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For about fifteen years I had minor seizures. Finally, in 1998 my seizures returned, after being controlled by Carbemazepine, and an MRI showed I had a cerebral aneurysm - a giant one. My neurosurgeon recommended surgery, and I agreed. A month later he performed a craniotomy and clipped the aneurysm. I had a spinal fluid leak afterwards that kept me in the hospital for five weeks. Finally a second surgery was done to seal the leak. After that my recovery was swift and uneventful. Because I live in Canada, all this treatment was paid for by our Universal health care program. This is something for Americans to consider. Included were two angiograms, a number of CT scans, a nuclear scan, and two brain surgeries. It has been fifteen years since my aneurysm was treated, and so far everything is fine, except that in 2008 I was found to have aortic and iliac aneurysms. These were treated by the placing of an endovascular graft. This is checked every year by ultrasound. I’ve had excellent surgeons in all of this treatment, and I thank them -and God - for my recovery.
Wow, what an incredible story and what an amazing form of health care! You are absolutely right, we do not have the best health care here. It is outrageously expensive for some and leaves those who really need it unable to get proper care at times. This is such a sad thing!
Are your aneurysms hereditary? Have you had any genetic testing done? I have had several visceral artery aneurysms and am at high risk for aortic dissection, i am guessing same as you now, I am close monitored as well. I can also get mitrovalve prolapse, spontaneous organ rupture and many other vascular issues. Same as you, I am grateful to God and my medical team, friends and family. I wouldn't be here without them!
Hi, Kristin,
Thanks for writing. I think that something will pop up soon, I just don’t know what. I’m getting on now - I’m 74 - so I’m expecting anything any time now. I really shouldn’t be here, but I am, and I guess there is still something left for me to do. Thanks again - and good luck.
David Andrus
Hi Kristin, In March of 2010, I was taken to emergency by ambulance. The ambulance attendants couldn't figure out what was going on with me as my heart rate was fine but my blood pressure was dropping out of site! Once in ER, I was taken to CT. It was there that they found that my Aorta was about to rupture. I was rushed into surgery. The surgeon had taken a vein from my thigh and had attached to one side of my aneurysm and was ready to attach it to the other side when it ruptured. I lost seven pints of blood. I was that close to death. When I woke up from the surgery, the next morning, I knew where I was but had no idea as to what had happened. My surgeon came in and told me that I had a " Ruptured Aortic Aneurysm" and that I had survived it. Eighteen months later, I went in to my surgeons office for a check up and he ordered a CT. It was supposed to be from my chin down. The nurse ordered it from my head down. That was when we found out that I had a large aneurysm in my skull. It was in the pocket that the blood veins and nerves to the face are. In Jan. 2012 I had the Pipeline Embolization Device ( PED ) implanted. My Neurosurgeon later told me that I had the Annie for about ten years!
That is my story in a nutshell. I am forever great full for having a fantastic heart surgeon who saved my life twice, as well to God!
When my aorta ruptured I was 64 years old. When I had the PED I was 66. I am now 68 and living life to the fullest. I am not afraid to talk to anyone about these things. I use my experience as a teaching tool as these things are silent killers! I don't know if these are genetic in my family or not.
Hi, Last March, I had a neck problem and found out that it was moderate to severe spinal stenosis. I waited a long time for my surgical date. Finally, I got the date in July of 2014. The weekend before that surgery, something weird happened. I experienced a loss of vision diagonally in my left eye. I decided to get it checked out at the hospital. What I didn't expect was that I would be admitted for observation. They were concerned with the possibility of a stroke.
Well, the vision problem cleared up. The ophthalmologist was called in, and my vision checked out fine. There was just one test left to be done. That test was an MRA. I asked what an MRA was done for, and was told that it show what is going on with your arteries.
My eye problem was not caused by my aneurysm. The MRA, however, show a 6 mm aneurysm distal to the bifurcation of my right internal carotid. "Hmm", I thought.."Good thing they found it, so that they can do something about it". I saw this as providential. The doctor who told me about it had a funny expression on her face when I verbalized this. So I questioned, "If they can even do surgery on it?" She said that my neurosurgeon for my neck problem didn't take care of aneurysms, and he was referring me to another doctor at a hospital about an hour away from here. Of course, my neck surgery was now going to wait six months to see how I was feeling at that time. The doctor left the room in tears. Apparently, I had oversimplified things. I was discharged and told the nurse who was discharging about the aneurysm. "Oh, that's too bad, she said." I asked her why. "Oh, she said because they tend to reoccur."
When I got home, I called the other hospital to register as a patient. And then I waited, and waited and waited. I told my brother (a retired surgeon) about the discovery. He asked about the location, and became obviously very nervous about it. His thought was that it was not in a good spot to get at. "Near the Circle of Willis", he said. He explained that normally, a vascular surgeon would do this repair, but I needed a neurosurgeon because of where it is located.
The whole Summer went by without this hospital getting back to me. Meanwhile, I was having a lot of pain with my neck. My brother said to give the hospital all the time it needed to decide what they wanted to do. Don't rush them. Meanwhile, others in the medical field told me to call them, because things sometimes slip through the cracks. Finally, after a few calls in September, I got an appointment on October 29th. When I got there, I was told that this was a PCOM aneurysm( Posterior Communicating Aneurysm).
The neurosurgeon there said that he would not do surgery. This was not a surprise to me, because my brother had told me that someone my age with other medical conditions was not apt to offer surgery, and coiling was the way to go. The thing was, the radiologist who does the coiling wasn't there, and in his place was a nurse practitioner who said nothing, and a very silly person who didn't seem to approach things in a matter of fact way, that I would expect. It was like a meeting with the keystone cops. My husband wasn't too thrilled traveling that distance for that kind of a meeting.
I decided to call the local neurosurgeon for another recommendation. That's when I found out that he had suddenly quit his job, and the rest of the staff was trying to guide people to other places. I went to his office to get a list of other hospitals that he recommended. My local neurosurgeon's office was closing in December. I asked them to send my records to a hospital that is just on the outskirts of Boston, Ma. It is easier for us to get to, especially in the Winter weather.
I called that hospital to ask if they got the records. They said that they didn't get them. However they did register me, and because I had images of my aneurysm and other records, I brought them with me. I met the neurosurgeon there. He looked at everything and said that he wanted to do one more test. I had a CT (with contrast) angiogram. hen i went back to see him, I was surprised that he offered surgery. He showed me that my (now 7 inch) aneurysm, which is saccular and has a narrow neck. It also has a "daughter" (an uneven side which indicates a weakening of the wall). That, plus the fact that I seemed healthy enough, was the reason that he offered the surgery.
My surgery is scheduled for 1/14/15. I have now been fighting a sinus problem with throat irritation. My primary doctor put me on Amoxicillin. It's not working, and I am coughing a lot. Me pre-op is tomorrow. My primary suggested that I take a decongestant. I didn't because another doctor once told me not to take them, because it can cause blood vessel problems.
I have now gone to urgent care to get another antibiotic (Zithromax) and Claritin. I hope it works! BTW, I am 72 years old.
I would really like to ask if anyone here can comment on the the use of decongestants when you know that you have an aneurysm. I was told to use them recently, by a doctor, for my sinuses. Because an allergist once told me to avoid them because they can cause vascular problems, I am now hesitant to use them.
I used them for years for rhinitis, and now wonder of it contributed to my PCOM aneurysm.
Also, has anyone ever heard of a connection that I once read of: that relatives of people who have bicuspid heart valves instead of tricuspid heart valves can have future generations with aneurysms??
Carol, you are a fighter and a great self advocate! I ruptured with multilobed (daughters) and after coiling, don’t you know I just had to go and bred another daughter in my brain lol. I tease my neurosurgeon about my man Willis dancing and ask her to check on him to make sure he can still do the jig, because I can’t get my feet to go fast enough.
I have allergies I take decongestants. Claritin or Zyrtec daily with Atarax as a back up and Nasonex. Yes these are antihistamines but depending on the season will have the decongestant thrown in. I also take Zantac or Omeprosol if I’m having allergy issues and the regular stuff isn’t working. They hit the type two histamine. If I have to take something like Afrin, it is only with my PCP telling me and only for three days. They even give me Benedryl when I have headaches which is next to nil these last few weeks.
Haven’t heard of that connection with heart valves. I often go to NIH for research.
Here in the South I’ve been told to get rid of the crud, you slice up one yellow onion, place in cast iron skillet, pour sugar over it and keep it on the wood stove all day. Drink the liquor it makes. And always burn Hickory. Never tried it, but there are times I’ve been tempted. We were trying to figure out if the Hickory smoke has anything to do with the recipe. We don’t have a wood stove but we do have a fireplace we can cook in. I’ve also been told since moving here to get white lightening, soak it in mint, warm it up and had local honey. Never tried that either, but it sounds better than the onion trick.
Hope you get better and your procedure goes well.
Thanks for your response. I asked about the association of bi-cuspid heart valves and the chance of the next generations of relatives developing aneurysms about four years ago, because i read about it somewhere on the internet after my Mom died in 2010. She had bi-cuspid heart valves and developed Congestive heart failure. Her valves gave out. But she lived to be ninety-nine years old *(a few months shy of her 100th birthday).