My life changed forever on December 26, 1989. I had only been in Houston for 2 months, while getting ready for work that morning I started getting one of those headaches. The kind of headache that can not be described. It makes you feel like crying, screaming and throwing up all at the same time. I have had them all my life, and every Doctor had a new answer. Stress was the most used, I was divorced at 23 with a two year old and a 6 month old, so the doctors blamed STRESS. But on this morning something was different I took some aspirin and started to drive, I was about half a mile from my home when my vision blurred, I started sweating and shaking. I pulled over to the side of the road. I sat there for a few minutes. My vision would not clear, so I saw a phone booth and managed to call a friend. She came and took me to the emergency room.
After the Doctors decided I was not having a heart attack, they started running tests because my vision would not clear and they couldn't figure out why. Well after 5 days of tests including a cat scan x-rays blood tests a diabetes test and finally a MRI they found the AVM. The next stop was the Methodist Hospital in Houston where Dr. James Rose explained what he was going to do.
My first reaction was to cry, but I didn't. I asked him how bad it was and he told me if I wait more than a couple of days I wouldn't be here to ask. So I had to go home and tell my sons who were 15 and 18 at the time that I was going to have brain surgery and I may not survive. That was the hardest thing I ever had to do . I was lucky that I had my mother to be with my sons. The night before the surgery after everyone was gone to the waiting room I laid in bed with my life before me would I wake up blind, deaf, or would I wake up at all.
I never remarried so I was completely along as far as support was concerned. My mother became my support. So the morning of the surgery I was wheeled past all my family in the waiting room and I said my good-byes, just in case. In the surgery room my doctor came over to me and asked me if I got a goodnights sleep. I said your the one that needed a goodnights sleep, everyone laughed and at that moment I somehow knew it was going to be alright.
When I woke up in ICU I looked at my sons and my mom and said I'm hungry. and realized that I survived. After I was in my room I started to get out of bed and my left side didn't work, that scared me but the nurse said it would take time for everything to connect. A few more days past and it slowly started coming together.
Now 10 years later I still have a little weakness on my left side but I'm here with my sons and my 2 beautiful grandchildren. They are 3 and 4 and they give me such love. And I thank God for every day I have with them. So I hope my story helps someone out there, it helped me by writing about it. God Bless.