October 12, 2017 was just an ordinary day! I was loading Tupperware into my Jeep to go set up for a vendor fair later in the day. As I approached my vehicle with a sack of things, I suddenly felt a sharp stab of pain in the forehead right above my eyes! I had never experienced anything like that before, and I leaned against my Jeep for a few minutes because I felt like I might fall over! After a couple of moments, I put what I was carrying in the Jeep and walked back into my house.
The pain was gone almost as fast as it had hit me, and I felt fine. The only thing that I noticed throughout the remainder of the day was a stiff neck. I brushed that off, thinking I might have jerked it when I felt the pain and went on with my day’s schedule.
Friday I might have forgotten abut the pain completely, except for the fact that my neck was still bugging me. But on Saturday morning I could tell that something was wrong. I just did not feel right – but I could not figure out what it was. My neck was still stiff also. Concerned about the possibility of meningitis (the only thing we could think of with a stiff neck), my boyfriend convinced me to go to the ER to get checked.
Once we described what I had experienced on Thursday, the nurse went to talk to the doctor on duty to get authorization for a CT scan. Within 3 hours, I was being loaded onto a medical plane to be transported for treatment a a facility 3 hours from home. By that time, the nausea and dizziness had kicked in and I was pretty out of it by the time I finally arrived at the hospital that I would stay at for the next 3 weeks!
On Sunday, I was taken to surgery for the coiling procedure. I recall talking to my daughter briefly when she arrived after she drove 3 hours to get there, but everything else is a blur until Sunday evening. At that point, I do remember getting up with assistance to go to the bathroom and thinking to myself “This is not so bad after all.”
Monday morning when OT and PT came to work with me, I had developed severe weakness on my left side. I could not stand, raise my arm from the bed or sit up without support. And I had double vision. Concerned about a possible stroke, I was taken down for another scan. No evidence of a stroke was found but I spent 11 days in the critical care unit, followed by 2 days in a regular room and 6 days in the hospital’s rehab unit.
I was released from the hospital on November 2. I wanted to go home, but I was also scared. I still had the double vision so I could not drive and I still had weakness on the left side but it was getting better. I continued to do the exercises given to me by my therapists. In February 2018 I went in for a followup angiogram and the aneurysm was gone!
At this point (July 2018) I still have a bit of weakness and lag on my left side but it is much better. My double vision cleared up by Thanksgiving and I was able to start driving again. The biggest issues that I am dealing with now is anxiety and depression. I am on medication for those issues and have started counseling to learn how to deal with my current life situation. And I am very grateful to have located this forum!