Hi,
I’m a newbie, discovered the forum by chance and it’s been a great help. It’s very useful to hear other people’s experiences as it’s something the specialist can’t tell you. Before I go into my story ... if you spot spelling mistakes, I’m Belgian, so English isn’t my first language and my Ipad has the unfortunate habit of switching Words to Dutch 😂
I had my bleed on feb 18th. I’m single, so was home alone. I’m used to severe migraine attacks, but immediately realised this was something completely different. Immediately sent a chat message to some friends to bring me to Belgian variant of A & E.
I tried to get to front door to unlock IT, but had to give up half way there, so first sat down and then, as I thought IT might be a bit too dangerous should I lose consciousness, laid down on the floor.
I knew I was having a brain bleed as my mom had one (she had a brain seizure a couple of days later and sadly passed away) and because it wasn’t my usual headache. While I was laying there waiting I kept checking if I Could still think, talk, make calculations, move my limbs, ... I didn’t lose consciousness and my friend, a volunteer fireman, was there within 15 minutes (jumped my 1.8m garden wall apparently😂).
He called for ambulance while I gave him all relevant information, like the fact I suspected brain bleed, my blood type, the fact I have porfyria which affects the medicine they can give me (still thought I might lose consciousness). I started vomiting too ... and had just eaten a huge bag of peanuts, so not a pretty sight 😂
I was in A & E within an hour of the bleed, with mild hypothermia (from laying on cold tiles) and scan showed, like I suspected, a severe bleed. As soon as my COVID-test cleared, I was brought to ICU, hooked up to all kinds of machines and drips. The severity of the bleed made them think I’d continue having them through the evening, according to my brother. Found that out later though.
I was pretty alert throughout and was able to discuss my condition with the head of ICU that evening (though by then I was pretty doped up on pain killers). They suspected an aneurysm, but it wasn’t clear on the scan. I underwent another type of scan the next day, which showed a possible aneurysm, though extremely tiny.
They had me transferred to a more specialised hospital, for further testing and operation (clipping cos deemed too tiny for coiling). I had an angio, which showed no aneurysm however. All arteries okay. I had a SAH with no apparent cause it seemed, Hunt and Hess grade 2, Fischer grade 3.
All in all I was hospitalised for 10 days. I’m home in sick leave since March 1, have another scan and consult with neurologist next week. At the moment I’m okay. Some days are better than others. I still have an occasional headache, very mild though. Then again, I’m used to severe headaches from migraine, so ...
Sometimes my brain does some strange things, strange sensations within it, which is a bit frightening, but ... part of the deal I suppose. I’m okay with doing things around the house and garden, doing administrative stuff, .... but I take care not to strain myself and I do it way more slowly than before. I need more sleep than I did before and it’s hard waking up, takes me longer to be completely awake, but it’s still early days.
My concentration is getting better too. Think my eyesight in one eye has worsened a tiny bit, but might be too early to have it checked out. One thing I found out though is that I can’t get angry at stuff anymore, otherwise I get a splitting headache 😂 Will have to learn to become more Zen.
I think I might be ready to go back to work, though not fulltime. Work has been brilliant though, if okay for the neurologist, I can go back in whatever capacity I want, with sliding hours where I do my hours whenever I want, so can take naps when needed.
I know I have to be careful not to want too much too soon, but ... as a single person, having wages replaced with sick pay is a catastrophy financially. I’ve taken out a loan last year to build my house extension, so ... need to pay that off or I lose my house.
I’m lucky I work for local government, so sick pay doesn’t kick in immediately (still have some days left before it does), so my idea is to gradually move up to full capacity, using the remaining ‘sick days’, the offered sliding hours and then my vacation days (I have a whopping 35 days stashed up) to the fullest so I can rest up when needed, taking care of my body and mind, whilst minimizing the financial loss.
And to be honest, I actually long to go back to work. I’m bored to death at home.