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Annie

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    Ohio, USA SAH Oct. 05, non aneurysm
  1. Hi Karen!! I've been looking in on you guys for a few days. How the heck are you? My SAH was Oct 25, 2005. no artery, no aneurism (they told me it was venal... and mid brain top) so no coils or clips one of the very fortunate few (3% I think!) I was 50 was and am female
  2. Annie

    Sharon

    Phil, My goodness. you have such love and dedication. You get today's carer prize! I am so happy for you both, and everyone is right... you couldn't have asked for better first words. I hope this is the beginning of many more!!!! Annie
  3. Once again I feel so grateful for my husband, Jack, my hero. He was with me went the ambulance took me in and he INSISTED several times that I be scanned. They did relent and scan me, and surprise surprise! blood on the brain. Jack's dad had died of a stroke so he was familiar with the symptoms.
  4. Hi Sami!!! So, you're Skippy now? and weren't you blonde? I can't keep up with you, girl! So nice to "hear" your chipper voice. xo, Annie
  5. Hello friends, I'm one of the original members of this discussion board, from waaay back. I check in from time to time to hear about all of you and offer a word now and then. Regarding the fatigue issue... my SAH was Oct of 05 , so a bit over 3 years now. I would say that the first year was certainly a struggle as far as fatigue and memory issues. I remember feeling at my one year anniversary that I was disappointed not to be good as new. The second year was still not normal but seemed a little better. Third year I was not having to nap every day. So here I am at 3 years and 3 months. I would say that the debilitating fatigue is not an issue any more, but once in a great while I'll still have a "crash" day where I feel I just need to slow down and go easy. That's not common though. What is common is that overall my energy levels are not what they used to be and my endurance certainly isn't. Short term memory issues did improve some over those first 2 years, but even that is not what I was pre SAH. So, for me anyway, I consider myself recovered but slightly changed. I am certainly more aware of my mortality! and my priorities have changed in very good ways. So there's a little silver lining. Mine was non-anni. Let me know if I can answer any other questions from out here at 3+ years. My best to all of you in your recoveries. Hang in there.... it gets better!!! Love, Annie
  6. I remember my first outing after.... I went to a store with hubby to buy a Christmas present. Straight there, and straight home. I felt soooo weird and WEAK and unbalanced in that store I thought I was going to have to ask for a chair. It was such a short little trip but a HUGE deal to me. Sounds like you're right on schedule! Look forward to better times soon!!!!!!!
  7. Hi Jill, I had my SAH Oct of 05 and like others, still have short term memory, concentration and some fatigue issues. BUT.... I feel really great generally and very fortunate. Now I just have an excuse when I'm loopy! Love to all my old friends here. I was the second one online on this forum after Karen, and I haven't posted in sooo long. I think of you from time to time and always send positive energies and love your way. Annie
  8. Oh! and I forgot to ask what your original surgery was for, if you don't mind sharing that. (memory issues are a big part of this SAH thing too)
  9. Hello 6shooter. You poor dear!! What an awful ordeal for you. Speaking as one of the SAH'ers here that did not have an aneurysm either, I can assure you that your recovery issues are the same as those that did. Considering how new this is to you, I am surprised that you are online already. That shows me that you are really anxious to get back to your old life and you are trying hard. I'm afraid that a lot of the recovery takes it's own good time and there is nothing you can do to make it go faster. You can, however, slow it down by pushing yourself too hard, so do be careful about that. As you're feeling up to it, you can read through the stories of many of us here, and take some comfort in the fact that your situation is similar to some here as far as symptoms and recovery issues. Ask anything, and we'll do what we can to help you deal with this according to our collective experiences. My first question after reading your post is whether you have anyone with you at home that can be there during your early recovery. A friend or family?? I hate the idea of anyone being alone for that. As for attitude and forgiveness, you have every right to feel frustrated and angry. Do try though to put that on the back burner whenever you can and concentrate on resting and listening to what your body is telling you about what you need. I am not familiar with the salt issue or the pain in the extremities, but it is probably a good idea to have an appointment with your GP just to make sure you have that on track. I am in Ohio, and I can relate to the lack of follow up care in the states. I'm not sure how much of that is due to our lousy health care system and how much of it is due to the fact that I did'nt have the aneurysm and therefore no follow up with the neuro people. Either way, it's not a good feeling to be disconnected, so let your regular doctor know what you've been through and tell him/her to get your records from the hospital to be up to speed on your case. I did experience a lot of pain in the tailbone area with walking initially, as did a lot of people on this site, so that is to be expected. It's usually a function of the blood in your brain disapating and traveling your spinal column as it does. Any dizziness, headache and extreme fatigue is also nearly always part of the process. Remember, that we are not doctors here, but can only relate to you our own experiences so that you're not so alone with this. That's all for now, Tex. Rest, rest. And write any time. This is your outlet for questions and frustrations, and we're here for you. xo, Annie
  10. Hi Doreen and all, You have really started my wheels turning on this thyroid thing. I know it's a bad habit to be self diagnosing, but I am wondering if I suffer some of the same thing. I did a little online research too, Karen. Here's the thing for me.... the fatigue and WEIGHT GAIN! Ok, it could be part of the menopausal process, but this is ridiculous. I ride horseback, I walk miles, I do Pilates, I watch what I eat, and the pounds are just PACKING on. It's so depressing. So when I look at that plus the fatigue factor, I have to wonder. I mean, if there's a PILL that would help this.... let me at it!!! I don't have the headache/dizzy thing very often at all. Mostly when there's weather changes, so I'm pretty sure that's not related. Would those of you who have experience with the hormone or other treatments please share what your T4 level was/is? Mine is 2.5. I am told by my British acupuncturist that in the states being over 2 means "normal", but that in Britain, they consider 4 to be the lower end of normal. Who knows why. Thanks!!! Annie
  11. Hi Andy, I really don't know about the driving thing over here. All I know is that no one mentioned any restrictions to me. Sounds ridiculous I know. Maybe it's different for the aneurysmal SAH folks. By the way, are there others of our group here that are on the DVD? I think Scott (rince) mentioned the other day that he is on it! Now I have to see it again and look for him. Who else am I missing? xo, Annie
  12. Oh yes, I had that too. Only mine was after I got home and no one told me to expect it. We called the doctors about it and they ordered an ultrasound (nothing found of course) and an MRI (nothing found of course) and then said it was probably just the blood draining through my spinal cord. Ya THINK??? Wish they had thought to tell us it could happen. You all sound like you get much better care over there. xo, Annie
  13. Well, that explains it then! Thank you AndyH!
  14. Dear AndyP, and Dear all of you, I finally got to see the Patient Experiences DVD. Andy had a copy made for me in MPEG format so it would play on my computer. Just a few minutes ago Jack and I sat down together and watched it. What a useful tool that will be for so many people! Andy, you were just great. You and Wendy both. What a cute couple. Wendy you look like you were a dancer. So elegant and poised. Like everyone else I wish I had had this to watch when I left the hopital. It struck me too that the longest period of time that was mentioned for recovery was 18 months and I am at 18 months as of April 23! Unfortunately, I am not seeing any more real improvement over the last say 6 months, so I would guess that the current state of my memory and fatigue issues might be ongoing. The one nurse did say that there can also be some ongoing issues, so perhaps that means for life. Anyway, it sure could be worse. I consider myself very lucky. And in a way we've all been given the gift of seeing our mortality face to face. I know it has changed some of my perspective on life for sure. I am planning to share this with the neuro dept at the hospital where I was treated and see if they wouldn't be interested in ordering copies for use there. Or perhaps they would make one of their own that's geared toward the US. For example, we don't have the requirement to report our SAH to the motor vehicle department. At least I didn't. So a few minor things like that might be different if they were to make their own film. And the links to support would be different (if there ARE any!!!) Andy, thanks again for making this for me. If the hospital doesn't take any steps to provide something similar here, then I will certainly share my copy with other SAH-ers in the US. I need to check out the copyright situation before burning multiple copies for use over here. That's why I'm hoping the hospital will want to take it on. Best to all of you. This made me want to come over in August and hug you all. Karen, the holiday I was supposed to be on right now has been postponed because our RV ended up in the shop for repair. And that trip to Italy with a friend is postponed until next year. So now I'm toying with the idea of coming to play with my brain chat friends. No worries Karen about reservations and all of that. I'm just kicking the idea around and if it ever came to be, I would find a place to stay. xo, and good night all, Annie
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