Seeking advice from old timers about continuing feelings of vulnerabilty

General
1

Hi,

Yesterday marked my eight-month mark of having a 3mm aneurysm successfully clipped. I am doing very well, with my life thankfully resuming a hectic pace between working full time and being a mom. That said, I have two nagging issues that I find myself dwelling on. Any advice on how you deal with these issues is greatly appreciated.

Issue 1 - I'm concerned about exercising too intensely because I am fearful that the clip on my aneurysm will be displaced and even fall off. I know, it's crazy. Has anyone else had this fear? Are there people out there who do intensive exercise? Any advice?

Issue 2 - Somehow I still feel damaged and vulnerable because of the radiation exposure from all the scans, from the displacement of brain tissue and clipping from the operation, and from the knowledge that the aneurysm revealed I have a predisposition to weakening blood vessels in my head. I worry that my life expectancy is now diminished. Maybe this is the reality of being human and realizing we are, indeed, all just mortal.

Several of you have given me very comforting advice in the past. I look forward to hearing your thoughts on these issues.

With my appreciation,

Michele

2

Hey Michele,

I'm not going to comment much about Issue 1, primarily cos exercise ain't my thing, I'm allergic to it (ie I'm lazy lol) so the idea of intensive exercise is (to me) madness. I know people do it, but I'm not one of them.

Now as for Issue 2, I went through something similar after my first and second surgeries. The self doubts were massive, all those 'what if's?' But since then I've had a few people pass way before their time and all I can really say is that when your time is up, that's it, your time is up. You can wrap yourself up in cotton wool, insulate yourself against life. Then one day walk out your front door and get hit by a bus. I'm now recovering from op no.6 and I often wonder why am I still here when many are not. I have known of people who were lucky to have survived one knock of neurosurgery and I'm at 6???WHAT?WHY?HOW? So as limited as my health makes me, I 'try' to get the most I can out of my days because it could all be over in a flash. You just never know.

Merl