Sharlua

So pleased you are making progress sounds a very difficult few months. I do hope You require no further treatment but good that they are going to monitor. I hope your Christmas preparations go well and you have a very special time to make up for last year x

Warm welcome, I had a burst anuerysm and had to inform DVLA, did not have to surrender licence but could not drive until doctor or consultant agreed I was okay. Did inform insurers had no extra charge when began driving again. DVLA were slow in responding to initial form sent in declaring I had a SAH so don't be shy in chasing up. It is early days for you and I hope your vision does improve. Good luck and keep us informed Sharon

Welcome Heather, sounds like a tough time, hopefully husband will start to make a slow and gradual recovery. Excellent advice from Subs, it is tough on families my SAH fortunately did not do too much damage but the first 6 months were really hard going. I was often not a good patient as my emotions were everywhere, sure your hubby must be also experiencing a rollercoaster of emotions too. I found it difficult to express my feelings, my hubby and kids wanted to put it all behind us, because I looked physically ok they found it so difficult that what I got tired, mixed up words, forgot things and was mentally struggling. Lack of information is common, hopefully reading some posts on here will help. Look after you too as a lot you have taken on and given up. I hope you let us know how you get on. Sharon x

Sorry to hear this Luke, an awful lot to cope with! Sending thoughts and lots of hope that Dad and Mum get better health soon, hoping they do find some expertise out there. Take care Sharon x

Chris missed this when on holiday, i think that first anniversary is a time both for reflection and to celebrate how far one has come. Great to have shared some of that journey through your posts. Sharon x

Seventeen years excellent and gives others great hope. All the support and help on this site must add up and know that there is a lot of appreciation for your experiences and knowledge. love Sharon x

Great you have reached this milestone and that you still enjoy life albeit with SAH after effects. Hope that Candy was good! Heres to lots more years and of course posts! love Sharon x

Hi Verna, I can mirror what others have said - I was very scared and at times felt quite alone with my worry as my hubby always brushed it off as always looks at positive. I got quite depressed, but GP felt it was Post traumatic stress and I had counselling and it did help to talk through my fears, anger and anxiety. My fear has lessened I don't think it will ever leave totally, but only happens when have real bad heads and feeling ill. I do hope you have support, everyone will help on this site even if just to help you share those feelings. I guess fear is an emotion which comes after trauma, so we have to be kind to ourselves and seek whatever support suits us best. Take care xx

Hi Deb you do appear to have a lot on your plate, appreciate how hard this is for you. I guess we all have experienced times when, loved ones, colleagues, friends or others forget the impact that this illness has, particularly if it does not leave visible physic al difficulties. My family were a little the same, I think not because they were cruel but I think mistakenly thinking this would challenge me to achieve more. i do hope you seek as much support as you can for daughter although know she must be a real worry. I am pleased you have found this site and hope we can all support you through this hard time. Take care Sharon x

Hi Stacey and welcome to site, we have a family history of aneurysms, I had a large one which bled and my sister has 4 which are small and not being treated. My aunt unfortunately died of an anuerysm. My daughter had MRI and fortunately nothing, son lives in America where cost is prohibitive! With respect to your results, if GP was not helpful I would ask to speak to neurologist, I am sure if anything was really of concern you would have been seen urgently, but understanding results is crucial to your peace of mind! Let us know how you get on x Sharon x

So pleased for you Jan must be a weight off your mind and pleased the experience was better than expected x

Welcome Brian, pleased you found the site so early, great that aneurysms have now been clipped sorry that coiling did not work but it is totally amazing what they can do. Take care for your recovery as like you say it is life changing event. Real shock for you and your family so take it slowly in your recovery as it very early days. Lots of support here so don't be afraid to ask any questions, I look forward to hearing how you get on. Take care Sharon

Julie did wonder how you were getting on so thank you for up date, sorry to hear about the fit you suffered but really pleased you are now at home. I hope your eyesight does improve and that coiling is successful, it will be good to get it over and then you can hopefully have the time to recover. Take care and as Win says relax as much as possible. Sharon x

Hi Jen I think anxiety is very common, I know that following my SAH it brought to the fore how vulnerable you are and takes away the general untouchable feeling one has. I think the suddenness of this type of illness also gives some people a huge shock. I became very emotional and depressed after mine, GP said this is a normal reaction to shock or trauma. I slept terribly after SAH for the first four months as brain just would not quieten, had weird sensations, noises and real bad heads. I was really tired but eventually gave in and took some tablets prescribed by GP and they helped - was only on for about three months. It is really early days and sure he will improve gradually at his pace, time is a real healer in this aspect. I hope you are okay as must have been very traumatic for you too. Regards Sharon x

Good news Ian, hope things continue on this positive path, enjoy? Sharon x

Jan I really feel for you and having to make such a decision, I had a 10mm aneurysm and when discussing with consultant he outlined the risks of the coiling (due to where it was he felt coiling was less risky) and these sounded awful - he did try and put them in perspective and explained that he felt the risk given its size of bursting was greater - so it was an easy decision given that they highly suspected it had bled given the thunderclap headache, vomitting and awful popping sound I had. Given the size they did not do lumber puncture as they said they would have to treat regardless. My sister has 4 unruptured ones but they are very small, they have stopped monitoring now which worries her. Not sure what I would do in your situation apart from asking more questions and good advice about asking if it was him or wife what would he choose. It is good that age is on your side and like subs says there is risk in any procedure even when I was having bowel surgery they told me the odds of dying and other complications - in this claims culture they have too. I do do hope you are supported to make the right decision for you. Regards Sharon x

Happy Anni-versary Rob and Sami great feeling to hit more milestones x

Hi Jan, It was nearly six months when I went back could only do phased return for one month as that is all they allow. I did use some holiday to reduce hours, I work 37 hours over 4 days as a Children's Service Manager for a large Children's Charity. It was very hard in the beginning and was exhausted by a Thursday. Still doing long shifts 9.15 a day and sometimes feel I need to reduce hours, the funding for the services that I manage has been severely cut so been expecting major reshape with redundancies so don't want to do anything about hours until I am more sure of future. Been hanging on this year to see what happens, also I have good conditions re sick pay and holidays. My SAH has made me question my work as can be extremely stressful with a lot of responsibility and have to admit for the first time in my working life being off a doing nothing was quite nice when I did not feel ill of course. I totally admire you for deciding to explore other things, lots of volunteering opportunities out there, my charity relies heavily on them, so I hope you find something. Regards Sharon x

Welcome Nicky thank you for sharing your story, like you had anuerysm coiled and mine happened at home after coughing thought I had been assaulted as just felt like I'd been hit over head with base ball bat. I still get a bit fearful when I have coughing fit as guess it has that association with a traumatic event. It does ease with time and you are in the very early recovery stage. I still have very short term memory loss 17 months after and totally get word blankness can be embarrassing particularly at work but I am more able to cope now. Just the brain has to find different pathways which can take longer or get lost on way. Pleased family have been supportive as that is important I was a nightmare with very short temper particularly when tired, again that is much better now - my husband is very thankful for this ha! Hope you gain support from site and please continue to let us know how you progress Regards Sharon x

Hope the pain killers work Jan, worse pain I experienced even above SAH headache/explosion was tendinitis in shoulder last November. I have never experienced pain like it literally walked the floor for two days as could not find a place to ease the pain. I do think I am more aware of health since SAH and so don't know if this makes more conscious when things not ok and more sensitive to pain. I did blame my pain in feet from SAH has it started straight after but doctor felt it was unrelated. Now not sure if it is just age as seem to be at hospital every other month for feet and shoulder. Anyway on the positive side headache from yesterday finally subsided today after awful night and the sun shone all day. Sharon x

Nightmare for you but guess hospital cannot predict how many going to need intensive care, the other cancellations just incompetence. Still would go with NHS any day though than have American system. The stress however of getting that procedure and then finding it is cancelled must be awful - got to happen the next time surely - keep strong hopefully will be over soon. Will be keeping fingers and toes crossed for you. regards Sharon x

Hoping things improve Ian sounds like a very tough time you having. Fingers crossed the doctors get it under control. Sounds like all the feelings you have are very understandable. I know my family won't every discuss my SAH I think it brings back fearful memories so often can feel quite isolated. This website and all the people are great so don't hesitate to ask anything. Take care Sharon

Welcome Lyn, you will like most of us have a bit of an emotional roller coaster, so don't be hard on yourself as everyone has said early days. I don't get a ringing but prior to my SAH ( which was an aneurysm bleed) I had this strange kind of ticking which was at same pace as my heart beat. It went after coiling but now and then at night I still hear it and also swooshing noise. Not sure if related! i do hope your phased return goes well and look forward to hearing how you get on. All members are happy to support so don't be afraid to ask, everyone has been a great resource and also bring a sense of humour which does help x Sharon

Welcome to site, I was at RVI too and think my follow up Scan was 6 months but guess it maybe different dependent on the individual and how well any surgery or recovery was. I had aneurysm coiled but luckily no stent so yours may be earlier. I was anxious and was pleased when I had my first Scan don't have another one until next year. Hope you're recovery goes well and look forward to hearing how you get on regards Sharon

Warm welcome Richard and pleased to hear you are making excellent progress, whilst my bleed was caused by an aneurysm it is still a shock to the system and that why me question definitely entered my head. Excellent you have returned so quickly to a very valued profession. I had headaches for six months, still get them but just when under severe stress, I work in a stressful environment so quite used to high levels of stress but found it very difficult when I first went back to work as confidence had been knocked. I think it is wonderful that your experience has given you a patient perspective but you also need to ensure you apply that care to yourself after such an event. I hope you continue to make excellent progress and continue your work with a greater insight. Regards Sharon