Hi, I just found out that one of my closest friends has two brain aneurysm. He is only 24 years old. I was wondering how do I convince him to tell his family as of now he has only told myself and another friend. Also he didn't take the news well causing him to start drinking heavily and started smoking again. As of now he doesn't plan on doing any surgery. How do I help him through this hard time.
Manny blues - wow your must be going through some kind of turmoil. It’s hard when your at an age that things like that don’t happen to self, only others. Be there for him, help him get refocused by supporting him and just be who you are to him. He will have to work this out, hopefully once he is through these anger and denial feelings, he’ll be ready and scared. Just don’t let him push you away. Your a good friend Manny Blues.
Mahalo!
Thank You
Moltroub said:
Manny blues - wow your must be going through some kind of turmoil. It's hard when your at an age that things like that don't happen to self, only others. Be there for him, help him get refocused by supporting him and just be who you are to him. He will have to work this out, hopefully once he is through these anger and denial feelings, he'll be ready and scared. Just don't let him push you away. Your a good friend Manny Blues.
Mahalo!
If he is this stressed out, then he should sit down with his doctor and ask as many questions as possible to understand this. As we dont know the details, his aneurysms may be low risk and many aneurysms are, so they are just monitored and treated if they get larger. many people here have aneurysms being watched and not treated since surgery and treatment has its own risks. If he lets himself think the worst or doesnt really understand the situation it may just stress him out more, hence the smoking and drinking. After my rupture, I gave up smoking and only have an occasional drink now, so my aneurysms had the opposite effect on me. It sounds like he is acting out of fear instead of knowledge, which is why he should sit down with the doc and discuss to get a grasp of the situation. (taking a list of questions is really helpful too.) all you can do is be there for him and support him.
Thank You all. It sounds like I need to find out more about my friend's situation in order to be more helpful and supportive of him.
Good news although my friend hasn't gone to any treatment he is doing better. He has a girlfriend now and is motivated to live a healthier lifestyle. He no longer smokes, drinks, or gambles and he started to exercise more. We still haven't told anybody else beside his close friends and I am not sure when he is planning on telling his family however he is much happier as of now.
Manny...thank you so much for sharing...and, you are a magnificent friend for him to cherish...