This survivor, Joan, is a 62 year old 100% Dutch American woman. She has been married to her high school sweetheart, George for almost 40 years! She has two children, Sue-36 and Mike 29. She has two grandchildren, Courtney -8 and Jaiden-1. She is a retired bank secretary who was in excellent health prior to her subarachnoid hemorrhage in July of 2003. She worked out the local Y and continues to do so now. She has no family background of aneurysms but she did suffer from headaches for most of her adult life. Many days she would also suffer from neck and shoulder pain as well. Doctors never suspected or examined her head when she complained in the past. Her surgery was performed by Dr. Ogilvy at Mass General Hospital in Boston. He saved her life...thank you Doctor.
14 March 2004
I searched the narratives with a ferociousness, hoping to find a story similar to ours with hopes of finding some answers. Thankfully, I found many stories here that I could relate to, that helped answer some of my burning questions, and maybe let me see a little into the future of what might lay ahead.
I promised myself that when things got better, I would put my narrative in. While you read this, I hope something I say is relative to you and helps you like the others here have helped me.
Last 4th of July, 2003, my Mom collapsed in her vacation home. She said that her legs, from below the knee, became numb and could no longer hold her. She slowly crumbled to the floor with a bad headache as well.
My mother then called to my Dad, who was still waking up from a nights sleep, and told him that she thought she might be having a stroke and to please take her to the hospital. From there they were examined and sent home with some very strong muscle relaxers for treatment of a "tension headache". At this point, Mom was still walking and talking so they didn't do a scan of her head. BIG MISTAKE!
Dad decided he better take her home. A couple hours drive but she'd be more comfortable there. So they made the drive. Mom slept. At home, she contained to sleep. Dad thought she was sleepy from the drugs they gave her. He went out for a ride.
This is the important part....Mom wasn't really sleepy, she was losing consciousness. She was bleeding in the head from a ruptured aneurysm, but we didn't know that. The hospital never scanned her head. If Mom continued to lay there "sleeping", she might never have awaken again.
I decided to stop by and see her. She was home alone, she was barely able to open her eyes when I talked to her. She began to vomit. (COMMON SIGN - VOMITING). We decided to take her to another hospital - same day - we went again. This time they scanned her, she was hemorrhaging, rushed to a bigger hospital by ambulance, operated on for 7 hours, they clipped it, intensive care for 3 weeks, ups and downs, no stroke, permanent shunt inserted. The intensive care part is real scary and no can be prepared for the daily visits, not knowing what you will find, constant changes in their condition; is ride no one wants to take. Finally able to move to a regular floor, so did and on she went to rehab for 2 weeks where we saw huge progress and she was finally ready to come home. With slight short term memory difficulty at first, she soon regained that as well. Because of a blood clot she developed in her leg, she was a little weak, but regained that too.
Now, 8 months later, my Mom drives, shops, babysits, cooks, cleans, pays bills, takes care of my Dad who has prostate cancer, and more than a happy, healthy, 62 year old - she is a strong, caring, loving, determined, strong-willed, smiling woman who we are so grateful to have in our lives here on earth.
As her family, her daughter, I know how lucky I am to have a brain aneurysm survivor as a mother. The emergency room doctor at Mass Gen Hospital told me that I was lucky just to have her make it that far. He said, "Fifty percent of patients like your mother never make it here, so she beat the odds already."
My heartfelt thoughts of care and concern go out to you if you are reading this while going through it. I hope I can give you some hope. If you are reading this because you are healing from an aneurysm, please know that I kiss your feet in my thoughts! Walk strong, knowing that you give all of us such great motivation to live a full and happy life for as long as we know it. Thank you.