Brain Aneurysm Survival

On June 11, 2016 a blood vessel "popped" in my head. Technically I should have died. Here is a story of survival.

Watch out! Here it comes.....

Taking naps is not a normal occurrence for me. That Saturday was an exception. For some reason, I was tired. When I woke up all of a sudden I felt an immense pinpoint pain in the right center of my brain. I knew something was wrong. I listen to my body, and it was telling me something.

I started screaming for my husband. I knew he was in the house somewhere, just did not know where. The fastest way to get someone's attention is to scream at the top of your lungs. He showed up in a few seconds asking what was wrong. He could tell from my face something was serious. He asked "Should I call 911?". I nodded yes and he grabbed the phone to call.

While my husband talked to the paramedics, I gathered my things to take to the hospital. I had two mobile phones to grab -- my personal one and my work phone. Yes I had the presence of mind to take my work phone. I figured no matter what I was not going to be home anytime soon. Even if the pain turned out to be a bad migraine I figured I would be staying at the hospital for tests.

Grabbing the phones I threw both in my purse and started to walk towards the front door. We have two cats and the last thing I wanted was the paramedics coming in the house with a gurney and a lot of noise. The fire station was two blocks from our house and I knew they would be here fast. Even though my husband was still on the phone with the fire department, I opened the front door of the house and proceeded down the steps. The paramedics met me halfway in our walkway.

The paramedics are not used to patients meeting them outside. They were surprised to see me and asked if I was the patient. I nodded and asked if the gurney they were pulling was my ride. They let me get on and started wheeling me back to the ambulance. The paramedics told my husband where they were taking me and I went off in the ambulance.

My first main concern was elimination of the horrible pain I had in my head. Even if this emergency turns out to not be a life-threatening situation, I knew I required serious pain medication. The paramedics asked what I needed and I made it clear to give me something to ease the pain. Once that was provided, I relaxed for the ride to the hospital.

My symptoms were recognized as a possible brain bleed and after a CT scan the neurosurgeon on call told me I had a very serious brain aneurysm burst in the middle of the right side of my brain. Already after 30 minutes, my brain was 50% full of blood. The neurosurgeon told my husband and I that it was important to have surgery right away in order to have a chance at life. But even with the surgery there were no guarantees for a life, and there was a substantial chance of disability.

Wow – I was in a life and death situation 30 minutes after waking up from a nap. My life changed irreversibly in that 30 minutes.

I agreed to the surgery. The neurosurgeon would operate immediately.

I understood everything that was being told to me but I realized that people were not understanding me when I spoke long sentences. The blood in my brain – in the wrong place and polluting my communication center – was starting to cause communication difficulties.

Therefore, I converted to short spurts of communication. Yes – No – I understand.

I was wheeled into the hallway. The nurses explained I was going immediately into surgery. All the time on the gurney, I still had my purse with my two mobile phones. I held onto that purse with my life through the CT and doctor examination. As I was wheeled to surgery, the nurses were telling me I had to let go of the purse and they would give it to my husband. Getting much too used to the short communication I shouted “WAIT”!

The gurney stopped. The nurses looked puzzled. I reached into my purse and pulled out my personal phone.

I felt compelled to leave a message to my friends and family on FB that I loved them and that no matter what happens to me, I would always love them. Everything happened __so fast__ and I realized if I died in this process it would be an incredible shock to so many people. I had been overwhelming healthy up until this moment. No one would have considered this could happen to me. I HAD to say goodbye just in case. I posted the message on Facebook.

Then I threw the phone back into my purse and said “OK”.

The nurses took my purse away to my husband and wheeled me into surgery.

The surgery took 5 hours. Afterwards, the neurosurgeon talked to my husband and friends that gathered at the hospital. He did not leave much hope for a full recovery but he did indicate that the surgery itself was successful.

Now it was up to me to heal….

My next recollection after surgery was the next day – Sunday, June 12. I remember waking up groggily knowing what had happened to me. It was easy to KNOW because it felt like there was an axe in my head. I went from a massive pinpoint pain in my brain to my entire head feeling violated and cracked open. Because the surgeon opened my skull, rooted around in my brain and clipped the aneurysm.

The first conscious thing I did was an examination of my head. From the inside. I wanted to know if there was any damage. I rounded up my recent thoughts, to see if anything was now missing. Intact! I then started scaling through my knowledge. Intact! I moved my limbs a little. They moved at my will and did not feel weakened. Hope! I then opened my eyes a bit and decided that was not a good thing because the light was too bright. Squinting was the rule for now.

There are definite challenges convincing everyone else around me that I was whole. But I knew that I was whole and wanted to fight get back to a regular, normal life.

The important thing I knew for sure was with life, there is always hope. You can fight back from the darkness.

#brainaneurysm