I was a 911 Dispatcher and a Correctional Officer for over 10 years. I worked for a small county so I did both of those jobs at the same time! Those jobs require a person to be very self assured and confident. I was in charge and handled multiple emergencies daily. (I'm also divorced.)
Now, after two brain surgeries (6 yrs ago) I'm on SSDI. I've worked all of my life.
Now I don't work. I have no self cofidence. I live with my daughter. I'm a hair's breath away from homelessness. (I've owned two homes over my life.) I'm luckly to be living with my daughter and that we get along.
So here are the questions...
How many of you work?
How many of your don't work because of the aneurysms?
How many of you were on but now off of the anti-depressants?
Did the meds work for you?
How many of you feel like they have lost everything?
What was the single most helpful steps you took to move ahead?
This is very forward of me to ask these questions but they really would
help me and maybe others. Thank you very, very much :-)
I'm answering for my wife because it is difficult for her to use a computer without getting a bad zap from the computer screen (she's a 21 year survivior and has the older generation metal brain aneurysm hardware and metal bone flap sutures).
Twenty-three years ago she received her Master in Human Resource Management and was a hard driving professional on her way up the ladder. Among her successes was relocating a start-up manufacturing operation in another state and staffed well over 800 positions for the new plant. Today she couldn't do the same position for a number of reasons including the stress, fatigue, and migraines. However she is a very intelligent lady. She has tried but failed to work at any job due to the numerous migraines she gets. Fortunately she started EEG Neurofeedback 2 years ago and that alone has helped her gain control over many of her migraines. I don't expect her to work a full-time job but she is currently writing a book about her experiences with her brain aneurysm rupture and life afterwards.
She tried anti-depressants for her migraines but none of them worked and only made her feelings numb - that's no life as she would say.
She did feel like she lost everything and I shutter to think what would have happened to her if we were not together in life before her rupture happened (believe me I don't put myself on a pedestal I just have a strong belief in marriage and friendship.)
Moving ahead comes from within and she freely admits it but it took a few years for her to recognize it and deal with it. Most recently her treatment program with EEG Neurofeedback has helped her make leap and bound strides in her life over the last two years simply because she now has more effective control over her migraines. If anyone is willing to try this treatment I firmly believe you will recognize its helpfulness in getting your life back on track.
I hope these answers are helpful to you and if you have any questions feel free to ask.
Jubilee - I was an On Call CPS SW when I ruptured…Communications thought I was calling in for a page, had to wait for the Dispatcher to check and come back on the line lol
Nope - no more work for me.
Anti depressants were never a question for me. For some reason unbeknownst to mankind, this experience has not made me depressed. But being a CPS SW didn’t depress me either. Though I often thought there should be laws against stupid parenting. Having to respond to more fatalities than I can count on my fingers and toes over the years, not to mention all the immediate crisis situations, makes one look differently at life and death, responsibility and accountability. I think it starts with looking at one’s self first.
I’m on less meds now than before SAH.
I gained everything, just lost the dog that saved my life - but her days were fun filled, she had every dispatcher who woke me up speaking to her for 14 years (or we couldn’t hear each other over the thumping of her tail in the knee hole of a 1920’s oak desk) got married this year…
Gave myself a job from the extended stay in “Spa Therapy” aka ICU to coming home. Set goals daily even if it was to keep awake just 15 minutes longer. Then I stumbled on to this wonderful supportive group and found I can still help others and don’t have to go to superhuman efforts to do so. Most recently it was going to DC and speaking to a few people about Brain Aneurysm Awareness and learning about 14 yr old Ellie Helton. Ellie’s story and her family’s pain has been a great motivator for me. I was honored to be able to go to the meetings with her father as we are both from NC.
Thank you Ed, for your kind and thoughtful response. Your wife is a very lucky woman. You gave her the time and space to figure things out. That's not easy especially if your life is mapped out and then it changes on a dime. You can be so invested in making a future for yourself and then Poof! it's gone. Yes, yes YES we are of course grateful and blessed to have survived...but now what? That, is an all consuming question. I'm slowly taking myself off of the meds and so far, it seems as if my thinking is becoming clearer. Which annoys me to no end since I've been on these meds for six years. Why on earth didn't the doctors do this??? why just keep up with the refills? There has just got to be a better way to help people then ply people with meds. I'm anxious to get off of these meds just to see where I really am. I am very fortunate that I don't suffer from the headaches. I'm sure she has tried everything but may I sugguest something? clamping down those throbbing blood vessels really helps. For me, 800mg of motrin and coffee seem to work if I get right on it. I add an ice pack to the neck and it seems to help as well. Everyone is so different and how we respond to any treatment can be drastically different from one person to the next. I do hope she finds relief. I wish you continued success in your marriage and bless you for all of your efforts for your family! Ed Dunlej said:
Hi Jubilee,
I'm answering for my wife because it is difficult for her to use a computer without getting a bad zap from the computer screen (she's a 21 year survivior and has the older generation metal brain aneurysm hardware and metal bone flap sutures).
Twenty-three years ago she received her Master in Human Resource Management and was a hard driving professional on her way up the ladder. Among her successes was relocating a start-up manufacturing operation in another state and staffed well over 800 positions for the new plant. Today she couldn't do the same position for a number of reasons including the stress, fatigue, and migraines. However she is a very intelligent lady. She has tried but failed to work at any job due to the numerous migraines she gets. Fortunately she started EEG Neurofeedback 2 years ago and that alone has helped her gain control over many of her migraines. I don't expect her to work a full-time job but she is currently writing a book about her experiences with her brain aneurysm rupture and life afterwards.
She tried anti-depressants for her migraines but none of them worked and only made her feelings numb - that's no life as she would say.
She did feel like she lost everything and I shutter to think what would have happened to her if we were not together in life before her rupture happened (believe me I don't put myself on a pedestal I just have a strong belief in marriage and friendship.)
Moving ahead comes from within and she freely admits it but it took a few years for her to recognize it and deal with it. Most recently her treatment program with EEG Neurofeedback has helped her make leap and bound strides in her life over the last two years simply because she now has more effective control over her migraines. If anyone is willing to try this treatment I firmly believe you will recognize its helpfulness in getting your life back on track.
I hope these answers are helpful to you and if you have any questions feel free to ask.
Moltroub, you are amazing. Yes, you did help and you inspire. Thank you!
Moltroub said:
Jubilee - I was an On Call CPS SW when I ruptured...Communications thought I was calling in for a page, had to wait for the Dispatcher to check and come back on the line lol
Nope - no more work for me.
Anti depressants were never a question for me. For some reason unbeknownst to mankind, this experience has not made me depressed. But being a CPS SW didn't depress me either. Though I often thought there should be laws against stupid parenting. Having to respond to more fatalities than I can count on my fingers and toes over the years, not to mention all the immediate crisis situations, makes one look differently at life and death, responsibility and accountability. I think it starts with looking at one's self first.
I'm on less meds now than before SAH.
I gained everything, just lost the dog that saved my life - but her days were fun filled, she had every dispatcher who woke me up speaking to her for 14 years (or we couldn't hear each other over the thumping of her tail in the knee hole of a 1920's oak desk) got married this year...
Gave myself a job from the extended stay in "Spa Therapy" aka ICU to coming home. Set goals daily even if it was to keep awake just 15 minutes longer. Then I stumbled on to this wonderful supportive group and found I can still help others and don't have to go to superhuman efforts to do so. Most recently it was going to DC and speaking to a few people about Brain Aneurysm Awareness and learning about 14 yr old Ellie Helton. Ellie's story and her family's pain has been a great motivator for me. I was honored to be able to go to the meetings with her father as we are both from NC.
I'm not sure I can be of much help here but I'll try to answer. I'm on this board because my Dad had an aneurysm on the MCA. It was stented with the pipeline. He's 65 and it's been only one month since the surgery.
He is a real estate agent now (used to be a farmer for 50 odd years) but he has had to cut right back. He is hoping to retire soon anyway but since the operation, his fatigue is very strong. He will often sleep most of the days away at the moment.
The biggest thing my Dad can do to help himself is rest at the moment. He's not very long out of surgery so he's still in the recovery period. You're obviously in a different stage because it's been 6 years since your operation but yes, things have definitely changed for my Dad. He used to be quite active, now he has to learn to take things slow.