My story

General personal-stories
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Jennifer Molloy Jennifer Molloy 13 minutes ago

It was November of this year when I was diagnosed with my aneurysm. It was. a fluke finding that saved my life. I was in chronic pain and went to
every different type of specialist to hear that it was “normal aches and pains” or stress induced headaches. So they all wrote me a scripts for pain killers or
to seek therapy. Was this in my head? No pun intended. Weeks went by and the pain was affected my work and taking over my life. The pain killers kept coming and the dosage got higher and higher. I masked the headaches but the pain on my left side was troublesome and i was calling out weekly from work. I was jeapordizes my career so i was refered to a top noch neurologist
That felt the same " your getting older " and these aches are part of life, but have some more pain killers to ease you. The next visit I was informed that i did have a pinch nerve and back spasms. Here is another script feel better and see me in a month. I finally spoke up and said I know my body and this is more than a pinched nerve and spending all my time at doctors was causing stress. That weekend he sent me for a MRI just to ease me it was a Saturday.
That Saturday will forever be with me, I had the scan done at 1:00 and by 2:00 I got the phone call. Jennifer Molloy I am dr so in so the doctor on call and I need you to stay calm we found an aneurysm on your left side of your brain right next to the ear. Huh what wait stay calm? She informed me to see my doctor first thing Monday and for now take it slow and stop any medication. You need to keep your blood pressure low, high blood pressure could burst the aneurysm.
Okay stay calm, who do I call first stay calm, what if I hit my head stay calm what if I get rear ended while driving STAY CALM.
I was quickly seen and sent to NSLIJ where I met Dr. Avi Setton, now finally I was calm. He informed me that at this time it was too dangerous to clip or coil , the position of the sac was below my ear and it was too much of a risk. He reassured me that I was in good hands, and that I would have to keep a close watch on it. The only unsettling part was pregnancy, I will never be able to deliver naturally and would have to have tons of scans during my pregnancy and especially when delivering. So I live with it and consider it a blessing that it was found.
That January I was asked to be a guest on the Dr.OZ show, they wanted to do a segment on woman and aneurysm and felt I was a good candidate. I agreed with hesitation, I didn’t have a real story to tell. The producers convinced me otherwise. When I got to NBC studios I was in the green room with two other Amazing woman. I thought we were all there for the same thing “living with the silent killer” that was the episodes title, nice huh. To my amaze the woman I shared stories with had a different story to tell. A young woman in her late twenties and a mother with her child. I was confused. I was the only one that was living with a silent killer. The others, well their stories
broke my heart and for the first time I was SCARED. The first women was with child and unbenounced to her and out of the blue she screamed from the pain coming from her head, she was rushed to the hospital. She had an aneurysm that was leaking in her brain. She and her child and the grace of god made it through surgery. Now she lives with the fear of another blood sac occurring.
The next woman I shared the stage with was their to honor her sister, she had been in great health loved life. She did complain of headaches but pushed through it. She died. She was riding her bike through central park and slammed into a tree. Did the aneurysm burst on her, or did the impact of the tree cause this tragedy. Her family keeps her name alive through their foundation.
It was a November I will never forget.

My message is to all: You must see a doctor if you are experincing chronic headaches, a simple painless test can save your life.
September 28 at 1:19am ·

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Again Welcome Jennifer…! Glad you posted your story for others to read and respond…Thanks for sharing…we learn so much from each other…Gotcha in my Thoughts…Colleen

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Btw ... I forgot...too often all Doctors treat their patients like they treated you...I had a leaky annie...and bad, bad headache and told I was a women and going through the change at 45 years old...today, we have to be so up on our own medical health...or one will be mis~diagnosed...

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Wow Jennifer that is one hell of a story!

I agree that if someone is experiencing pain that is chronic that they should push until they get the proper testing and whatnot done.

For me, my annies were truly the "silent" ones, I never had a head ache or any type of head pain or eye pain or vision loss or anything of that nature. My annies were found incidentially only when I was rushed to the hospital for what I thought was a heart attack and turned out to be a blood clot in my left arm. In doing routine tests, my 2 annies were found on my internal carotid artery at the ophthalmic artery and I was immediately transferred to another hospital. You would think being so close to my optic nerve that I would have had some type of warning. I did not!

Unfortunately, statistics do show that aneurysms are truly the silent killer in that most people don't know they have them until they rupture or are found incidentially, like mine.

Best wishes to you in your after annie journey.

Linda

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Welcome Jennifer...thank you for sharing. You have a lot to share...

I read a lot of symptoms here and elsewhere...from headaches, migraines, depression...all so readily diagnosed and/or drugged (here, take another pill) with limited to no testing...and, true diagnosis. Somehow I think that this depression / stress is really geared at women...I hope the men here will share any symptoms they had prior to diagnosis, and how long it took them to be adequately diagnosed.

Was yours called a silent killer because it was not yet treated? Were you clipped or coiled?

Do you have children? Were any born before or after your diagnosis?

I have a very strong interest in this because of four others (known to/by me). Only one had to be hospitalized before delivery; is yet here, has had many complications.

The other three were diagnosed/treated w/in a year after birth. Two died; the third, I have lost connection.

A term used in the "old days" for one pregnancy/birth related was hyperemesis...I could generate no interest in it...my personal opinion, is that hyperemesis may initiate slow development that is not diagnosed for years after birth...

Thank you for all you shared, and the need for diagnosis of symptoms...I did not have adequate diagnosis even tho I sought testing/diagnosis immediately following my first emergency from a black-out a/k/a syncope. I was in my third emergency before diagnosis...There is a lot of billing/profit to not test/diagnose efficiently.

The same year as mine, my ex-sister-in-law, across country from me, saw her PCP re: headache; put on migraine med. Diane called her MD in a couple of days that the headache had not declined, asking if she could increase meds o try another. Her PCP instantly said no, to come right in for testing...and, diagnosed before rupture. So some mds do provide quality care.

Have you been able to return to work?

Can you share the date of the Dr. Oz show so that we may view it?

Jennifer, thank you so much for all you have shared. Somehow I have missed the Dr. Oz shows. I do remember them being noted on this site, and I never coordinated my time.

Again, welcome, prayers abound.

Pat

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Thanks Linda, the funny part is that I didn’t think I had a story. I am 36 and have a lot of health issues, the finding of my aneurysm was a fluke. I was consistanly complaining of pain on my left side and every doctor told me it was normal aches and pains. That’s how I got addicted to opiots ( 2 months clean ) I had to go to an addiction hospital to detox in a safe environment. Finally after I pretty much begged my doctor to do try something else to explain this numbness, headaches and pain on my left side. He said for an MRI and we know the rest of the story. I have fertility issues I had some fibroids removed over a year ago, so when I met with a reproductive specialist he felt at my age if I had not got pregnant by now that IVF would be the answer. The one thing he di want to do first was to see if there was any scar tissu on my left tube from the my myomechtomy. The week before my test I was rushed ti th hospital my left foot blew up like a balloon and they also saw that my liver enzymes were dangerously high. I was sent to a rhemotologist who was very worried aboud my liver. I’m sorry for rambling on. With that said I wasn’t able to proceed with the IVF.

My liver was so high from the years of pain killers and to boot I tested positive for a auto immune disease. Nobody can figure out what is triggering my flare up. My body from fingers down swell up and on some days I can’t hold anything for more then a minute or two. I did also test positive for sarcoidos which attacks your major organs it mimics cancer. I go to the Mt sinai hospital on the 13 th to see a pulmonary specialist.

Because of all this I tend to forget about my aneurysm, dr. OZ called it the silent killer because you never know when it will leak or burst. I did not have it clipped or coil due to the position of the sac. It is on my right sight below my ear. God willing if I am ever blessed with carrying a baby, they will then be aggressive I will have to have weekly MRI’s and I have to have a C-section. They don’t want your blood pressure to rise and if I remember correctly when ur pregnant you can retain water in your brain?

Linda how scary you must have been, even with just the thought of a heart attack. You truly have been blessed having your annies on your internal carotid artery at the ophthalmic artery. How long ago was this and how do you feel today?
I too had no symptoms, an occasionally headache but I was on so much drugs that it was not something I worried about.

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Hi, Jennifer. I too was on lots of pain meds for 4years and my liver enzymes were high. I took a supplement called liver care for 3 months. Had liver checked and enzymes were normal. I also have alot of health issues and 5mm aneurysm. I’ll be praying for you.