I was born in October, 1942 in Kalamazoo , Michigan. I was married to my wife, Beverly, in 1965. I received a Bachelor of Science degree from Western Michigan University in 1966, did a stint in the U.S. Army during the Viet Nam war and began working for the State of Michigan as a disability claim adjudicator in 1970. I stayed with the Michigan State Agency until 1997, when I took early retirement and went to work for a law practice. I fully retired in 2000, and am enjoying pursuing my hobby of doing high performance driving instruction in my Porsche and listening to my collection of historic jazz recordings.
New Year's Day, 1984. I was taking my morning shower when suddenly I had a feeling that someone had momentarily turned a fire hose on inside my head. There was no pain - just an intense sensation unlike any I'd had before. My vision began to go, and I knelt down least I fall. I remained kneeling, barely conscious, in the tub for several minutes until things began to clear, then stood up, dried myself off and proceeded to get dressed.
As the day went on, I felt worse. My neck became stiff and sore, my temperature began to go up and down and my eyes became ultra-sensitive to light. Finally, I called our primary care doctor and got the on-call physician from the practice, who briefly questioned me and suggested I take two aspirin and go to bed! Fortunately, I ignored that advice.
When I felt no better by afternoon, I called again and reached my doctor who was in ER with another patient. He suggested I come right down. When I got there, he did a lumbar puncture which was bloody, then ordered a CT scan which showed blood in the ventricles of my brain. The next step was a cerebral angiogram, which felt like hot lye was being injected. It showed that I had an aneurysm of the anterior communicating artery at the base of my brain. I was admitted to hospital.
At that time, a craniotomy with clipping of the aneurysm was the treatment of choice, but the surgery had to wait until the swelling of the area around the aneurysm had subsided. So for two weeks, I laid in bed in the hospital neurovigil unit. I had no 'phone, no outside view, dim lights and no stimulation. My wife was the only visitor I was permitted. Time passed v-e-r-y slowly, but I was encouraged by the fact that no neurologic damage was apparent at this point.
The big day arrived and off I went to the operating room. We'd been told to expect a six-hour surgery, but at seven hours I was still in the OR and my poor wife hadn't been given any word. Finally, someone came out and told her things were going alright, just slowly. I found out later that this wasn't quite the whole truth: As soon as the neurosurgeon exposed the aneurysm, it ruptured, then it was found to be adherent to the optic apparatus at the base of my brain. Clipping it was much more difficult than had been anticipated.
When I awoke, it seemed like an entire room full of people was present. I passed my post-op mental status and neuro exams with flying colors and was up and about a couple of hours later. The only real discomfort was from a jaw muscle that had been cut to permit the craniotomy, and I could barely open my mouth. I stayed in the hospital two more days, then headed home for a six-week recuperation.
That was eighteen years ago. Since then, I've led an entirely normal life, completing a state Civil Service career in 1997 and retiring to a job with a law practice. My only residual is a visible dent in my head where the craniotomy was done and a tiny wedge of missing visual field which I no longer notice. I was very fortunate, and I'll always be grateful to the many medical people and my friends and family who were so supportive.