NARRATIVES
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ADVICE
Established April 15, 1995
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28 June 1999
Thank you Dr. Bailes, It is hard to believe that four months ago I was in the hospital. I have read almost all of the stories on the net about how awful they felt and how bad things went after their brain surgery and I could not relate to this at all. I was not going to write anything about how well I was doing because I didn't think this was the place. I thought about it and decided I should write and let people know that there are good things to look forward to after surgery also.
I feel like a whole new person. Any of you who has had a bad tooth that keeps poisoning your system, you go and have it pulled or fixed, think about how much better you feel afterwards. Well, that is how I feel about having Dr.Bailes put a clip on the aneurysm in my head. He took the staples out a week after surgery. I was upset thinking about having this done. I am a BIG coward about needles, blood, etc. I want you to know I did not feel him removing them, because the skin is still numb from the surgery.
I wonder why so many people has had problems after their surgery. Is it because they did not have the doctor I did or the type of care I received before and after the operation. From the hospital staff to Dr. Bailes staff, I felt like I was treated like a Queen. The lady who does my hair saw me two weeks after the surgery and she could not believe how well I looked,compared to before. I feel like the quality of my life has been restored. I am 48 years old and have two grown children, a son 31 and a daughter 23. I'm not a spring chicken and really have never been in the very best of health.
So if there is anyone out there who has any problems with their health that is out of the ordinary or anyone who keeps putting that check up off, don't put it off. Your family needs you, your friends need you and your enemies don't need you in good health. Do it for one of these reasons or JUST DO IT FOR YOURSELF. Learn something new in life, like dancing, jogging, running, anything that you have not done before. Make your life count for something.
Update 24 May 2000
It has been over a year now. I had brain surgery done on the right side of my head and almost a year since I had coils put in the second aneurysm on the left side on my head. I think I do fairly well. I have good days and bad days. I did go back to work Aug. 1999.
I am very sad that my Mother chose not to have anything done to her aneurysms and the same with my Grandmother and her Mother. I have discovered most of the people in my family thought they were going to be butchered if they went into a hospital. I wanted to prove to my children, this is not so. I think that if I can go in and receive good treatment, then everyone going in will expect the same or ask for it if it is not received. The Drs and nurses need to know how you feel. They are not mind readers nor magicians. We need to be more aware of what is going on in our bodies so we can go in and tell the Doctors, they are strangers to our bodies. We need to ask for an MRI/MRA or a CATSCAN if we are in doubt. We need to get in touch with the National Stroke Association and find out how we can prevent these things from happening to us and our loved ones. We need to do some things for our self before it is too late.
I have met so many people! Sometimes I am overwhelmed with the intense feelings of them. I have discovered that I love them all. I jump up and down with them in their feeling of joy when a loved one has come out of a coma. I cry with them when they have lost a loved one to an aneurysm that has burst. Just wanted to say thank you all for your support and holding me up when I was down.
Update 2 February 2009
I was still working when I did my last update. Couldn't keep the seizures and b/p under control while I was at work so the neurologist said I needed to go on disability. Boy, did that hit a sore spot with me. Had always worked and made my own way. Took several yrs for me to get my self under control.
So grateful to Dr Maples and the Family. Would have felt so alone without both. Our family has certainly grown since I wrote my first narrative. God Bless all of you for being there. You have certainly lifted me up when I couldn't put another foot in front of me. Candy and Sandi both have become close friends. So many others in the family have called and emailed me to help get me over the humps and bumps in life.
And then the grand kids that helped a lot as well. They needed me to watch them and my daughter and son in law needed someone to help them out. :) So I am busy with feeding them breakfast, combing their hair, putting their shoes and socks on. Taking them to school and picking them up. Doing homework and school projects. Also get to decorate the classrooms on the holidays. Now the youngest one is in VPK where he goes to school for three hrs a day. Next year he will be going all day like the other two.
This past year when the younger grandchild started volunteer pre kinder garden, my husband and I started helping some of the seniors in our area get to their doctor/dentist/tests appointments. Our son works at a retirement village across the street from us and has hooked us up with a few couples that need our help. It is so nice to be able to help others. Best therapy in the world if you are up to it.
Believe it or not I still have time for my husband and my own activities as well. :)
Don't get me wrong, I still have days I want to just scream from the pain in my head, but I refuse to let it get to me. There are days I say it is wonderful to still be able to feed my self and wipe my own butt. Before two brain surgeries I would never have thought of that and be grateful for being able to do these simple acts but have been where I couldn't so I do think of how grateful I am to be able to do so. :)
Could certainly write a small book if I had the time but need to get the younger grandchild down for his nap. My husband watches him while I go to pick the two older ones up at school.
May God Bless each and everyone.
Sending HUGS and LOVE your way.
Nonia
Update: 21 January 2010
Just thought I would do a short update. I had a rough last year but am expecting to do much better this year. Was in the hospital March 2009 for a case of MRSA on my face. Thank God for antibiotics that work. I know about the same time I got out of the hospital I was seeing ads on the TV talking about what to do if you get MRSA. Our local grocery store put wipes by the carts right before I got it as well.
Also had a scare with my yearly mammogram. Had to have a biopsy done in Oct. Came back negative, again Thank God and my friends on line. Didn't want to go through it but after talking to my friends on line, they convinced me I would be much better off knowing than not knowing. They were right of course. :)
Wishing everyone a good 2010.
Discussion, comments, or questions: Nonia McQuay
© Copyright 1999 Nonia McQuay
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