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Another Newbee - Karen ;-O


karen78

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Hi and just a quick intro as i tried this once before and it took me ages and because it took ages i lost it all cause the page needing refreshing !! :wink:

Hi im Karen i am 31 and i have 3 beautifull daughters and a husband :lol:

I had my SAH on the 8th of March this year, and had it coiled on the 10 th but had severe vasospasm's during op to the point where my husband got told to expect the worse ! I spent 3 weeks in ITC/HDU and then 3 days on normal ward and then got discharged (bang on half term may i add ) !! I still have headaches and i quickly snap into bad moods !! Im sure a lot of it is not understanding what happened ! Im told by friends and my family but i remember nothing !

My normal GP has told me that the type of aneurysm i had i was born with ? And that i have been a "ticking time bomb" my words not his ! Now i cant sleep very well and have thousand thoughts going through my head !! All the what if's....

I know im very lucky to still be alive and i thank the hospital but does it make sense to say i dont understand ?

It's lovely to read so much possitve writing from you all, thank you xx

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Hi Karen and welcome! :-D

You've done really well in posting on this forum, considering that you only had your SAH in March!

Hope that you find the support a comfort .... there's quite a few people on here now, all at different stages of recovery.

You're also very young to have experienced a SAH ..... how old are your girls?

Yes, it takes a while to get your head around what's happened and the shock of the event itself and life can seem pretty topsy turvy in the early weeks and months of recovery .... Anything that you want to ask, then please feel free. xx

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Hi Karen,

A warm welcome to you. Not long ago since you had this awful thing happen, so I think you are bound to feel as you do. The enormity of it all takes time to sink in and can take a some time to come to terms with the new you. I don't think many of us on here were told how we might be, or feel, afterwards which is a shame as we might be able to cope better if we had been given more information. I don't think you are any different to many of us on here with how you feel and the type of thoughts that whizz through your mind - these are probably very common following sah, so try not to be too concerned - I 'm sure you will find that things improve with time.

Don't forget to make use of this message board, as that in itself can help along the road of recovery.

Best wishes,

Sarah

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Hi Karen & Sarah .. and Thank you, My girls are aged 8, 5 (6in July i have to add or i will get in trouble) !! and My youngest is 2, They all have been through so much as my husband had a Heart attack in 2005 and through complications in surgery he had his leg amputated !! (hospital have since admitted that they were at fault) He then at that the time spent 7 weeks in the hospital, we had to move etc etc.

I "never" got ill and the only time i was in Hospital was to have my girls..

So were all so shocked that i was "ill" i will get there :wink: xx

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Gosh what a lot has happened to you guys! Welcome to BTG - everyone here is so lovely and they all understand what you've been through.

I said this to someone else, but I'll repeat it here: my hospital referred me to the neuro rehab place and I see the Psychologist about once a week. She hasn't even begun to test my cognitive function: first we are going through how I feel about what happened. If you haven't been referred as part of your package, maybe you could ask your GP? I find it very helpful to answer all my questions.

Take care!

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Hi Karen

A warm welcome to this site, it's still early days for you and recovery is different for all of us.

It must be hard with small children I imagine but we are all here for you, when you are ready and need any advice you can find it here.

Take care.

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Hi Karen,

Sounds as though you and your family have had a real double whammy and a huge amount to cope with...

Hope that you've got good support/back up from family or friends, especially with 3 little ones to deal with.... Mind you, I think that the kids do help and are very grounding, in the aspect of getting some normality back. Mine were teenagers when I had this SAH and even though you don't always feel like doing stuff, you kind of know that you have to, just to keep family life ticking over and a sense of normality going....

From my own experience and others that I've met on here post SAH, I can see that it can be a "postcode lottery" as to what help you can get from the NHS and what is on offer, by means of Counselling and Occupational Therapy (O/T) and it's definitely not the same for everybody that has had a SAH ... I was finally offered O/T 2 years after my SAH ... by that time, I'd been there, got to desperation point "got the T-Shirt" and was running this website and found my own coping strategies for everyday life.... I didn't have a lot of choice! :wink:

One good source of reference of patients experiences post SAH, is Alison Wertheimer's book, called "A Dented Image" .... It's well worth the read and can help to "normalise" your feelings after such a traumatic event. If anybody is a member of their local public library and the book isn't in stock, then I believe that you can ask for it to be ordered, rather than buying it.

Wishing you well Karen.....xx

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:redface:Hi karen, Welcome to you I think your fab for posting on here so soon after your op! You have so much happen and so much to get your head around I am sure you will have no problem being ref to a neuropsychologist. I needed help to come to terms with things and was ref by the hospital after a few months. I got so much from those meetings it was a life line in a way! Like you I was told I was more than likely born with my anni. Good luck with your recovery,please take your time and don't push yourelf 'baby steps' all the way girl! Maggiex

Edited by maggie
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Hi Karen

I hope you manage to get some counselling or neuro-psychiatrist support from your operating hospital or local GP. It has taken me some time to be referred by my GP for counselling.

Sounds like you have all had such a lot to deal with for such a young family.

I am glad you are recovering well, and I hope you get some help to understand what has happened to you. I had so many questions flying round my head for weeks...and wrote so many notes for my follow-up appointment. It was scary not knowing anything when I came out of hospital, and you can scare yourself reading up on the internet about it too.

Have you had a follow-up appointment yet? Do make notes of questions you want to ask, and make notes when you go too. I wanted to know how big my annie was/is, where it is, how many coils were used, how long the op took, as well as numerous other questions too. And everything I asked was answered, it definitely helped getting some answers finally.

Take care

Kel x

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Hi Karen

And Warm Welcome to the site....

You are early in the recovery but getting onto the computer your doing good.

I too hope that you are getting the right support network...

There are many questions that you want to know the answer too we've all been there so we understand that one....

when you go for your appointments write questions down you want to ask, and take someone with you so that they remember the answers you get....

take things easy tho 3 kids know thats hard but try to.....

take care.

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Hello Karen and welcome to the site.

Well done for posting so quickly after your SAH, I hope things improve for you and your young family. It is a big shock and takes time to come to terms with it .

Take Care of yourself :)

Vivien x

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Hi Karen and welcome to the BTG site.:-D

I hope like me you will find this help both helpful and informative.

You have been through so much in such a short space of time. On top of that your Husbands illness as well.

Like you I have so many questions about what happened, to me it was last November. I have no memory of the day of the SAH and the following seven weeks. But I am so glad that I am still here.:-D

You have buy the sound of it a wonderful family and husband, and the fact that you survived your SAH the chance to have many more happy times together.

We do have lots of questions, why? how? what if? can it happen again? what can I do now? what can I not do now? The list is endless.:crazy:

You are still very early in your recovery, listen to your body, rest when you can but be positive.

You will have times when you feel frustrated, tired, weepy, thats the time to remember that you have survived and have so much more to enjoy of life.:lol:

Its great to meet you here on BTG and I look forward to reading more of your story when you are ready.:-P

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Hi Karen

A very warm welcome (if a little late) to the site and to the family.

Wow, sound like you and your family have been through the mill in the last few years.

My husband had a heart attack in 2000 and then I had my SAH in 2006 - our daughter is 13 now but it affected her and she still gets worried if I have a bad headache or her Dad has a chest pain (he's never had surgery or treatment as he doesn't believe it was a heart attack - even his GP doubts it now).

I hope you get as much out of this site as I have over the last few years.

Looking forward to talking more.

Take care

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