BIG AL

Hi All Big Al here! I posted a lot of discussions around 2007/08 and just stumbled across the group again on Google and thought I'd just let everybody know that I'm still ok and still got no real complications still and in March I will be 27yrs on from my first SAH! If anybody is still on the group from 2007/08 hope your all doing OK I'll pop into the group from time to time but please feel free to ask me anything if you've recently had a SAH and I'll answer you to the best of my ability? After all I am 27yrs in front of you! Take Care All

Hi Graham- I had both my aneurysms clipped in 1996 but 7 months apart! My first aneurysm was clipped with a HEIFITZ clip and because of where the bleed was on my 2nd aneurysm it had to be clipped with a YASARGIL clip! Now i always get mixed up which is which but i know one of them is magnetic or susseptable to magnetic fields? I was advised by the head of Medical Imaging at Doncaster Royal Infirmary not to have an MRI scan at all not even on my foot or lower body as it could well easily dislodge my clip? I took the power upon my self armed with this information to go to the casualty department and have my medical records updated and stress that i was under no circumstances to have an MRI scan! I was just worried in case i was taken to the hospital in an unconscious state and the hospital proceeded to carry out an MRI scan? I hope this helps Graham? regards--BIG AL

Hi All, I was getting sick of hearing my kids and some of my customers keep on telling me about this website called FACEBOOK so i thought if you cant beat em join em and duly checked it out myself? Its a website where its free to join and you can make a profile of yourself and go find old friends or make new ones with strangers! Anyway after putting about 30 names in the search engine and finding some old friends i hadnt spoke to in ages i put in the name of my surgeon and was very surprised when his name and picture popped up! I then sent him a little message saying he probably wouldnt remember me but he operated on me twice in 1996 for burst aneurysms and told him that i had had no side effects from my condition and that i had gone on to start playing football again 2 years later and basically hoped he was well and thanked him for everything he had done for me! i sent the message at 7-30pm monday so you can imagine my surprise when he sent me a message back at 8-45am tuesday saying it was amazing that i was the 3rd patient of his to contact him on facebook and that made joining the website all the more worthwhile for him-He went on to say that he did indeed remember me very well and that he remembered me most for when he told me he was going to have to operate i was so dissapointed because i had just bought a new car 7 days earlier and i wasnt going to be able to drive for 6 months( the stupid things that bother us at crucial times eh?). Anyway i just thought i"d share that with you all and if anybody else was treated in SHEFFIELD HALLAMSHIRE by MR A A KEMENY then im sure he would love to hear from you. regards-BIG AL.

Hi All, Sorry ive not posted for a long time! I promise i will post more often from now on! To answer your question Laura i had my 1st haemorrage in march 1996 at age 27 and my 2nd in oct 1996 at age 28-i have just recently been diagnosed with high blood pressure and I am taking medication for the rest of my life to control it ( the perils of hitting the big 40!). So as ive been diagnosed 13 years after my 1st op i cant say the two are connected at all? Happy to say the medication is doing its job though as my BP is under control now and the fact that i have to take 3 tabs a day is a small sacrifice. regards- BIG AL

HI KAREN, I would be lying if i didnt say my SAH"s have improved my outlook on life! Although i was a very laid back person anyway(isnt that most men??)the people around me tell me im more laid back than ever! I dont let many things bother me, ie; current affairs, money problems,debt,bills? The only thing i get stressed out about is if anything goes wrong with my car as my work is 25 miles from home? Oh and my tax return stresses me! I am very thankful for just being able to live as normal a life as before and i admit that i take it very granted for at times! But arent non SAH sufferers guilty of taking life for granted as well? Nobody appreiciates being healthy until something goes wrong with them! I am now in a different relationship to when i had my SAH"s and to be honest we never talk about it because she never went through it all with me and doesnt know the pain and suffering that everybody suffered and as i dont have any complications we dont feel a need to mention it? We have a 3yr old son now and boy do i value having him! he is my world! Hope that all made sense and i didnt get off track?? regards-BIG AL

HI LINDA, I must say firefly has got it pretty much covered! Finding a doctor who really understands what you are going through is really important? I was lucky in that my GP had suffered a SAH in his early thirties and so knew exactly what i was going through?(and he always came to see me at home for the 1st 12 months! but dont tell anyone! ) Anyway good luck and youll be ok im sure regards-BIG AL

HI MOLLY, Welcome to the site, if theres anything you want to know just ask regards-BIG AL

HI TRICIA, Welcome to the site-any questions just ask! regards-BIG AL

HI ALL, Went to old trafford the other night for the champions league quarter final against roma losing 2-1 from the first leg in rome? The atmosphere before the game was very hostile obviously due to the troubles in rome the previous week and tensions were running very high from both sets of fans-the italian fans were throwing bottles and taunting the man utd fans but i thought the police handled it brilliantly! Anyway once inside ive never heard an atmosphere like it? It was electric from K.O. to full time and i and 74,000 others sang our hearts out at the top of our voices for 90 mins! When the 1st goal went in they must have heard us in rome? I screamed so loud and long i went dizzy and had to sit down again? Needless to say i had to do that another 6 yes six times! It was without doubt the best night of football i have ever enjoyed! bring on A.C. MILAN regards-BIG AL

Hi Dirtypunk, Dont be worried about what people think regarding the speed! Im sure a lot of us are reading your story a bit tongue in cheek remembering the things we got up to once upon a time??? I myself was a punk rocker once upon a time and even went on tour with THE DAMNED, we used to kip in hotel lobbys and get on the tour bus with the group the next day(great memories). I think the worst drug i ever took was "MAGIC" MUSHROOMS? but what a laugh we had on them,smoked a bit of blow here and there( and you would be surprised to know how many people who smoke actually smoke blow and from all walks of life too). Anyway i had blue hair,red hair,green hair and mohicans and never used to give a monkeys what people thought as im sure you dont with your mohican even though it was more common in my day so i do admire you for having the bottle to sport one nowadays! I had two aneurysms and had to walk around like a timebomb for 6 months after my first op knowing i was gonna have to have another op and its a feeling that only someone who has to do it can explain? does that make sense? Just try not to worry too much(easy for me to say!)because now that youve been properly diagnosed you really are in great hands. take care and good luck-BIG AL

HI ALL, Just thought id tell you what happened to me about 6 weeks ago? I awoke in the night with a terrible headache, in fact it was worst i"d had since my SAH"s? went downstairs and took two tabs but couldnt get back to sleep! Went to work for next two days (as you do?) but on 3rd day i was at my parents house and told my dad about the headaches and told him it was the worst day i"d had and so dads being dads he took me to A & E? On arrival the A & E waiting room was about three quarters full and i sat down while my dad went up to the reception-my dad had no sooner sat down when a gentleman came out and called out my name to go and be seen? Well you can imagine all the dirty looks i got off the other patients-i felt like id just shouted for a full house in gala bingo and all the old ladies were cursing me!!(cmon girls you know the bingo stare??) Anyway the consultant came and asked me lots of questions and then he arranged for me to have a CT scan as i cant have MRI scans-thankfully that came back all clear and i was taken to a private room on a ward and given an injection for the pain and kept in overnight and let out the next afternoon. The reason for my severe headache would you believe was a trapped nerve in my neck!- I have since been recieving treatment from a chiropracter and am doing great now. The moral of the story is though how well and quickly i was treated now they know my history compared to how badly i was treated when first admitted 11yrs ago?? regards-BIG AL

Very good sarah-i like that one he he BIG AL

hi all, Found an interesting website called mayfieldclinic.com regards-BIG AL

hi all, Just got in from work and read what i posted about the spect scan (ha ha ha) I must have frightened the life out of you all? When i said take all my clothes off that was so i could put a gown on? and when i said strapped to a chair they were just little wrist straps not the kind you see on electric chairs!! I was in a room with myself and another man and a middle aged lady?(im assuming we had all had SAH?). I think i recall the nurse saying the blindfold was something to do with the radioactive substance?? dont remember having an iv drip but must have done sami if you say thats the procedure(its over 10 yrs ago now). when i said the machine revolved around my head for about an hour i remember now that it couldnt get a clear image on the first 2 occasions so had to have a 3rd go-that would coincide with what sami said about it taking 15 mins?? think it was because i fell asleep on the first 2 attempts and at one point woke up and sat bolt upright and head-butted the machine!(not reccomended)anyway as per-usual i was sent away non the wiser as to why i had gone for the scan? The link is very interesting sami and thanks for taking the time to search for it. regards-BIG AL

HI ALL, About 6 months after having my 2nd clipping op i was asked to go for a SPECT SCAN at royal hallamshire hospital in sheffield-this technique involved being told to take all my clothes off and putting on a blindfold and being strapped to a chair and sitting in a dark room!(couldnt believe jeremy beadle didnt pop out!)and having an injection of some sort of radioactive liquid and then being taken from the dark room and placed under a machine which revolved round my head for about an hour?. Just wondered if anybody else has had to have this treatment and why?? regards-BIG AL