Husband's and Wife's Aneurysms
Nicky Hughes, 51, of Frankfort, Kentucky. At present
Curator of Historic Sites for the City of Frankfort. He was
previously Curator of the Kentucky Military History Museum, Curator
of the Old Capitol, and Museum Division Manager for the Kentucky
Historical Society, and Historic Preservation Specialist for the
Division of Historic Properties, Finance and Administration Cabinet
of the Commonwealth of Kentucky.
Susan Lyons Hughes, age 46. Interpretation and Education Manager,
Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill, Kentucky, 1994 - present. Formerly
Junior Historians Program Manager, Kentucky Historical Society. I
also serve as editor of The Citizens' Companion, a bi-monthly
magazine focusing on the lives of civilians during the mid-19th
century and the Civil War. I have a 19-year old daughter.
14 January 2002
How common is it for a husband and wife to have aneurysm "episodes" within eight months of one another? (He says I was just jealous that he got to spend time in NS/ICU so I did it 8 months later just to show him [G].) Fortunately, we have both survived and our prognosis is good.
April 6, 2000 - 1:15 a.m. EDT
We had a friend visiting, someone whom we hadn't seen
in 2 years. We'd had a late evening, and once we went to bed, about
an hour later my husband got out of bed - I assumed he was going to
the bathroom. The next thing I heard was a tremendous crash, and I
rolled out of bed, turning on the light, to find him lying on the
floor full-length. He was non-responsive and "gurgling" or rasping
for breath. I called 911 and our friend came out of the guest
bedroom (I thank God daily for allowing Greg to be with us that
night - his strength saw me through it). At the hospital in town, a
lumbar puncture showed blood, and although my husband was conscious
now he was not really lucid. I got the "worried doctor" look from
the physician, who transferred him to the University of Kentucky
Medical Center in Lexington.
Once there, an angiogram showed a spontaneous subarachnoid hemorrhage in the back portion of his brain. The neurosurgeon said that probably a small aneurysm had ruptured, and that one so small would probably heal itself. Nicky was sent to NS/ICU for observation, a further MRI and angiogram, and 4 days later was released, having suffered no real neuro-deficits. He said the only part of his brain that was damaged was the ability to do dishes (I told him that there was a therapy for that).
It was terribly scary, and for months I started every time he moved in bed, and often slept with my hand on him to assure myself that he was alive.
Fast forward to November 26, 2000. We had just returned from Thanksgiving with my parents when I had a sudden onset of the most blinding headache imaginable. My pulse pounded in my throat, I was perspiring profusely, I had blurry vision, and the pain literally knocked me on my knees. I realized much later that while I could speak, I wasn't making a lot of sense. We went to the hospital, but the CT and lumbar puncture were negative. They sent me home with instructions to follow up with a neurologist. The pain had diminished, but did not go away.
Two days later I was at work, and 48 hours to the minute, I had the exact same symptoms - drop-you-to-your-knees pain, blurry vision, difficulty speaking. This time I didn't bother going to the hospital (it was a Sunday). The next day I called my family doctor, and got in to see him. He didn't like what he saw behind my right eye, and set up an appointment with a neurologist the next day. The neurologist told me that I had a 1 in 10 chance of having a small aneurysm, and recommended an angiogram, because an MRI can potentially miss an aneurysm.
The angiogram revealed an expanding and leaking, but not ruptured aneurysm in the right optic artery, placing pressure on the right optic nerve and in the speech center of my brain. Fortunately, I was in the hands of a neurosurgeon who could do and wanted to do a platinum coil embolization, and who had been one of the doctors who did the clinical trials on the procedure. He scheduled me for the procedure to be done at Jewish Hospital in Louisville - 2 weeks to the day after I'd had my first symptoms.
I was awake through the procedure (conscious sedation), and experienced pain when the coil was placed in the aneurysm. I spent 30 hours in Neurosurgery ICU, and was released. I went back to work part time 2 weeks later, and full time after a month.
I've experienced many of the same after-effects described by others on this forum: short-term memory loss, some aphasia (which is improving), and some recurrent depression. The depression has been worse because I've had 4 acquaintances - 2 of whom were good friends - die of ruptured aneurysms within the year since my procedure. But I've worked through a lot of it, and know to ask for help if I get in too deep the next time.
Weird as this is to say - having experienced my husband's stroke helped me have strength in facing my own aneurysm. I knew what the docs were looking for and was familiar with many of the routines. And I think my episode made him appreciate what I went through - the worry, guilt and stress - when he was sick. In any regard, we were both so blessed and lucky, and thankful to a kind Providence for a good outcome. My heart and prayers go with those of you reading this who have not had such good outcomes, and to those who are yet in doubt as to what will happen.
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