Seattle - thank you for sharing!!! Happy to read that after a year your aneurysm has no issues and that your side effects from the procedure have been minimal. All the stories being shared are giving me hope.
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@ccr-4
In preparation for your upcoming surgery, there are some useful tips on our site. As I have mentioned before, perhaps an extra night or two near the hospital would feel better for you and your husband before you fly back home.
Here comes some advice. You may be sensitive to bright light so bring a pair of sunglasses to wear when you get home, perhaps a pair of earplugs to use on the airplane if you need to relax from the noise. Loose fitting comfortable pants because you have to be careful about the puncture site in your groin. Make a “day bed” in the center of your home so you can spend the first days resting but still be around your family. You will get detailed instructions how to behave when you get home. Prepare some meals, fill your fridge and cabinets and do all the heavy cleaning before the surgery. Pay bills and take care of important paperwork before the surgery. If anything, this will make you occupied while you are waiting for the surgery. The nurses and doctors will most likely wake you up at night in the ICU to check your vitals and to make sure that you are oriented to person, place and time. It’s not easy to sleep at the ICU in the first place, so I think you will be tired when you will be released.
Take care and get back to us.
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Hi ccr4 and welcome. If your referring to a procedure called webbing, I had it done on my unruptured 5mm aneurysm 4 yrs ago. Procedure went very well but left me with headaches. I never had headaches prior. My aneurysm was discovered by having a test for another health issue unrelated so I had no symptoms. But I was also given the choice of watch and wait or this webbing procedure. The headaches were awful. I went threw a lot of different meds til I finally found aimovig auto injector once a month shot. Sleeping was a challenge because I had to learn to sleep sitting elevated, could not lay flat or on the side it would cause immediate headache. I still sleep elevated today. I have only come across a few who have had this procedure and only one on this group. If you have any more questions, please reach out to me. I’d love to help.
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You’ve got this covered CR. You’ve been given some good advice by others here and you’ve gotten yourself informed, that’s a good thing. Going into it blindly or unexpectedly can be absolutely shocking
Yea me too. At the time I was already very symptomatic, so the whole idea of waiting… …for what? It could only get worse, so waiting seemed counterintuitive to me. For me things had been progressing for a while. It had all been minimised for years by the medicos, but something wasn’t right…
And initially post surgery there often is some (what I call) ‘Oddball symptoms’. But over time they resolve, well, most of them. The big plus for you is that you’re being treated prior to rupture, so you’re starting from a much more positive position and vascular is much less intrusive than intercranial neurosurgery.
The reality is that they are altering the blood flow within your brain and it can take some time for the body/brain to make the adjustments to find it’s own ‘Normal’. I cannot, I mean CANNOT express strongly enough how important it is to take the time you need to recover fully. I didn’t. I tried to force my recovery, make it happen quicker. Something went ‘pop’ and I found myself back on the neurosurgeon’s table. I kick myself each and every day for that, if I’d only listened to my own body. I convinced myself I was building stamina by pushing my limits, when in reality I was driving myself into the ground. Ahhh, don’t do that. Take the time you need.
Along with all of the other members, I’m wishing you the very best with your journey.
Merl from the Modsupport Team
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Oct20 - thank you - I appreciate all advice !!
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Boots62 - those headaches sound awful. I can’t even imagine living with those - especially since you didn’t have them prior to the treatment. Thank you for sharing your experience- even when it’s a concerning potential after effect. I am not having headaches - in fact I’ve had very few headaches my whole life. - I have had some pressure like feeling on some days the past few weeks which could always be blamed on something else - - maybe stress of research - but I’m really hoping I don’t have headaches as you describe post treatment. Better to be aware though then surprised or scared if they occur. Thank you and I’m sorry you are suffering like that.
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ModSupport - Merle - thank you for these insights and support. You hit the nail when you said something felt off. I felt that way for about 2 years before an MRA was finally done that found my aneurysm. I have always been really healthy and little things kept happening and I just felt like something wasn’t right. Doctors did shrug it off - some blame of aging - a lot of - if it keeps happening let us know - etc. I never even thought about an aneurysm. There is relief in diagnosis even though that came with stress. Thank you for your kind words. Still scared and nervous but staying really positive for a good outcome post procedure. Everyone on this site has been so helpful. Again - thank you.
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Merl - you mentioned that you pushed recovery too fast and then “pop”. Did you get a coil and then your aneurysm rupture after being treated?
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Hey CCR,
No, I didn’t have coils, nor a rupture. I have a low grade astrocytoma (brain tumor) which messes with the flow of CSF. Initially, they did a craniotomy to reduce the size of the mass. It seems it was growing too close to brain structures I need to be fully removed, so a reduction was all that was safely possible. I was told ‘All will be fine and you can return to your role’. So, I did. I had a high pressure job at the time, running a youth accommodation program. I had 4 houses I managed and maintained. In my role I was on-call 24/7, so when at 10pm the phone rung, I was working.
Post surgery I was having some weird and wonderful side effects. And the headaches were just WOW intense. I reported this to the medicos and was told all is OK and that I just had to learn to manage around it all, so that’s what I did. I pushed past the pain (with medication) and continued.
We often received donations and one day we received a big rig (truck and trailer) full of yogurt, all of which needed to be refrigerated. So, we were unloading the rig, filling a van with boxes and distributing it to clients and other charities. I’m rushing around, loading and unloading all of these boxes. I was feeling it, but kept going and going to get the job done. I heard an audible ‘POP’. I turned to my helpers and asked “Did you hear that…?” and they looked at me all weird, “Hear what?” within 5 minutes my head exploded in agony and I collapsed. They called an ambulance and when I awoke, I found myself in hospital being told I needed further neurosurgery. They inserted a device called a shunt to drain the fluid from my skull.
So, that’s how my journey started, and it’s been a medical rollercoaster ever since. I had a few years where things were manageable, not great, but manageable. Then in 2013 I ended up having 3 further neurosurgeries, each to ‘fix’ an issue, but the flow-on effects from each haven’t just added up, they multiplied each other. I’ve now been told I will be unable to return to my former profession, which has been a very bitter pill to swallow.
Merl from the Modsupport Team
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Meryl - I am so sorry your journey through this has been so challenging 
thank you for sharing. I pray your future brings relief from some of these issues.
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Thanks CCR,
I ‘try’ to look at it this way: We all have our challenges in life and this is my load to manage. For 10yrs+ prior to my '13 incident I taught people with disabilities independent living skills. ie Cooking, cleaning, budgeting, shopping, household management skills, etc. In really basic terms, teaching them the skills that most of us take for granted. Through all of that I saw the good, the bad and the ugly, No, I mean really UGLY side of things. And as selfish as it may sound, I thank the stars I’m not in their position. I know I so easily could be.
So, could things be better? Most definitely. But then, by the same accord, Could things be worse? YES. On my bad days when I want to rip my eyeballs out with a teaspoon as the pain behind them is just so intense, I need to remember I can still walk, talk and wipe my own backside. Some people can’t, so what have I got to complain about? And I give myself (a metaphoric) kick in the backside and keep going.
Merl from the Modsupport Team
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@ModSupport
To change the perspective is a great way to see it. I have kept a picture on my phone taken in the Neuro ICU three days after the aneurysm ruptured . I’m standing with a physical therapist and I have arterial lines in both my arms, several monitors on both sides, half of my head shaved and a drain in my scull for the bloody cerebral fluid to be removed, one bag for the urine catheter, a walker and and a bracelet and socks on my feet that indicates “high risk of falling “…
I sometimes ask my self why I have kept the photo, I decided that if I have a bad day, I can remember that it has definitely been worse.
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Praying for a successful procedure 
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Merl - such an amazing and touching perspective. Looking at the blessings in all things is hard to do especially when things are tough. Your story is inspiring.
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Oct20 - it’s reading about your successes and those of others on here that are really helping. I am scared out of my mind something is going to go wrong whether I fix it or not. Thank you for such a postive way of dealing with what none of us want. I am trying to stay positive and not let fear rule the day. Thank you for all your comments.
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@ccr-4
Waiting for the surgery is very stressful, my husband was more worried that the aneurysm would rupture again while we were waiting. He didn’t tell me about it until after the procedure. It is totally normal to be anxious about what will come. I still remember when I was waiting in the pre-op room and I was cleared for the surgery, one nurse suddenly came to my bed and said that we will give you something “to take the edge off while we are wheeling you into the OR” she gave me an injection and that’s the last thing I remember, the next thing I remember was that I was in a different room with my husband and the neurosurgeon by my bedside and they told me that the surgery was done. I really hope that you will have a successful surgery and recovery, but remember that it can take some time to heal.
I’m not always positive , I have my days when I feel sad and wondering why this happened to me…… but I also know how much worse this could have been and I am so grateful to be alive.
Best wishes for a successful surgery 
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Thank you Oct20!! Both my husband and I teared up when we read this. We are trying so hard to stay prayful and positive.
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Ohh ccr, that ‘looking at the blessings’ was NOT an easy point to get to. Not at all. I didn’t want to be in this position, in fact, as I said ‘I fought against it’ Who on earth would choose to be HERE, in this position? Not I, that’s for damn sure. It took me a long time to accept. It was my wife who actually sat me down and gave me the 4th degree, telling me to STOP pushing my limits. She could see I was driving myself into the ground, trying to get back to some sort of ‘normal’. She convinced me this is maybe my ‘New Normal’ that I have to learn to manage around and “It could be worse”. I knew I married Mrs Right, but what I didn’t know is her middle name is ‘ALWAYS’ 
Merl from the Modsupport Team.
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@ccr-4
Good luck with the surgery on Wednesday. I will be thinking of you and your family. Please let us know how it went when you feel ready to share with us.
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Oct20 - thank you so much for this post! Nerves have been up and down - I so appreciate the well wishes. Procedure is Thursday - I will def update this chain when possible afterwards. I have read through this whole chain of comments so many times - I can’t express enough how much all this has helped. Thank you !! 
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