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17 January 2009
I want to thank you all for contributing to this wonderful website. It has kept me going since July 2008, when I had 2 intra cerebral hemorrhages within one week. I am blessed, since I came through them without any neurological deficits. I'm also lucky to be alive...so I've been told. I never thought I would write a narrative here, because I'm a very private person, but I read these narratives everyday and today for some reason I felt the need to contribute.
I've been told I'm at a very high risk for a third bleed, which is very frightening for me. I've always been a very positive person and think I'll be alright. If I'm honest, this is the one time in my life when I'm really scared. I have three unruptured aneurysms, one of them is new on the tip of the basilar artery. I also have an AVM in my right temporal lobe and a middle cerebral artery occlusion. I've been told I have stenosis also. Everything I have is untreatable because of the risk associated with any treatment option.
I'm 57 years old and live with my husband of 31 years in Connecticut. I have 2 nephews that I adore, ages 2 & 5. They live in NY with my brother and his wife, so I get to do things I love when I visit them. I have another brother that lives in Santa Monica, CA and also has a residence in NY. I was hospitalized in NYC and my husband and brothers being there really helped my recovery.
Good luck to everybody and try to avoid stress because as I've learned how we handle stress can aggravate aneurysms and AVMs.
Update 2 February 2009
I went for my six month follow-up after my second cerebral hemorrhage. My doctor said I'm doing great and sent me for an MRI and MRA and I'm waiting for the results. On a positive, there are a lot of people like me who experience inter-cerebral hemorrhages and have no neurological deficits and are fine. He thinks my fatigue could be from the medication (tenormin) I'm on. So, all and all, it was a great report.
© Copyright 2009 Arlene Joan
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