JayKay

Hi there and welcome! Gosh, I'm so glad my doctors didn't push me - they told me it could take 18 months to 2 years to be better, and I didn't believe them.... but 15 months in I'm still suffering from memory loss, problems with concentration and understanding, and crippling fatigue. So take it EASY!!!

Welcome and thank you for the kind words in your first post (above) - it's true, people on here are so lovely and welcoming and positive

Look forward to "chatting" more in the future.

Hello Stace. I'm so sorry for your loss. It is terrible when someone dies so suddenly and unexpectedly like that. Anya (who is a darling) had some very wise words for you, and Kel also suggested Cruse. Counselling definitely sounds like an option and I hope you find peace. Take care x

Thanks to the Facebook page of the Brain & Spine Association, I have a link to an interesting NHS paper about the study. Click here to read.

Yes, Nessie, that happens to me too - well, I think it's happening less and less, but every time I overdo it and end up in a heap on the floor, I get very depressed about it.... Now that I'm pacing myself more, planning ahead and resting even though my brain is saying "you can do it", I'm a lot better. I'm sure it'll come with time and patience. Take care!

Hi Zoe!

Richard was a builder. What about wood work? There would be some challenges but I did a quick search on Google and there are ideas on there for people with disabilities. Amazon has a book for $7.50 'How to Conquer Hobbies with one Hand'.

He sounds like a masculine guy, 6 days as a builder and 1 day in the pub with his mates. He also sounds very angry and resentful and it must be very difficult to have such a life changing event. Perhaps he needs to hammer some nails to get rid of some of his pent up anger? He could build trellis', bird houses, arbors, and sell them so he feels good about himself. It would take some work and creativity to work with the disability.

Sandi K.

Ooh yes! One of the ladies at the Stroke Assoc group had an SAH 18 years ago, is still paralysed down her right side and has aphasia - well, she makes bird houses apparently! I haven't seen them yet, but she gets out and about and has just bought an electric wheelchair which she is in a hurry to get hold of. Good luck!!

Good for you! I don't know why I still read the DM lol.... they can never get their facts straight!!

what about painting ?? it wouldnt be my thing but many people do enjoy it

i really hope you can find something

donna xxx

Doh! Painting! I loved it when we did it at the hospital, and recently at the stroke association we painted jamjars with special glass paint and I really really enjoyed myself!! Maybe he could try?

Oh Zoe, I'm so sorry - this is a tough one I've no idea! I'm into photography, but obviously you need to get out and about and have the use of both hands really.... Has Richard been swimming? Our local pool has a time when people with disabilities can swim - I think they feel less self-conscious when other people with stroke etc are swimming at the same time.

Hope you find something!

I agree with everything Momo's doctor said! If my daughter wasn't having symptoms, we wouldn't be bothering with a scan. Even then, it's probably nothing and like momo said - what if you get the all clear and then an anni forms later? You never know!

Hello and welcome. I'm so sorry for your loss. As for me, well I had an SAH last year and my grandmother died from a haemorrhage - because of this family history, when my daughter started to complain of "surges" in her head our GP referred her to a neurologist for scanning. She has an appointment next week. The GP said if it weren't for the family history she wouldn't be worried by my daughter's symptoms, but she wants to rule out an aneurysm....

Apart from people on here, I know that Karren Brady from The Apprentice was found to have an aneurysm on routine scanning and she was coiled - it certainly doesn't seem to have done her any harm!!

Good luck with everything.

I will vouch for this as lynne told me this often in the ealry days & I just used to grit my teeth & try not to scream!! I hated being told to slow down but it really is important & you usually feel worse for trying to do too much. I am lcuky in that my headaches are few & far between nowadays resting 7 drinking lots really does help.

Everyone on here is so lovely, BTG really is an extended family so welcome xxx

Yup! I used to feel the same way!! But I know think I was in denial for months about how seriously I needed to take this. When "they" said 18 months to 2 years, sadly "they" were right. But now I'm trying to take that on board and to concentrate on ME and getting better. It goes against the grain, but it's the only way.

Welcome to BTG!!

Well I for one never thought about the link between diet and health for some reason... but since I've started a new low-sugar, low-carb diet, I've been a LOT better (ok, apart from this weekend when i've been laid low with a bug or something!). Refined sugars, white bread, pizza, biscuits etc are also inflammatory and since giving them all up my inflammatory arthritis has been SO much better! I've always eaten fruit and veg, and don't eat much fast food, but I still had quite a lot of refined stuff without realising it.

I suppose if we eat healthily we'll feel better for it. Maybe those doctors are right after all!!

Hi Damian and welcome to the site. I hope we can be of some help! Make sure you ask for help, like someone else said - tell the Dr how you are feeling, you mustn't be left to worry alone.

I was helped by the Stroke Association locally and am attending a six-week course at the moment, although most members are my parents' age.... there are a few younger 'uns and it's interesting to talk to them. I am in the process of setting up a Different Strokes group for younger survivors because our needs are different.

Take care

(PS I used to know a Scottish guy named Damian when I lived in Paris.....!)

Hello there and I hope we can be of some comfort to you! I was in hospital for 6 weeks, due to dizziness, sickness etc. I am 14 months post-op now and although i'm still tired and can get confused, I've come on in leaps and bounds.

Your friend sounds like she's come through the initial stages ok, which is brilliant, so be optimistic. She's lucky to have a friend like you - she'll need the support! Take care

Hello and welcome to this wonderful place! It's like a family, seriously, but a family who knows pretty much exactly what you are going through

Take it easy - you'll hear it time and time again, but it's very early days for the SAH alone, let alone recovering from spinal surgery. Make sure you get your 3 litres of water a day (I use sugar-free flavourings to make it easier) and plenty of rest. Don't push yourself too hard. If you are anything like me, you'll push and push and end up going 1 step forwards and 2 steps back. Pushing does not make you get better faster. I'm not saying that to depress you (!) I'm hoping you'll avoid crashing time and again like I have (and do).

Take care!!

(Montana - isn't that Big Sky country? Sounds wonderful)

Oh that sounds great - isn't Karen fab??! Hope you can get some support there. It's so true, people who haven't been through it don't know how to support us and it must be the same with your little boy's condition. Take care!

Oh sweetheart, I'm so sorry you have to cope with this on top of your SAH. I completely understand - it's horrid when our kids get sick Is there a carers' support group near you that could help? Take care x

Hello there and welcome to the Family! I'll just repeat what the others have said: you are doing amazingly well to be online just a few days after your SAH, so take it easy. Rest and plenty of water - are you taking Nimodipine? Most of us had that for 21 days after the SAH.

Don't push yourself too soon. Don't do what I did and think "hey, I survived, I'll be back at work next month". Ain't never gonna happen! Well, you could be back at work soon, but personally it's taking me much longer than anticipated because I refused to slow down earlier on. Now I know better.

Take care!

This is very interesting! And well done Anya for venturing so far away

So far, I'm only 14 months in, I haven't felt inclined to go anywhere. I just knew I didn't have the energy. I really want to go and visit my mum in Normandy, and I'm trying to work out the easiest way to get there. Before, we'd go to Paris on the Eurostar, borrow the car from my sis and drive 3 hours to my mum's. I now know this is impossible as I haven't even driven since the SAH (we don't have a car).

I was going to go in February but I am glad I didn't try. The thing holding me back is that I know I will have to sleep when I get there and won't be up to much. Then I'll have to get back, and that's going to be exhausting too! I am thinking about getting the night ferry because that way I can break the journey up into 3 parts - train to Portsmouth, sleep in a cabin, get picked up by taxi in the morning.... There's no way I could get on a plane and fly for hours to go somewhere further afield.

Interesting to see that I'm not alone though!

Aw I'm glad Lin liked it! Nessie, you are amazing

How fantastic!! I can't imagine how you stood up there and spoke in front of all those people but wow! Well done you! and Thank You for sharing

No idea! LOL I had an aneurysm on the ACOM (ascending communicating) artery and it ruptured. There was so much blood they couldn't see anything to coil, so I had a craniotomy. The aneurysm was clipped but I have no idea what size it was. They didn't tell me what grade it was either, just "a significant bleed". As far as I know, I have no other aneurysms to worry about.

This was posted by The Brain & Spine Foundation on their Fbook page today. Could interest some of you.

Click here.

Lynne is fantastic!! Once again she puts our feelings and thoughts into words in the most eloquent fashion.... I hope you don't mind, but I think I'm going to put those words on my Fbook too. Thank you Linlin!!