all up to ne whether to have surgery on the aneurysm or take my chances and try live as normal as possible. I feel fine except these bad headaches every 2 or 4 weeks which I’ve had for 4 years and they believe not related. Since the mri previous about 3 years ago had no aneurysm.
So the risks of surgery were scary to me so here I am.
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Interesting about the FMD, all my arteries are tortuous (squiggly). My Neurosurgeon works on folks with AVM so she can navigate with relative ease.
Happy to read you had a good support network with you, many of our members don’t.
Glad you don’t have any clots! I was having a lot of angiograms it seemed in the beginning after rupture. I remember Dr. Quintero Wolfe sending in one of her Residents to go over the risks and he missed a good number. For some reason I had memorized them which was a miracle in itself as my memory has gone to the back of the train. I got on him for skipping and started reciting all the risks. An argument ensued between us and in walks Dr. Q-W asking what was going on. I told her the guy was not being honest and went through the risks he missed. Apparently she set the poor Dr up since she knew I knew them back then. 
. She really wants her patients to understand all of them and not just some. My goodness there’s a lot aren’t there? Just having anesthesia has a lot of risks that many blow through and will say something about some of them being low so they don’t mention them.
We often times forget just walking into a hospital has its own set of risks. When I was able to work, I had to go to the hospital a lot for my clients. One of the RNs taught me to use my knuckle to press buttons on the elevators! When I had to go into the PICU, I would wash from hands to elbows. Then the hospital switched to antibacterial hand soap and the young RNs would laugh at me because I still scrubbed up to my elbows at the sink. I didn’t trust the antibacterial hand soap and most times they were short of RNs so they’d have me hold a baby.
I’ve had seven angiograms, can’t have any more unless it’s to save my life. I went into severe anaphylaxis on the last one despite the premedication. So there’s another risk. But I’m glad I don’t have to have anymore. Early on I asked her if she was going to continue operating on me when I was 80. She told me she wouldn’t if I turned 80 so I used to count the years when she’d stop.
If you choose not to have a procedure, is your surgeon going to do follow up MRI’s to watch it?
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Yes I’m scheduled for an annual mri to check growth unless I decide soon to have surgery.
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Seems you’ve made a decision for what works for you, that’s great! Have you chosen a fall detection device?
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Not yet. There are so many that say they have fall detection but yet when I ask it says no. I want to use one other’s are happy with
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I get it. I thought maybe AARP had recommendations so I checked. They had this article Medical Alert Systems: Choosing the Best Option. Apparently they have a FB group that shares what they’ve used. You might try it.
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I’ll see if I can find that info. I really wanted a,watch and not a necklace one. Thx so much for your help.
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I think Apple watches have a medical alert and fall alert.. Google is working on it but no sure if they offer a fall alerts…
There is also an app you can install for your medical info and it will send a text to your emergency contacts
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Supposedly some galaxy offer it but not sure. What is the app yiu memtioned
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That is what I have, a Galaxy Watch 5 (ok, busted, I am an Android kind of person… !
Fin Whale Fan
Yes I’m Android also. So does the 5 have fall detection?
The 5 is a few years old (current is 7, I think), so I am enclosing a somewhat reputable source for Androids with fall detection to consider.
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Thx so much
What are the chances and results of rupture compared to risks of craniotomy surgery