Newby

General
1

Hi, I am new to the group and would love hearing from those that have gone down the path I am just starting to travel.

I have suffered from headaches most of my life and in 2014 my sister passed away from a burst aneurism.

I had a Thunderclap headache in March of this year, they did a CT scan at the hosp and said it was clear except something was going on with my Pituitary, fast forward to June, I started experiencing weird facial swelling so in July at the advice of my PC I had an MRA done. The results showed 2 annies one on the left and one on the right, front part of my brain, and a bleed on my pituitary. I met with a neuroradiologist and he said surgery in his opinion was my best course of action. He performed an angiogram last Tuesday and found that the one on my left has a higher risk of bleed due to the shape and surface texture being bumpy (he used medical terms I just cant remember them). He is advising clipping on this one and coiling on the right one as that one is a ball shape and is a good candidate for coiling.

I meet with the surgeon on the 22nd to discuss all of this and the pituitary.

I would love to hear from those that have had clipping done, what is the recovery like? Do they have to shave your hair? Did your memory and speech get affected? Is it realistic that I might be able to return to work after 4 weeks?

If anyone has had both done, I would love to hear from you also.

I am super scared of the clipping surgery but I understand the pro's, any input will help.

P.S I love that this site is available because its rare to find people that have been through this in the normal day to day.

2

Hi Newby, and welcome to this site. Sorry that your diagnosis has made you have to seek us out, but it is great that you are here. There are lots of people with lots of experiences and stories of healing and success on this site. Your questions are hard to answer because everyone is different and brains are so complex. There is no standard healing tragectory, like there is after a heart bypass or hip replacement. No one can say, “on day three you will be doing this…” That is the hard part about brain surgery. Everyone feels their way through it. Many people having surgery before rupture bounce right back. Take heart. Surgery before rupture has much better results than post-rupture. Hang in there. Your are not alone and you WILL get through this.

3

Thanks Judy, I have read a lot of the stories on this site and am encouraged by them, I just continue to pray and know that I will be fine I just have to be patient. I will know so much more next Monday so I'm sure that will put a lot of my questions to rest.