Hi. My name is Jennifer and I'm writing this narrative about my mom, Viletta. She is 74 years old and was diagnosed with a brain aneurysm. I live in Florida and my mom and dad spend half of the year here with me and the other half of the year up north in Wisconsin with my older siblings. My mom always said she'd get all of us to Florida some day. Well, her wish came true.
Early one morning the phone rang and it was my father. My mom had gotten up to use the bathroom and had blacked out and fallen down. He had a hard time waking her up and getting her back into bed. It just so happened that my 7 year old son was spending the night with them. My father thought I should come over and pick him up. No rush , he said.
As I lay in bed, I thought I better get over there now, just in case something is really wrong with her. It was January 4, 5:30am.
I arrived at their home around 6am. I had to bring my daughter with me because my husband was going to work early that day. I asked my dad how mom was. He told me she seems okay. I went back to the bedroom to check on her. She was awake and I asked her how she felt. She said hot, really hot, like I'm in hell. I laughed at that. When she got up we noticed she was covered with a severe case of hives. They were all over her upper body. She needed to get up and use the bathroom. We got to the bathroom and then she sort of sat down on the commode and wouldn't respond. I was calling her name and she didn't answer me. I yelled for my dad to come back and help me get her into bed. She was fine once we got her there, but I decided this was too wierd and called 911. They arrived within minutes. I went with her in the ambulance. My dad stayed home with my two children until my husband could get over there to pick them up. He'd come to the hospital later.
We got to the hospital and they started giving her Benedryl for the hives. Because she had fallen down and couldn't remember if she hit her head, they decided to do a cat scan. She did say that her left thumb hurt. They first did an x-ray on her thumb and found out she had a minor fracture. Then she went in for the cat scan. After these tests, she came back down to her cubicle in the ER and we waited for the results. They did an EKG while we were waiting and that was normal. During this long waiting period we decided she must have drank too much orange and tangelo juice. She said she always felt itchy after drinking orange juice but never had a reaction like this before. This time she drank too much and got hives. That is the only thing we can figure that caused them. I called my dad and told him what was going on and that we were just waiting for the results of the cat scan. I said her hives were better. He said he'd be there soon.
My dad arrived and we continued to wait. You know how the ER is, hurry up and wait. My mom was thirsty so I asked if she could get a drink. I said no citrus juice though. The nurse said she'd get some apple juice for her. She brought the little container and opened it for my mom. Mom took one drink and said, "this is orange juice." Can you imagine that? Here she is having an allergic reaction to citrus juice and they bring her some to drink. She immediately got new hives and we now know for sure what was causing them.
My dad decided to go get a cup of coffee at the cafeteria. Of course the minute he left, the ER doctor came in with the results of the cat scan. He said her tests were all unremarkable (I love that phrase), meaning everything was fine. Then he said to us matter of factly, "I really can't find anything wrong with you except for the fact that you have an aneurysm." Well, we both looked at each other and our jaws must have hit the floor. I know we were both thinking of mom's older sister Revella, who had died of a brain aneurysm. It was a complete and total shock. Then the doctor said he'd like to admit mom and run some more tests and have her talk to a neurologist. He left and my dad came in. We told him the news and I'm not sure, even now, what he thought. He didn't have much reaction. That's how he is though. Kind of keeps it all inside. So, my mom was admitted and we stayed with her until 9pm. I took my dad with me to my house for the night. After we got home, I called one of my sisters and relayed all the information. She was going to tell the rest of the family.
Mom had a series of tests done the next day. At one point we were told she had two aneurysms, but that was a mistake. The general practitioner was reading the two test results, one a cat scan and one an MRA, and because each test said she had one, he thought she had two. Talk about confusion. Then a neurologist came in to see her and I thought, he looks like Albert Einstein. He was a small skinny man who had on old blue jeans and his hair was big and white and frizzy. He told mom she needed to consult with a neurosurgeon and see what her options are. He said it wasn't an emergency. I remember thinking, I think it is an emergency. What if it bursts? So, she was released the next day and we set up an appointment to see the neurosurgeon.
The neurosurgeon reminded me of Boris Karloff. He had big bushy eyebrows and a deep booming voice. He was very thorough and explained what mom's options were. He said she had one aneurysm and that it was large, 1.24 cm, and was located behind her right eye. He drew a diagram for us and then proceeded to talk about the risks. He said he wanted to refer us to someone at Shands Hospital in Gainesville. He told us of a neurosurgeon that specializes in mom's type of aneurysm. We asked him about her age being a factor. He told us he would send his mother to this guy if she needed brain surgery. His nurse gave us the doctor's name and number and said they'd fax all the necessary information to his office and that he would contact us. She said to be patient, that this was not an emergency. To me, it was an emergency. What if it bursts? I wasn't about to sit around and wait for that to happen.
I decided to email this doctor and ask him if he would agree to meet with us. His name is Arthur Day and he is the head of neurosurgery at Shands Hospital. I read about him on the internet and it seemed he was the guy for the job. I was very impressed with his credentials. My sister checked him out with her doctors up in Wisconsin and they all had heard of his reputation. He is the best man in the country for this type of surgery.
I emailed him and he responded immediately. I was very impressed by that too. He would be happy to meet with my mom and her family and discuss her options. So, the appointment made, now we had to sit and wait. That was the hardest thing. Those two weeks of waiting were the worst.
My mom, dad, aunt, brother, sister and I all went to see Dr. Day. He wasn't the least bit put off by so many people waiting to see him. He was very nice and after making my mom do the necessary neurological tests (you know, the finger to the nose three times test and the walk a straight line test) he sat down next to my mom and discussed all of the risks and options. He drew pictures and gave her all the important details. He didn't want her to make a decision right then, he wanted her to go and think it over. But, my mom had already decided to let this doctor perform the craniotomy and clip her aneurysm. She really liked him, we all did. He had a good sense of humor and a nice bedside manner, two things not found in many doctors these days. So, we scheduled it all before we left his office. She'd have pre-op testing on February 8, an angiogram on February 11 and the surgery on February 12. Everyone felt the craniotomy was the right option for mom and that Dr. Day was the right person to perform it. Now, we had to go home and wait some more. Hurry up and wait. It seemed that was the only thing we were doing.
All my brothers (3) and sisters (2) came down to Florida for mom's surgery. She had her wish. All of us were in Florida at the same time. We were all there when they took her out of pre-op and into the OR. We all cried and then we waited some more. Mom's two brother's were there and one of her sisters also. My dad was doing pretty well. I think having all us kids there was good for both of them.
To make a long story short, my mom made it through 8 hours of surgery with flying colors. They used three titanium clips and the aneursym is gone. Dr. Day did an excellent job, as did his staff who worked with him. I cannot express how much gratitude we have for this man. Mom came home three days after her surgery and has had no complications to date (I'm knocking on wood as I write that). I am amazed that this would all go so fast. She got her staples taken out yesterday, February 22. She feels good and is getting stronger every day, I can hear it in her voice. She has been a miracle patient.
She had a positive attitude before going into surgery. I guess that really makes a difference. When I think of all the worrying we did before the surgery, I get sad. It's hard not to worry though, because no one knows what the outcome will be and there are risks to every surgery. Mom was lucky.
I feel I should say that she's always been lucky. Mom has had many obstacles to overcome in her life time. She had colon cancer 24 years ago. It was found very early and she survived. She has had a colostomy since that time. She had to have a hysterectomy and had complications which resulted in a pulmonary embolism in her lung. She survived that too. Those are just a few examples of the hardships she's had in her life. Now she had to have brain surgery. Sometimes I feel it's unfair for one person to have to go through so much. But, she's taken it all in stride and I admire her for her bravery.
I just wanted to let all of you know that having an aneurysm doesn't have to mean the end of the world. I know this story was long leading up to the surgery. I wanted to share with all of you how it progressed for our family and the happy ending we have had.
I also want to add that I feel in my heart it was either my mom's sister Revella (who died of a brain aneurysm), or my Grandma Rose (who died of colon cancer) that made mom get hives so she would get to the hospital and have that cat scan. Otherwise, who knows what would have happened. It wasn't mom's time to leave and they wanted her to get this fixed so she can enjoy many more years with us.
Good luck to all of you and thanks for sharing your stories with me.