VanessaW Posted September 19, 2012 Share Posted September 19, 2012 Hello, I'm Vanessa. I'm 48 years old, and fulfilled a long held dream of becoming a doctor this year after spending the last 5 years at medical school. I had worked as a junior hospital doctor for just 3 and a half weeks when my head exploded!! What a disaster; had a non-aneurysm perimesencephalic SAH. During CT angiogram, they also found a small aneurysm which will be monitored. Ironically the SAH happened during a meditation sesion. Obviously meditation is extremely dangerous and should be avoided!! I think I have been very lucky in not losing any obvious function, either physical or cognitive (apart from having a goldfish like memory), but like most people here are battling with the unholy triumvirate of headache, dizziness and nausea. Oh and the gigantic fatigue after doing not very much. My SAH only happened just over 4 weeks ago, so it's early days, but I am really determined to get back to work as a doctor. Some days, it seems such a ridiculously remote possibility, I was working 12 or 13 hour shifts happily running around the hospital, sometimes not stopping to eat or drink. I can't imagining doing that at the moment. Everything has come to such an abrupt halt. It is a real test isn't it...... I am very glad to have found this website and wish everyone here loads of love and strength to get through this experience. Vanessa xxx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karen Posted September 19, 2012 Share Posted September 19, 2012 Hi Vanessa and a warm welcome! Take it easy for a little while. Have you been given any advice as to the minimum time limit to return to work? Most of us are given a 3 - 6 months time scale and some of us achieve it and others don't. That's not to say that you won't, but 12-13 hour shifts seem pretty hard, post SAH. Wishing you well...xx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kpaggett Posted September 19, 2012 Share Posted September 19, 2012 Hi V., I am a neurophysiologist and am 1year post pm-SAH. I had chosen to stay home after we moved from MO to MI, USA, but then SAH hit and I am fully cognizant that I am back to my normal executive functioning, but not some more basic functioning like fatigue, distractability, weird emotional things. I so desperately wanted to 'Get my life back' right at first. Now, I can't imagine that anymore. However, I've learned through my daily mediation that I am not my mind, I go way beyond those limitations now. I have no idea if or when you'll return to work, but I do know that SAH will bring new ways of being in the world for you. Some will be hard to grow accustomed to, and some will allow your light to shine even brighter than before if you let the new ways in without judgment...be the detached witness as you've probably practiced through your meditation already. Living it is harder, but more gratifying. I hope you'll find some people here that you can share your experiences with as pm-SAH is so rare and hard for others to understand. ~Kris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandi K Posted September 19, 2012 Share Posted September 19, 2012 Hi Vanessa and welcome to BTG! I'm another pmnasah. Mine was almost 2 years ago. Everyone recovers at different rates so some bounce back quickly while others are never the same again. It's very early days for you. Focus on rest, drink lots of water, and don't worry about anything. Save your energy for healing. Sandi K. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daffodil Posted September 20, 2012 Share Posted September 20, 2012 Vanessa, what an achievement qualifying as a doctor, that's really amazing and shows a inner determination that will no doubt help you as you recover. I'm six months in and finding little rhyme or reason to how my recovery goes. I felt great in the early days, no doubt exalted to still be here, but now as the impact of my SAH has revealed itself my days are slower and altered to what was my previous normal. My advice is listen to your body, your brain and take the scenic route to recovery. No point trying to rush as it will remind you if you take things too fast too soon. Take care. Daff x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Louise Posted September 20, 2012 Share Posted September 20, 2012 Hi Vanessa Warm welcome to the site, glad you found us. Take things easy I recover then thing about work, as Karen says some of us manage some dont we're all different. take care, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Winb143 Posted September 20, 2012 Share Posted September 20, 2012 Hi Vanessa, As the saying goes Time is a Great Healer, some of us heal more quicker than others, As others have said, listen to your body and take it from there Good luck and welcome to BTG Best Wishes WinB143 x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaryB Posted September 20, 2012 Share Posted September 20, 2012 http://www.ted.com/talks/jill_bolte_taylor_s_powerful_stroke_of_insight.html SorrY i had to paste that before i forgot! Welcome Vanessa to BTG- I am glad you found this site. I posted a wonderfully insightful clip of Jill Bolte Taylor and if you google her she was on Oprah recently and did a great interview as well. She has a great spirit. MaryB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amexdm Posted September 21, 2012 Share Posted September 21, 2012 Hi Vanessa, Welcome to the site. I have been on for a year and have learned so much and made many friends. Nice to have a doc on board. Us SAH'ers often times have a hard time getting doctors to believe our symptoms so maybe they'll listen to you! Take it slow, lots of water. It hydrates the brain. When people say everybody recovers different, it is so true. At first, I thought well all doctors say that but is 100% truth. As far as work goes, don't rush back. I went back at 2 months and was too soon. Take your time. 8 hours days are hard for me let alone 12. You know your body best. Welcome to our group. David Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kempse Posted September 21, 2012 Share Posted September 21, 2012 Hi Vanessa, A warm welcome to you. I'm so sorry to hear this has happened to you - and just as you were setting off on a career to help others. I do hope you will be able to continue with it all before too long. In the meantime I'm sure you will concentrate on your own recovery and hope you get some help along the way through this wonderful site. Best wishes, Sarah Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pain in the brain Posted September 22, 2012 Share Posted September 22, 2012 Hi Vanessa, best of luck with the recovery. 4 weeks post SAH doesn't give you a true indication of how you feel, what has been affected etc - it probably became apparent to me at about 8 or 12 weeks what was different about myself, and what I could / couldn't do as well (think, remember, socialise, shop etc!) If you were at QMC, are you under Dr White? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daffodil Posted September 23, 2012 Share Posted September 23, 2012 Vanessa I love the avatar. Elizabeth Corday was my favourite doctor in ER. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VanessaW Posted September 23, 2012 Author Share Posted September 23, 2012 Thank you so much to everyone for the warm welcomes, what a nice friendly forum this is. I didn't realise when I introduced myself that there was an introduction section, oops!! Happy Sunday everyone Vanessa xx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VanessaW Posted September 23, 2012 Author Share Posted September 23, 2012 Hi Vanessa, best of luck with the recovery. 4 weeks post SAH doesn't give you a true indication of how you feel, what has been affected etc - it probably became apparent to me at about 8 or 12 weeks what was different about myself, and what I could / couldn't do as well (think, remember, socialise, shop etc!)If you were at QMC, are you under Dr White? Hello Pain in the brain, that's a great name! Yes I was under Mr White, it made me laugh because his name is Barrie White and I couldn't help thinking of the singer of the same name. I liked Mr White a lot, he is quite a dude isn't he. I liked that he took the time to explain things to me and also to talk about the emotional aspects of having an SAH. Were you under Mr White? Vanessa x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lin-lin Posted September 23, 2012 Share Posted September 23, 2012 Hello Pain in the brain,that's a great name! Yes I was under Mr White, it made me laugh because his name is Barrie White and I couldn't help thinking of the singer of the same name. Vanessa x Welcome to BTG! Your post got me thinking of the Fun Loving Criminals song ‘Barry White saved my life!!!!!’ Here’s a clip – it’s very apt for you!!! Chat soon, Lynne Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VanessaW Posted September 23, 2012 Author Share Posted September 23, 2012 Welcome to BTG! Your post got me thinking of the Fun Loving Criminals song ‘Barry White saved my life!!!!!’ Here’s a clip – it’s very apt for you!!! Chat soon, Lynne Thank you, that's brilliant, made me laugh, I'd not heard of it before Vanessa x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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