kempse

Great to hear you are back home after the coiling - you are worth every penny!

Take care, look forward to hearing from you again in due course.

Sarah

Hi Leon,

I'm glad you have found this site and a warm welcome to you. It sounds like you have done remarkably well - getting back to work so soon was a great achievement. It is nice to hear that you are now enjoying your retirement - a well earned retirement by all accounts. I am sure your story will inspire others, particularly those who are beginning on their road of recovery. Any input you wish to make, would no doubt be invaluable on here.

Best wishes,

Sarah

If you are still online, Saffy, I just wanted to say that I hope they don't let you down again tomorrow and that you will go in this time. I know all the waiting and the anxiety is awful and looking back that is probably the worst part of the whole experience. I so hope you don't have to go through anymore waiting - I look forward to hearing from you when you feel up to it - will be thinking of you.

Sending you a very big hug,

Sarah.

Wasn't that lady fortunate.

A few days after my sah (at which time it was still undiagnosed), my gp suggested I go to the optician to have a look behind my eyes - he said their equipment would be better than his, so I did. Unfortunately, my bleed was not detected, neither was either of my two anerusyms so whilst it obviously helped this lady a great deal, it was no help to me whatsoever! Whilst it is always worth getting your eyes checked regularly, I wouldn't want anyone to solely rely on this! My optician did say I looked very ill though!!

Sarah

Good Morning Homer and welcome to this site. It took me 13 months after SAH to find this site, so 13 years is a very long time. I hope now that you have found this group of fellow survivors you can benefit from their friendship and support and no longer feel alone.

Best wishes,

Sarah

A warm welcome, Di,

It sounds like you are doing very well. I for one, can relate to the emotional aspect that you mention, although this has got a lot better over time. I think it can be an awful shock for family members too, so I hope your daughter is ok - it can take some time to come to terms with it all.

I also think it would help if we were told more about what to expect afterwards - then it might be easier to deal with the tiredness, emotions etc. - it wasn't until I joined this website that I realised it was pretty standard to feel so tired and that it wasn't just me!

Best wishes and take care,

Sarah

Evening Saffy,

I'm here, wishing I could be with you as I know how horrible it is to have this op cancelled at the last minute and I would not wish it on anyone. They won't have forgotton you though, although it feels like being left in limbo. If they don't ring tomorrow, it might be worth giving them a call, or getting your daughter to and explaining how you feel in the hope that they put you as priority and perhaps give you date.

I vaguely recall ringing my consultants secretary regarding a date for my coiling at one point (it must have been after I got the original letter saying I needed the coiling) and I was given quite a few dates to choose from for when it could be done, so it may be worth checking with them - might just give you a bit more to go on rather than feeling left in the dark. They may of course still take you in this week -things can change so quickly - when I finally went in, there was still no bed for me on the neuro ward so I was put on the epilesy ward the night before and went to theatre from there, then later a bed became available on neuro so I went there for recovery - I hadn't been there long before they moved me again because they wanted the bed for someone who was deemed to be more in need than myself - things are moving all the time so don't loose hope yet - I think they try, but they don't think to inform us, so it gets very frustrating not knowing what's happening. Hope you get a good night's rest tonight, will keep my fingers crossed.

Sarah

Hi Sally and a big welcome to you.

I think the beauty of this site is that others do understand what it's like and how you feel afterwards. It is always reasuring to know that you are not alone when recovering from a sah. I hope that you do eventually get your driving licence back - that would be the icing on the cake!

Best wishes,

Sarah

Hi Zoe,

If I were you, I would definitely speak to the Doctors and try and get some answers or guidance on some of the questions that are probably circling round your head at the moment, it seems you have so much to cope with at the present time. Have you tried the Brain and Spine website as I believe they have a phone help line which may be another avenue for you. You can also ask them questions via email and they are answered by qualified neuro nurses I believe. They may be able to give you some support. You have done really well up to now Zoe and I'm sure everyone on here appreciates what you are going through- if you look back and think how Richard has progressed over the past 6 weeks, then in a few more weeks you will again see how things have improved but in the meantime have a word with the docs.

Best wishes,

Sarah

Hi Blueday and a very warm welcome.

You have certainly been through it over the years, yet you appear to be doing remarkably well - I am so pleased you have found this site where there is lots of support and good advice.

I wish you continued success with your speech and language therapy and it's good to hear that you are going to be helping with the research - progress couldn't be made without volunteers, so well done.

Best wishes,

Sarah

Hi Dougie,

A warm welcome to this site, I'm sure you will find it very friendly and helpful. It's good to hear you have been referred back - hopefully the speech therapy and physio will help. It's no wonder it got you down, especially if you rely on your speech for your work in the way that you do. Good luck with it and keep us posted.

Sarah

That's excellent news Zoe - it will make things so much easier for you. I'm sure Richard will continue to make progress over the coming weeks - wishing you both all the best,

Sarah

Oh John I had to laugh at what you said to the Doctor - what a gem.

Not sure whether it's better to remember or not to remember really. I remember it all and my mind often goes back to that week when five times I was dismissed by the professionals - knowing myself that something serious had happened yet they couldn't see it... would imagine loosing a big chunk of your life, as you did, must seem very strange indeed.

But like you John, I am so glad to have been given a second chance.

Sarah

So sorry that you are having to go through this waiting period and feeling like you do, I know it just drags on so slowly and the nearer you get the worse it seems to be - that's just how it was for me anyway. I don't think anyone can appreciate how you feel unless you have been in that situation. Don't worry about the tears though, I think that releases some of the tension a bit- I was still in tears right up to the op, so it is quite a natural thing to do.

However, as I have probably said before, the relief when it is over is absolutely wonderful and that is what I would suggest you try and focus on - just keep telling yourself "I can do this, I will do this, I will be fine, they have performed this hundreds of times, if Sarah can do this so can I!! I think you will be pleasantly surprised how normal you feel afterwards. You certainly wouldn't find anyone more nervous and anxious than I was, yet having been through coiling twice now, I don't think I would worry nearly as much if I ever needed my other aneursym coiled. I am sending you a very big hug and an imaginary boquet of flowers!

Take Care,

Sarah

Hi Angela,

I think getting back behind the wheel again is a great boost - so glad to hear he is doing so well.

I returned to driving within a few weeks, but then again I didn't even realise I shouldn't have been driving - it was 11 months later that I found out you were supposed to advise DVLA - whoops!

Sarah

That is very welcome news Zoe, I imagine that will have lifted your spirits somewhat.

Hope things continue in this positive direction for you both.

Sarah

Morning Zoe,

So sorry to hear of your current situation, this will be upsetting for you but will not be intentional by Richard and hopefully will improve over time. It is good that you have a meeting with the neurosurgeon tomorrow – hopefully you can take someone with you for support and perhaps prepare a list of questions beforehand.

Hope your children are ok, take care, thinking of you,

Sarah

Just to let you know that I am thinking of you and hope you manage to get through today without visiting Richard. I know it will be an upsetting time for you, not at all easy having young children to care for too. I hope you get some comfort from being on here and seeing how people can and have progressed, unfortunately the slowness of progress does not help when you are the one who has to wait and watch. I think Paul's suggestion of taking a tape of your children's voices in for Richard to listen to is a good idea. I wouldn't like to judge whether they should see their Dad at the moment, but just to say that when my 9 year old son saw his uncle unconscious last weekend, he has since had trouble erasing the image from his mind, so it may be better to wait a while. That does not necessarily mean it will be ages away though - I think you will know when the time is right.

I would just ask at the hospital whether they would actually allow your children on the ward, as I was told 12 was the minimum age when I was on the neuro ward. When my son came to see me I was put in a wheelchair and taken elsewhere to see him. He got upset at seeing me in the wheelchair - we had not even thought to warn him, so that was a shock to him ,yet the adults thought nothing of seeing me in one. Children do see things differently.

I do hope you manage to get some rest yourself Zoe, although I know that won't be easy. Take Care,

Sarah

I have just re-read your original story - you have come a long way since this day two years ago - well done. I wish you all the best for the future and many more happy annie-versaries to come.

Sarah.

Hi Angela,

I quite thought I had said hello to you on here, but can't see that I have, so apologies for that. It is good that you have found BTG as I am sure it will be helpful to you, should you have any concerns, queries or just feel like a chat. I see it is not long ago since your partner had the sah, so it is still very early days for you both. It willl have been an unsettling event, but I hope he continues to do well on the road of recovery.

Take care of yourself too,

Sarah

I shall have to put marmite on the shopping list - I thought I had some in, so last night did some toast, but had to settle for bovril as couldn't find any marmite, which is probably not quite as good but still very tasty!

Sarah

A warm welcome Lynz,

What a heart rendering story - you must be so proud of your daughter - what a little star!

So pleased you came through it all and are able to share your amazing story with us.

All the very best for the future.

Sarah

Encouraging news Zoe, hope things continue to improve for you both. The possibility of moving him to a high dependancy ward would be a positive and welcome step for you I'm sure.

Take Care,

Sarah

Zoe, my heart goes out to you - it must be so distressing for you at the moment to see Richard like this, but don't despair, it really is early days. It is good to hear his chest infection is improving. I hope you have got someone close to you, perhaps a friend or family member so that you can talk things over with them, as dealing with this alone, especially having children, can be very difficult, upsetting and tiring. Keeping in touch on here, I'm sure will help in some way too - you are doing really well Zoe, like Paul said, chin up and take one day at a time.

Best wishes,

Sarah

A warm welcome, Angela - I'm sorry to read that your partner was one of the unfortunate ones, like most of us on here, to have suffered a sah and that you have had to deal with the trauma too. It is a very scary experience for everyone involved, but it is nice to know that he is doing so well this early on - I am sure he will continue to make good progress over the coming weeks.

I wish you both well for the future, but if you have any queries in the meantime, then there is always someone here willing to help.

Sarah