Laura's Story

Hello to everyone. I just found this support group with my daughters help. I had my SAH on 04-09-12.

I awakened to the worst headache of my life at 2:00 in the morning. I struggled to get to the bathroom as I felt I was going to get sick. I just laid on the floor for a while then thought Id better wake up my husband and tell him I was very sick and my head was killing me. He asked if I thought I needed to go to the ER and I said no, I am just going to lie here, this must be what a migraine feels like.

I drifted in and out of sleep and had my son drive me to my doctors office. I told them I had the worst headache of my life and I was crying in pain. They took my blood pressure and it was 234/187. I knew I was in trouble then.

My doctor sent me to the hospital to get a stat CT scan and she told me to wait there for the results. My husband met us at the hospital and sat with me while I waited for the CT results. It was taking longer than I thought it should so I told my husband I am probably ok so lets just go home. I said if they saw something on the CT they would have told me.

Just as I was trying to stand up they came in with a wheelchair and whisked me off to the ER. A doctor came in said you have two brain bleeds and we are life flighting you to Duke. Apparently the weather prevented the helicopter from coming so they put me in an ambulance and took me to Duke University Medical Center.

The rest of my story is very sketchy. I just remember all these people doing all these things to me at once. Then I was sent to have a "procedure" where they ran a catheter up from my groin to my brain and then to ICU to be monitored. Don't remember much of my hospitalization. I do know they did another "procedure" running the catheter again and discharged me the same day.

Never had to do any surgery, never had any vaso-spasms. Was discharged after 10 days. Was on so much medicine I do not remember much of the next 2 months. In April this year I had my MRA that was apparently ok. Have not had much follow up since.

I was so relieved to find this site and read about other peoples stories. Now I feel better about my memory loss and difficulty forming words. Also the extreme fatigue that comes on when I over do it.