I was lucky to leave the hospital after two weeks in the NSICU and went home to recover with my husband, my daughter and her husband who came and helped us. My family was told that I will recover fully when I was at the hospital. I think time made an important difference for me as I was talking to one of my sons on the phone when it burst , I was alone at home so the outcome of this could have been so much worse. The bleed was bad but I got proper care and stabilized in a few hours, a helicopter ride that I don’t remember took me to a larger hospital with neurosurgery and I had a drainage inserted in my scull to release the pressure and my aneurysm was coiled later that afternoon. What I remember is that it took me about a month to get my muscle strength back, especially in my legs, it was a combination of the bleed and immobility, the fact that I spent two weeks in a bed also made the muscles weak . I don’t remember much from the time at the hospital. I was very tired to begin with but after a few months it got better. I went back to my walks in the neighborhood and I walk around 3 miles/4-5km usually four times a week. At the six months mark, I felt like I do today. That was when I had my second procedure and that was a mild breeze compared to the rupture. I was very anxious before it was done but I’m glad I did it, reading what others had gone through on this site helped me a lot. I’m still suffering from fatigue, I need a little bit more sleep but I can live with it, no need for daytime naps anymore. No one can see on the outside what I have gone through, my husband think I am back to my old self. I slightly disagree with this, I use the analogy of if you have a puzzle in front of you with 500 pieces, all the pieces are there but some doesn’t fit as good as they used to. I also used to be very organized and a “doer” but that has slightly changed. I have come to some sort of peace with that.
The recovery is still ongoing and we heal very differently, you will find success stories and sad stories.Everyone is different. I sometimes think “what if”……for example I flew back from Europe to the USA just a few weeks before it happened what if it happened over the Ocean…What if I was driving my car by myself……etc…… I have to remind myself of all the moments in my life when it didn’t happen and try to find some peace with that.
I can understand your fear and I really hope that you get an answer that can help you relax. Most people doesn’t have a map of their blood vessels in the brain and remember that 1 of 50 people walks around with aneurysms and if I remember correctly only about 1/3 of these will burst. It’s a rare condition. Try to find ways to cope with your anxiety. I don’t think taking a bath or go for a walk would hurt. For me I had just had my oatmeal breakfast and I was standing by the sink to start cleaning up the dishes. So there was no straining involved at all.
This was a long answer and I don’t know if it helps, I guess that someone is listening feels good. That’s why I joined this community, it helped me a lot and still do. Now I’m trying to give something back to others.
Talking about procrastination…. I think I have to start my vacuum cleaner, something that I have been thinking of for the last six hours 
Take care and get back to us whenever you need to chat and please tell us about what the doctor says.
Thats what frightens me…doing nothing and it happening. Ive not long bought a caravan that I’m renovating and found somewhere to pitch it in West Wales (its a cute little fishing village). We’re always going away as I’ve got such good holidays and bought it so we could have our own little home away from home. I’m scared to risk it now incase something happens.
I hear you. It sounds absolutely wonderful with the plan you have. I have seen pictures of fishing villages in Wales and they are wonderful. I think your mind is giving you a hard time now, you are left with a lot of questions and no answers and that is difficult. Listen to what your dads retired GP friend said, I think he has a lot of knowledge also the wording “tiny” aneurysm, I second what @DickD said. There are a lot of unknowns in our lives and try to find a way to relax. For my family and I we had almost a shock when we learned three months after the initial rupture that a second mending was recommended. We thought it was one and done. There was an elevated risk that it would burst again as the blood vessel was already weakened, I had the opportunity to wait and watch or go ahead and do it. I did it, My husband later told me that he was most worried that it would burst again before it got mended but it didn’t happen.
All the best wishes to you.
You are correct and funny Mr. Richard, I do write a lot! Also many surgeons world wide are doing less invasive procedures than a craniotomy. Personally, I’ve had four repairs, the one when I popped my pipe (rupture) two more coilings due to the type of aneurysm I have (multi-lobed) in which the coils kept compacting into the over 24 daughter sacks, the 3rd with a balloon and the last with a stent. There are many different types that can be used which is left to discretion of the surgeon. My stent is a Neuroform Atlas and we have a member who was actually in the study group for this type of stent. Many times stents are developed through the field of cardiology and then come to us. The gold standard of checking our arteries is the angiogram where the doc inserts a catheter with a camera into either the radial artery(arm) (brought to us by the field of cardiology) or the femoral artery (groin). I much prefer the radial artery, recovery is faster as we don’t have to lay for hours with a weight on the femoral artery. I believe people with AVMs also get an angiogram for the surgeons to see the blood flow.
I remember begging the doctors to stop “blessing” me with that dang light around the third week in NSICU. I asked if they could do the Star of David, Shiva, anything but the sign of the cross as it hurt so much especially if they were going too fast. Only one of the crew knew what I meant, the others thought I’d lost my mind🤣
For tinnitus, my PCP suggested a desk fan that makes noise, not a ceiling fan and it worked wonders. The ENT said nothing could be done. The fan worked wonders and I rarely get it now. I do when I haven’t hydrated properly or eaten enough protein which I hadn’t thought of until now, so thanks!
For headaches, my Neurosurgeon asks have you had enough to drink today? What have you eaten? She even shared she asks her husband the same two questions.
About 2-3 years ago, my right eye swelled below my eyebrow down to the upper lid and then the next day the left. It hurts. I had docs say it was aging process which I doubted since it literally happened overnight. Then I had some other issues which was a round of different specialists. The Ophthalmologist suggested warm compresses a couple times a day for 10-15 minutes. It has helped tremendously and it feels good. I do it when I get up and wash my face in the am and again before bed.
I have a pituitary adenoma that my Neurosurgeon watches and does the special pituitary MRI. She explained that a regular MRI doesn’t catch it well. They found it after I ruptured. She ordered it sometime during my stay in what I call spa therapy and didn’t even have to wipe my own arse (NCISU) as I wasn’t losing any weight despite not wanting to eat. She does the scan every five years, it’s grown to about 8-9 mm but not big enough for her to repair, which is fine with me!
For sleep, I’ve never, ever been one to immediately fall asleep, even when last exhaustion. I used to take my tablet and get on it, but that was not good for me. I’ve gone back to reading a book which has helped tremendously. I also had to stop drinking caffeine after 1400 hrs. We do a pot of regular coffee, then ½ caf, and decaf if we still want some, usually in the winter. I’ve read where lighting can effect our sleep patterns, but because I have photophobia, we keep the lights low for the most part. I did try using different sounds on the radio, but most aggravated me even before rupture. A friend of mine uses a salt lamp, I haven’t tried it. When I was able to work, I was an On Call CPS SW and sleep was a thing of miracles. After released from my 26 day stent in NSICU, I slept all the time it felt like. Hard to sleep or rest in any ICU. After a couple of years, my Neurosurgeon suggested setting a bed time and trying to not nap during the day. It was really difficult at first but now we go to bed around 2100 hrs and up around 0500 as the dogs like to be fed on time. Limiting myself on electronic gizmos has helped a lot as well. I hope other members will chime in and share their experiences.
I commend you for not discussing in depth with your son until you know exactly what the specialist want to do, having already taught him 999 (thanks!, if I ever go to the UK, I’ll know what to dial) and having sorted a will. You must be a fantastic mum!
Perhaps playing interactive games with him will help you to relax. If you have a hobby, try doing that. If you don’t have a hobby try starting one that you fancy. Coloring books are really handy to relax with, you can find easy ones and some quite difficult. If you have a printer, there are many sites to download. Sometimes I color and use colored pencils rather than crayons. I also have some woodworking hobbies and am relearning to sew. Some things that can help to keep us more calm are relaxation breathing, yoga, Tai chi, meditation and mindfulness. YouTube can be an excellent source for learning these if you’re in a more rural area. Larger cities often have classes you can attend, at least in the States. I get a massage every three weeks, a helpful splurge.
I agree with @DickD, it’s the atherosclerosis (in the States we call it arteriosclerosis) that’s interesting. I’m not in the medical field but I have had a lot of imaging. It’s my experience that the Radiologist notes when they see something they’re unsure of and suggests another type of imaging. I’ve learned that until I get the proper “look, see” I don’t worry about it. Until I learned that lesson it could be very scary.
I certainly understand your concern if something should occur whilst sleeping. As you have read here, quite a few of us were alone at the time, I was as well, except for the dog we had back then. I was eventually able to get from the cellar to the phone with the help of the dog and call Communications. I was also able to have the Dispatcher stay on the phone with me until EMS arrived. I had never heard of cerebral aneurysms and neither had Communications who thought I just had a migraine. Luckily, I wasn’t working or in my vehicle. I still thank my Higher Power for that. I had no symptoms until I ruptured. The only thing I have read here from some members and on very few articles is that sometimes there can be sentinel bleeding prior to an SAH. I haven’t done any research on it for several months.
A lot of Great advice here!! What got me through my experience with a 3.6cm aneurysm (unruptured) was to “Forget about the What If’s and Focus on the Positives” and there is a lot of Positive suggestions here.
Great advice Longbeard! While waiting for an appt to see my neurosurgeon for an unruptured aneurysm, I ended up in the ER with extremely high blood pressure & anxiety due to worrying for the “what ifs”. I should have focused on all the positives in my life.
Good news(ish). My neurosurgeon had a cancellation and got me in today. My aneurysm is not at risk for rupture and we’re just going to watch it (yay!). He thinks my symptoms are from a tumor on my pituitary gland that also showed up on my MRI. I can have this checked at an existing appointment I have with another doc in a couple days.
Excellent news!
How are you doing today? Any further tests?
Testing was done but I don’t have any results yet. Hopefully I’ll hear something soon. Symptoms are the same so I’m just trying to get by until I know something.
Frustrating when we don’t get the results immediately. I’m hoping they can figure everything out for you!