Brain Aneurysm: Polycystic Kidney Disease Associated Aneurysms

Polycystic Kidney Disease Associated Aneurysms

16 July 1998

July 4, 1997, I awoke at 2:00 am with an intense pain on the right side of my head I couldn't lay down again. I got up out of bed and sat in the reclining chair in the living room, my neck was really stiff. My husband got up at 4:00 am, I told him how I was feeling. I stated, "I'm going to die just like my mother." Neither one of us wanted to believe this. He went to work, and I began to get nauseous and made many trips to the bathroom. When my husband came home that afternoon he immediately took me to Highline Community Hospital to the emergency room.

I have polycystic kidney disease which I became aware of after my mothers death in 1985, at the age of 45, dying from a second brain aneurysm, the first occurring when she was 30 years old. Upon relaying my symptoms and medical history to the medical staff the emergency doctor who examined me was not certain of a diagnosis, possibly meningitis, he sent me home with the equivalent of Tylenol 3' s, possible flu and an unspecified headache. I was told to come back if I wasn't feeling better. At the conclusion of the examination my husband informed the doctor how my mother had died, he stated he hadn't thought of that possibility. Four days later I wasn't feeling better, the worst of which my head hurt, and I was experiencing dizziness. I left work after being there for 5 minutes and drove to a local health clinic which was affiliated with the hospital I visited 4 days prior. The doctor I saw examined me, listened to my worries-about the my mother dying from a brain aneurysm-while tears were pouring down my face. She scheduled me to have a MRI several hours later that day at Highline Community Hospital.

The MRI found an aneurysm on the right side of my head which was possibly ruptured, also a smaller aneurysm of the left side of my head. They contacted Providence Hospital made arrangements for a neurosurgeon to see me, Cat Scan, and a angiogram to take place that afternoon. After the MRI I was told I needed to find a ride to Providence Hospital in downtown Seattle. I was unable to reach my husband. Fortunately, my sister in-law came to provide transportation and much needed support. After admittance I was taken directly to ICU, had a Cat scan, proceeded by an angiogram, then surgery to clip the aneurysm on the right side of my head. I spent two days in the ICU, much of which I don't remember, I received excellent care, two additional days in the hospital, and I went home. My neurosurgeon had told us the aneurysm was close to the surface of my brain, for this I'm grateful. One month later I had surgery on the aneurysm on the left side of my head, to clip it before it ruptured.

The only things I have noticed is that it took a long time to regain my physical strength, I did have headaches for a short period of time after the surgeries, and a minimal amount of short term memory loss. I see and feel emotional things more intensely, this has been hard for me to adjust to. I worry about my daughter who also has polycystic kidney disease. I worry about a reoccurrence.

I'm thankful to my husband, family and friends for their support and prayers through this ordeal. I'm also grateful to doctor who sent me in for the MRI, as well as my neurosurgeon.

Discussion, comments, or questions: Lynne Corgatelli