Posted In: Medical Stories 0 Replies Posted By: Anonymous; June 1, 2010; 08:53 PM; I am in my early 40's and was recently diagnosed with a small unruptured aneurysm in my internal carotid artery. This is a medical emergency. If we cut off the blood flow all together, which would most likely happen with coiling, there was a great chance that I would lose all vision in my left eye. Finally, an occupational therapist only had to come once before he discharged me. The surgery is known as clipping. Visit Insiderâs homepage for more stories. It is estimated that one in 50 people have an unruptured brain aneurysm in the US, according to the Brain aneurysm foundation. "Most are small, and people live with them without any problem at all. As an aneurysm grows it puts pressure on nearby structures and may eventually rupture. "The thought is that when it's done surgically, it's more definitive because the surgeon can see where to put the clip and whether it's definitively (closed)," Elkind said. Choice 2: The second option would be to coil the aneurysm. In other situations, aneurysms are found when they cause symptoms, such as headache, vision problems or ⦠You can view the visual guide to brain aneurysm here. Today marks one year since I was diagnosed with two unruptured brain aneurysms. It was much less invasive than a craniotomy and it would be a temporary fix that I could handle one step at a time. He was very cool and collected in explaining exactly how the surgery would happen and all of the possible side effects. Treatment options include observation, clipping, coiling, flow diversion, or bypass. American Heart Association News covers heart disease, stroke and related health issues. Brain Aneurysm Statistics: An estimated 6 million people in the USA have an unruptured brain aneurysm. *All health/medical information on this website has been reviewed and approved by the American Heart Association, based on scientific research and American Heart Association guidelines. Someone in my doctorâs office accidentally released the report to me before my doctor got the ch⦠By day four I felt ready to go home. The annual rate of rupture is 8 to 10 out of each 100,000, 40% of which are fatal. Four out of seven patients who recover will have disabilities.Brain aneurysms are most prevalent in people ages 35 â 60, but can occur in children as well. I mostly slept through my entire ICU stay. Due to my family history, he strongly felt that we needed to take care of the aneurysm. A brain aneurysm (AN-yoo-riz-um) is a bulge or ballooning in a blood vessel in the brain. Treatment for an Unruptured Brain Aneurysm Thankfully, they allowed my mom to come with me. It was a nightmare for me, and probably even worse for my mom. "Many people walk around with what we call asymptomatic â or unruptured â brain aneurysms," he said. Other risk factors include age and sex, as brain aneurysms usually rupture between the ages of 30 to 60 and are more commonly experienced by women. After treatment for an unruptured brain aneurysm, people tend to return to ⦠Since I don’t have a family member or best friend that is a neurosurgeon, I did the worst thing you could ever do – Google it. National Center "Many people walk around with what we call asymptomatic â or unruptured â brain aneurysms," he said. In some rare cases people experience symptoms when an unruptured aneurysm is large and presses on the nerves or tissue of the brain these ⦠They had me heavily medicated and completely out of pain. Authored by Jennifer Casoni, RN. If they were to âcoilâ it, then they can cut in the groin (femoral artery) and use a long catheter that has a coil and sometimes a stent in it which is slowly push up to the aneurysm. What is that. It often looks like a berry hanging on a stem.A brain aneurysm can leak or rupture, causing bleeding into the brain (hemorrhagic stroke). Dr. Dre is recovering from a brain aneurysm. There is no reason to suspect anything and, boom, it comes out of nowhere.". Another option is snaking a catheter through a blood vessel in the groin, up the body and into the brain; the device is equipped with tools to fill the bubble with a metal coil or even a type of glue, also preventing it from breaking again. After about a month, I got up enough nerve to shower independently. There are two ways to try fixing it depending on how easy or difficult it is to reach, the patient's overall health and other factors. On days three and four, they made me get up, move around, take a shower, and go to physical therapy. Having the support of my family and friends made it effortless! Most are harmless, said neurologist Dr. Mitchell Elkind, president of the American Heart Association. The hospital was gracious enough to allow all 13 of us into the prep area where I waited to be taken back. Risk factors for brain aneurysms include smoking, high blood pressure, connective tissue disorders and a family history, usually a parent or sibling. "A bunch of bad things could come from it.". See full terms of use. Pets and Your Health / Healthy Bond for Life, Institute for Precision Cardiovascular Medicine, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. A report, written completely in medical terms that seemed like gibberish to me, read the words “worrisome for an aneurysm”. Aneurysm coiling - tiny threads of platinum are placed inside the aneurysm sac. This is a condition where every second literally matters. "When done vascularly, there's the concern whether it'll grow back again, but it's a less-invasive procedure.". This site complies with the HONcode Standard for trustworthy health information: I had an at-home nurse come visit three times a week in the beginning and her visits became more and more spread out until I was discharged. There were 13 of us in the waiting room. I have no memory of the ICU. My great-grandmother had also suffered a fatal brain aneurysm at the age of 31. He asked me about my boo-boo, but overall wasn’t too fazed. "It's kind of like the neurological equivalent of sudden cardiac death," said Elkind, a professor of neurology and epidemiology at Columbia University in New York City. The diagnosis came upon my life very unexpectedly. I am extremely fortunate to have wonderful in-laws that brought my son to Philadelphia with them, where they stayed for the entire week, so he could be close to me. Customer Service Life seemed to be going perfectly. It has only been six months since my surgery and I am 100% back to normal, and have been for a few months. That’s when I decided I wanted to share my story. I never in a million years thought there would be anything wrong with me. The whole process was way easier than I had anticipated. If you hesitate or put it off, you may not be around to see your family again.". I was on an IV and a catheter. The diagnosis came upon my life very unexpectedly. If you have questions or comments about this story, please email editor@heart.org. The team of doctors and nurses at Penn Neurosurgery are amazing and took wonderful care of me. Me with my husband and my son, only 5 months after the surgery. I desperately wanted to find a survivor story, or reach out to someone that had been through it, but I had no success. I received the news via email. I made plans with family and friends, went on vacations, and spent as much time with my husband and son that I could. Known for being one of the best neurosurgery programs in the country, I knew I was in good hands. Plus, I didn’t really want that negative attention surrounding me. The second they wheeled me away and my family was out of sight, I started to come undone. ... My Story: Surviving a Brain Aneurysm. As negative as this experience could have been, it has helped me to become a much more positive person. For many people, diagnosis of a brain aneurysm does not happen until the aneurysm ruptures and bleeds. I scheduled an angiogram for the following week. (I use the term normal loosely). I had the surgery on July 18th and started back at work on September 12th. I had a full blown panic attack moments before they were about to wheel me in. The American Heart Association is a qualified 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization. The reason I initially went for my MRA scan is because of a long family history of aneurysms. As unfortunate as it is that I had to go through with this surgery, I feel like it has enriched my life, believe it or not! Not only were their doctors phenomenal, but they also had top of the line imaging equipment that we didn’t have at home. One week later, my whole world was turned upside-down. Permission is granted, at no cost and without need for further request, for individuals, media outlets, and non-commercial education and awareness efforts to link to, quote, excerpt or reprint from these stories in any medium as long as no text is altered and proper attribution is made to American Heart Association News. Some aneurysms are quite large in size and may push on a nerve in the brain, causing what is called the "mass effect." According to the Brain Aneurysm Foundation, 1 in 50 people have an unruptured brain aneurysm. While Elkind cautioned that such an extreme discomfort doesn't always mean a subarachnoid hemorrhage, it usually requires dialing 911. Once an unruptured aneurysm is identified, a decision needs to be made as to the management options. During that time period I also lost my sister to a ruptured brain aneurysm and my husbandâs niece died of a rupture. Once they moved me to the hospital room, I started to come to. 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