Karen

Luke, I can only advise that you need to make a GP appointment for your Mum re: vomiting and get it checked out. xx

I'll let you off, just this once Win! Such a lovely, honest thread and some equally lovely, heartfelt replies. xx

Good advice from Daffodil. If she's vomitting, you need to get a Doctor to see her. Hope that all's okay. xx

Hi, you could try the Citizens Advice Bureau for free, practical help? .... they might be able to point you in the right direction. Don't give up, Insurance companies seem to be notorious for not wanting to pay out for any type of policy. I've had a SAH and would I say that I've had permanent neurological deficit? I would say that yes I have in layman's terms ... I haven't been able to return to work. I'm still having a lot of problems that I would rather not have to deal with. Luckily, I wasn't the major wage earner in the household. A SAH is a type of haemorrhagic stroke ... I would advise you to do some research on the subject of SAH/stroke if you haven't already done so and also may be find other online forums that can specifically help you with your Insurance claim? .... they may have professional people on there that will help you out or point you in the right direction as what you need to do next. Don't give up and become such a pain in the backside to the Insurance company that they will be sick of hearing your name .... it shouldn't have to be that way, but unfortunately it seems to be a battle of wills. Wishing your Wife well again ... and the very best of luck. I would definitely contact the Citizens Advice Bureau as your first port of call.... https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/ xx

Davis, I still have weird head pain and ear stuff .... I get white noise in my ears and the frequency changes....I get weird throbbing and pain that I can pinpoint on my head at times .... 10 years on, I'm still alive and kicking! I also get similar to you and that's probably a sensation of dizziness and my brain kicking in with some anxiety too...I know what you mean with lifts and I've only recently started to do escalators and moving walkways .... my brain is okay when everything is moving, it's when it stops and I seem to lag behind with my head... and body is a couple of seconds behind....I can't really describe it, but it's not nice. I had my aneurysm on the post right communicating artery, which I believe affects visual and balance .... do you know which artery you had your bleed from? xx

I still get weird sensations in my head .... 10 years on and also had a sentinel bleed a few years prior to the big one....still alive and kicking! Change of pressure in my ears, white noise and just stuff that I can't describe that used to really freak me out. Nothing bad has happened to me and it does take time to restore confidence, that your body won't let you down again. Guy's, we haven't lost anybody on BTG since it was started and who've been treated .... I spent too many years being worried and not living those years ... Davis, how long ago did you have the SAH? If in doubt go and get yourself checked out, it will give you peace of mind. xx

Posted by Admin on behalf of - Sammy - http://web.behindthegray.net/index.php?/user/1794-sammy/ Hey ..... im back, had a few issues I had to sort out, but getting to the end of my therapy. I was diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and have had many weeks of therapy which is now coming to an end. I'm feeling a lot more confident and less anxious. We are looking at going abroad in October, it will be the first time I've been abroad since my SAH and I'm feeling a little anxious and concerned as I have a VP shunt fitted as well has having my aneurysm coiled. I could just do with some more reassurance from any of you who have had a shunt fitted and flown. Although I have already gained some info from people on here I just feel that I need a little more assurance from you Many Thanks Sammy.

Les, wishing you a very happy 5th SAH Anniversary! xx Your contributions to this forum are always very gentle, heartfelt and honest and you have a lovely gift for comforting others. Thank you so much for the help that you give to me and this site .... you're much loved and appreciated. xxx

Sami, bless you and you've re-paid me and this site, tenfold and more! .... It's people like yourself, who've kept me going...you're much loved .... and I hope that you're having a fabulous evening and celebrating, as it's much deserved!.... xx

Sami, it's been a complete pleasure to have you walk into my life .... I know that we would all have chosen a different path if we'd been able too. The SAH and its aftermath seems to forge a very special friendship and lasting bond. You've given me help and support, passionate about supporting others and helped to move this site forward, when I was finding it difficult and wondering whether I could continue to run it. Loads of laughs too! I love you to bits and you're very dear to me.... Congratulations, thank you for all that you do and all that you are..... the World's a much better place with you in it. xx

Much thanks for your lovely replies... and.... I'll see you all....this time ..next year! Keep well ... life may be a little bit different to what we expected or planned ... but there's a lot to be celebrated, you just have to look for it and seek help when you need it. Lots of love xx

Thanks everyone for your very kind and lovely words. xx

I've been in two minds as to whether I would write something or not. I had my SAH Anniversary on July 25th. Firstly, I would like to thank the fabulous team that I have on BTG, who help to support me and the site and who also write with great wisdom and support all of you guys on the forum and all have had a SAH and going through the journey with you. So, here we go!... much thanks to the very lovely team that I work with and who give up their free time and energy to support BTG.... Sami, Tina, Jess, Super Mario, Daff and Macca ... all incredible people and it's a complete pleasure working with them and who give me the respite that I need too!.... I've personally met a few of them and I can tell you, that they are an inspiration and continue to be so and that helps drive me forward with the site ... xx Without the help that I have, I couldn't run this site alone now. I would also like to thank (if they're looking in) the Moderators who helped me in the early years and to Keith (Bogbrush) who helped me with the Admin and who also helped to develop the site and kept me sane...as I probably wasn't very sane post SAH! Love and thanks go to Chris, my son .... and without him, this site would not have been born ... and to who, I still go to, when things go wrong with BTG and I don't know what to do!... Bless him, as he sorts it out for me ... I couldn't be any prouder of either of my children, as both Chris and Lauren have supported me with this site and still help me on a personal basis when needed. Love them both. x Well, where to start? I can't say that it hasn't been a tough ride for me....because it has. I still have some bad days, my aneurysm isn't totally fixed and I'm monitored... I still have problems with fatigue, but life is pretty good and it's what you make it. I never managed to return to paid work in the same capacity that I did pre-SAH, but managed to do temporary work. I also think that I made a choice not to return to that lifestyle or try to juggle so many balls. However, if anybody gives you that 3-6 month rule, as in being totally okay, going back to work or that's all the recovery that you will have .... well, all I can say is, it's totally rubbish, but I respect that they have to give you some sort of timeline. I'm still experiencing recovery 10+ years on .... I'm also getting older, which you have to factor into the equation, experiencing the menopause that comes with being in my 50's and which also mimics the SAH aftermath with it's symptoms .... so it's a double whammy at the minute. However, I'm doing much more than I did this time last year. If it puts anybody's mind at rest, we haven't lost a single person on this site who's been operated on for an aneurysm or suffered a non-aneurysm bleed (NASAH) .... well, not that I know of in the last 9 years!....so, please don't waste time worrying and I hope that you take comfort from this fact and go and live life. It took quite some years to restore my own confidence, but time is a great healer and I'm okay now. Over the 9 years of BTG being in existence, I'm still reading the same problems and I find it so frustrating. It's often a postcode lottery as to what help you will receive in the UK. Don't suffer anxiety or if you're feeling low and a bit depressed, please go and see your Doctor. You don't have to endure it, seek help. If you don't ask, you don't get and the earlier that it's treated, the earlier you will recover. Not everything is down to the SAH fallout, so please always seek medical advice and don't suffer. A big thank you to all of you, who support others on this site with your own experience and I know that it's not easy, but much comfort is received ... and it's great to see so many Carer's on the site, offering support too! I really wish that something like BTG had been in existence when I was in my early months and first year of recovery. I think that the support and knowledge would have perhaps helped me to heal a little faster. Keep well and love to all. xx

Admin note to members: the above link in Clare's post for the brain injury organisation in New Zealand for some reason, comes up with a page containing an error code, so it looks as though there's a problem with their site/page link. To view this site, just search for brain injury org nz and you'll find it.

Sammy Anne, it's hard for children to deal with, no matter what age ... mine were early teens. Your little one has asked "what happens if you both die?" ... mine kind of bottled that one up, being older, but thought the exact same and were scared. It took a long time for them to feel confident, the same for you, that nothing so awful was going to happen again .... There are no guarantees in this life, but just keep talking to her ..... hugging her and try to maintain some sort of normality.....you will get there and so will your daughter .... it doesn't happen overnight and my daughter just wanted to keep talking about it .... it went on for months and we laughed and cried together. The first time that I realised that she was healing and life started to resemble some sort of odd normality?... It was when she had a couple of friends around and I could hear them roar with laughter, instead of trying to keep quiet .... it was so fabulous to hear that laughter and I can still hear it now and it makes me smile. You're going to be okay and so is your daughter..... take care lovely. xx

Hi Sammy Anne, Re: back and leg pain, I had the same and as I was told the same as Tina and that it was the blood dispersing down the spinal chord and it irritates the nerve endings causing back and leg pain. I didn't have any lumbar punctures but I've read on here that it caused some members back pain etc....it's worth asking the medics the question and then they might be able to prescribe you something for the pain. I can understand your anxiety about returning to hospital, but I honestly doubt that they would hospitalise you for back pain. I've not heard of anybody being re-admitted for this sort of thing. Bite the bullet and go and see your GP, don't put up with pain if you don't need to. Wishing you well. xx

Afraid to say that I haven't heard of IPH but I did look it up on Wikipedia. You really need to discuss this with your Doctor or your mind will go into overdrive and imagine all sorts of nasties which may not be the case... and you will drive yourself nuts with the worry and stress of the unknown! Go and ask the questions that you need answering and hopefully it will help to avert any unnecessary stress, which isn't particularly good for us post SAH. Wishing you well. xx

Bless you Rachel, if you or anybody else are receiving insensitive comments from people that you're close to or people that need to know, I can only say, tell them how you're feeling or what you've been through .... they won't know, if you don't. If they don't want to listen or uninterested in what you're saying .... well, they're probably not worth your energy and you're worth much more than that. After my sentinel bleed and subsequent SAH/Stroke, I could talk the hind legs off a donkey about the subject of SAH/Stroke and to be honest, I was also on a mission to educate anybody who was totally unaware about SAH/Stroke and hence you see this site today....I didn't have a clue what I was doing or whether anybody wanted to talk to me via the website, but I needed to talk....I was probably a bit bonkers at the time to be honest ..... I certainly wasn't on an even keel and my own healing process has been over many years and still ongoing, but I understand and know how you guys feel. xx

Behind the Gray is a support forum and cannot offer medical advice, as none of us are medically qualified to do so and therefore, I'm going to have to close this thread.

Okay .... I'm nearly 10 years on from this SAH (that does makes a difference and time is a great healer) .... and you might not like what you read, so please try not to get mad!.... but it's from my own personal viewpoint and what I've encountered. I know that I was very sensitive post SAH/Stroke and I felt pretty raw too for the first 4 or maybe even 5 years .....and rightly so, who wouldn't be? I also know (now) that people were only trying to be kind .... as in "you look well" .... and also that some people just don't know what to say and just spout complete and utter **** because they don't know what to say .... Sometimes, you have to ask yourself, what would you have said to someone that looks absolutely fine? Would you say that they look like absolute ****? I don't think that you would do ... If you hadn't had a brain injury and the shoe was on the other foot, would you have understood and what would you have said? The people that are important in your life will "get it" ..... they live with you and love you and will be thankful for your survival. They are the people who matter. I have very good friends that "know" how I am .....those that came in to visit me in hospital and those that still see me and pick me up (emotionally)/drive me if I'm having a bad dizzy day and they still have patience with me since I was 38 years old, when I had a sentinel bleed. My own GP still doesn't understand everything post SAH/Stroke, so maybe we just need to "smile" to those that don't "get it" and "throw away" their comment or take the time to explain to them? Much love to you all. xx

I'm so sorry and saddened to hear of your loss and my heart goes out to you, but nobody on this website is qualified to answer your questions. Most general hospitals won't have a Neuro specialist ward and therefore you will be transferred to another hospital with specialist neuro facilities, probably when you're deemed stable enough to be transferred. Nothing is ever cut and dry with a brain injury .... the medics will weigh everything up before they make a decision and there can be many reasons "why" they do or don't and each patient case is very different. I can only say, that you need to contact the hospital where your Mum was treated and ask the questions that you're asking us. xx

Laura, you're doing great with asking all of the right questions! Some of my stuff that I experienced in hospital and post SAH early weeks: I enjoyed listening, rather than talking .... I also discovered a love of Radio 4 and just listening to plays and the Archer's! It helped me to relax and because of sight problems and not being able to look at visual stuff, it kind of kept my brain occupied without the stress. Post hospital - I really didn't like being left on my own....it takes a while to re-build confidence. Not too many visitors at one time - as it's too tiring and over whelming. I used to nod off! I didn't find any phrases jarring, as knew that everybody meant well....but sometimes just holding hands is okay and a comfort ...don't over think the situation and do what comes naturally. I'm sure that your Dad will let you know if you're getting on his nerves! xx

If anybody gives you the 3-6 months recovery rule then just go pfftt! ... I know that I've experienced good recovery throughout my years post SAH, might have been slow, but with determination I've got there .... plus I'm older and menopausal which doesn't help especially with the lack of sleep and short term memory (menopause can mirror some of the SAH fall out) ... but hey, I can do more than I could say at 12 months or 3 years post recovery and I'm nearly 10 years older.... and you may have to adapt to things a little and make choices, but life certainly doesn't stop with the SAH. Good luck. xx

Nothing wrong with pushing Mandy, as you wouldn't know what you can achieve.... however, if it bites you on the bum, then you need to take heed and perhaps pull back a little. I'm still on a learning curving and stretch what I do .... you do start to know what you can and can't do .... but can only say, that even 10 years on, that I'm still pushing and achieving with the odd knock back. xx

Hi Mandy .... just remember that you're still healing, probably stretching yourself a little too much .... remember to be kind to yourself and judge your progress from the day that you left hospital, rather than how you were before the SAH. The headaches in the first year or so are always scary ... I ended up back in hospital about 12 months after my SAH in 2005 ... nothing found and it was all a mystery! It's awful and like yourself the panic set in and I thought that I was about to die too .... I can only say, that nearly 10 years on, I'm still here and that the anxiety/panic gets easier with time and I think that that it takes a good couple of years to mentally start that progress after such a huge shock. Glad all's okay with your MRI and that's fabulous news and so pleased for you. Take care lovely and try not to overdo it! xx