Good day, I had a ruptured basilar aneurysm on my right side…it’s been a year, it was coiled. I have had left sided numbness since a month after my hospital stay, neurology has been no help…I finally got a referral to a neuro rehab, but of course they do not take my insurance…How can I start to heal myself? I swim as much as i can, but it’s painful after a while…
Good morning Michelle! Thanks for starting a new topic! Ruptured aneurysms can cause a myriad of difficulties that will eventually (and hopefully) fade. Sometimes they just take time, a lot of time. Sometimes our coils become compacted and we need our aneurysm attended to by our surgeon. For some of us, our scores were not in our favor and we then have to learn to deal with the fallout. There is rarely a quick fix to any issue. My ruptured aneurysm is in a different location, Left Internal Carotid Bifurcation. Different locations can often result in different issues. I didn’t have numbness that I felt, I had walking issues because my right side wouldn’t play well with my left, balance was a huge issue, going down stairs could result in me falling flat on my face because my brain didn’t register when the last step off had been done.
All this to say, we’ve had a stroke, right? Although hemorrhagic strokes are vastly different than ischemic strokes, still a stroke. I’m pretty sure most of my docs would have been more comfortable if I’d had an ischemic stroke since there’s not too many of us that survive an SAH apparently. To my knowledge, no State keeps a count of those of us who survive, every State keeps tabs on fatalities.
Strokes cause brain damage. Looking at your profile, can you access the VA hospital and see if you can get into stroke rehab? Perhaps another out patient rehab? Because I was able to have my first helicopter ride to Winston- Salem when I popped my pipe, I didn’t qualify for many things that my local hospital offered. So I broke it down and figured out what I needed as my then PCP didn’t know what to do for me and said I should get another neurosurgeon. My 3 big issues were Speech, walking and migraines that never ceased. BH found the neurologist, my neurosurgeon provided the orders for them all. I started with PT at the hospitals Outpatient Clinic. I’d been a patient there many times. We started with walking because, I needed to walk correctly. I had lumbar repair the year before so I could walk. So more core strengthening and walking around the offices, tens unit again. Lots of exercises at home, didn’t get the pool for the rupture as there wasn’t any room in the stroke rehab class. Mr. Lou surprised us both when he said he preferred I not get into their big pool unless I could get into the class. It was also echoey in the pool room and I couldn’t handle loud sounds without having a migraine.
We have to be patient for our neural pathways to find a way to reconnect. Hopefully with time they do, sometimes they don’t, depends on the amount of damage. That being said, there was/is a very large study being done down in TX by a Psychologist studying brain damage. He’s been following and adding subjects to his study for decades. When I was in college, the theory was that any brain damage before the age of 5 could be overcome, anything after was permanent. Dr. Sperry proved that theory wrong. He has found that the brain keeps healing, it just needs time. I liken it to a road block. You drive every day to work and suddenly without notice, you get detoured. You know where the building is, you just have to figure a way to get there and there’s no signs to guide you. Give yourself time, you’re very early in recovery. Be kind to yourself. I can’t tell you not to push yourself as that would be like the pot calling the kettle black. But try not to push yourself to point of exhaustion it will do nothing more than frustrate you. Baby steps will get you farther than jumping hurdles so early on.
In my experience, neurologists deal wth our issues mostly with medications. Medications need time, the doctor has to first find the correct one and then the correct dosage. I remember early on in my recovery, my neurologist tried me on a lot of medications for a tremor. None of them worked and some had horrible side effects. For me, the tremor doesn’t affect my quality of life and I refused to be his guinea pig anymore. But he was able to help with other issues. I’ve learned that my refusal to take medications often tie their hands. If you can swim for 15 minutes without pain, swim that for a week or two and then add a couple minutes the next week. Do your core exercises on the days you don’t swim. Keep hydrated, eat protein, replace your electrolytes every day. Our brains hog these up more than any other part of our body is what I’ve learned. Your doctor should be able to tell you what you need, if not access a RDN.
Did you get a follow up angiogram about six months after your rupture? What is your neurosurgeon saying? If you haven’t told the surgeon, might be a good idea to let the team know through your patient portal.
Keep in touch, it’s how we all learn.
Hi Michelle
I am six months post basilar aneurysm rupture. I started experiencing right-sided partial focal seizures on the day I was discharged, and thru continued for approximately 3 months initially multiple times daily tapering off until they stopped in late March approximately two months post discharge. I now experience right sided weakness which I believe was there since the rupture but not noticable while I was generally very weak. As I recover, it becomes more evident, and it is definitely affected by fatigue and general energy levels. Aside from that, I have all sorts of other strange side effects. I have been advised to try and get physio therapy - in South Africa this is almost impossible without private medical insurance which I do not have. So, while I can’t offer any suggestions for you specifically, I can tell you we seem to be in the same boat.
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