A new arrival and a very strange episode. Updated with pics.

[Guest Clare]

Hello everyone,

I just thought I'd let you all know that baby Zara arrived safe and sound on 22nd June 2007. I have had no time to get on the boards much or give an update on mum. Life has been rather chaotic since she arrived. But it's been great fun.

Mum was well enough to babysit Kate when I went into labour and helped me for a couple of days following the birth, something I was convinced would never happen, and to be quite honest no-one can compare to a mum. It took all of our minds off the haemmorhage.

At the time mum still had severe backache and twinges which were particularly bad whilst I was in labour, we were both oohing and ahhing and rolling around on the living room floor trying to get comfy, which was hilarious.

The backache has gone now and only the occasional twinge still exists, recovery has been remarkable and she is building up stamina, she gets tired about 7pm and a little snappy, but she has done really well. She had her follow up appt 2 weeks ago, she hasn't got her driving licence back yet and has been booked in for another MRI. She is still taking lots of phenytoin and an aspirin once a day.

I had a consultation with a neurologist at Addenbrookes last week and he asked me what I would do if they discovered I had a anuerysm, I said I would have an op and he said ok and booked me in for a CT.

Strange Episode;

On thursday evening mum dicovered a mottled ****** bruise on her head, and after discussing it with dad, she had a flashback. She remembered watching Eastenders eating toast and then finding herslf on the floor and putting her slippers back on and carrying on as normal, Eastenders being well over. She has bruises on her hip, arms, back face and head. We cannot fathom if she had a seizure or just hit everything on the way down. She thinks she was out for about a hour. Earlier that day Kate had fallen over at swimming and split her head open. Was it stressing about Kate that caused it or a fit. Are blakouts quite common???? :?

The G.P. didn't know what to say, so she went to her consultants secretary yesterday and is waiting for a call from him.

Anyone have a similar experience post SAH?

Clare xxx

[Karen]

Hi Clare,

Congratulations! I bet you've been busy ..... That's wonderful news!

It sounds as though you're Mum is doing brilliantly, you must be very relieved. It sounds as though your Mum could have had a seizure. I've never experienced a black out post SAH. Has she had any blood tests to check her Phenytoin levels? If it's not at the correct levels, it can cause problems.

[Guest Clare]

No she hasn't had any bloods yet, but the GP has told her to get bloods done, would the drugs affect her in that way if the levels were wrong??

[Karen]

Hi Clare,

Your Mum should get her bloods done asap .... If the Phenytoin level is too low, it won't control the seizures ..... if it's too high it will also cause problems. There is a scaling system that it has to fall inbetween. I don't think that it's unusual to initially have problems with finding the right level of AED to control the seizures and that's why regular bloodwork is essential to ensure that your Mum is correctly controlled, especially if she's had a fit where she's had no warning signs and has dropped to the floor and hurt herself.

[Guest Clare]

She's going this afternoon so we shall see, thanks Karen x

[Karen]

That's good .... if it was a seizure, then she needs to get them properly controlled asap, as it could affect getting her driving licence back. It may well be worth checking the DVLA website for the details, as there's certain requisites when it comes down to seizures and driving. I only needed one more seizure to have my licence taken away for at least a year, but I was lucky that I didn't have any more after the op.

Good luck .....

[Guest Clare]

Well when she went off to her follow up appointment both her and my dad were convinced they would leave with the O.K. to drive. But the consultant made such emphasis on how severe her haemmorhage was and how lucky she is, he made it clear that her recovery was going to take a long time and driving was a no no and it will all come in good time.

I think he was realistic, she feels so much better than she did but I think she could be a hundred times better still. She's almost back to normal mentally but physically is taking a little longer.

She feels her only let down is not being able to drive because it made her independent. I think if they give it back to her too soon and she panics because she's not ready or finds it difficult then her confidence could go altogether.

I'm not sure this was a seizure, the GP seems to think it wasn't because she didn't wet herself, but not everyone wee's whilst they're fitting. I think a telltale sign would be dribbling I know of quite a few people who have had a seizure for one reason or another and all of them foamed at the mouth. So I would suspect she would have had a wet face or left a mark on the floor, and she knows that she didn't.

I read up on the contraindications of phenytoin and one was fainting. She said she has also had a shaky feeling inside for a few weeks which is slightly like how you feel wen you are nervous or excited. I would supsect that is a tremor, also mentioned in the list of contraindications.

I know far too much about medical matters now, damn this internet

[Guest Hannah]

Congratualtions Claire!

Sounds like your mum is doing fantastically well (unexplained bruising aside) and its great that she's been able to help you, I'm sure there have been moments in the past few months that you weren't sure that she would be able to do this.

My mum is equally keen to get back to driving as she see's this as being key to recovering her independance - her provisional date for being able to be retested is October although that depends if the doctors sign her off as being fit enough..... yet another wait and see.

I think I mentioned on another post that I also went to Addenbrookes to see the (rather attractive) consultant and had a CT Angio a few weeks back. I feel bad for mentioning it on here given the experiences everyone has had, but its not a great experience but luckily over quite quickly. I warn you now - when the dye is pumped into you quickly you will feel as if you have wet yourself!

Good luck and take care

Hannahx

checkup

[Guest Clare]

Thanks Hannah.

I didn't realise mum would need a retest, is that normal when you surrender it or is it after a certain time span has alapsed?

I saw a rather attractive consultant too, quite young dark hair.

Ok he said CT Angio and I thought I'd heard him wrong and he just said CT. So what the hell is involved in a CT angio. Now I'm scared

Have you had your results yet?

[Guest Hannah]

Hi Claire, regarding the retest - I'm not sure if being retested is the norm or if it just varies depending on the severity of what has happened. I guess the latter… For mum, as soon as I told the DVLA that mum had a SAH they asked us to surrender her licence.

Sounds like we had the same chap, Mr Thompson?

I didn’t know what the ‘angio’ bit was until I got my appointment through. I thought I was just having a normal CT scan and was a bit miffed as a CT on its own is the least sensitive way to pick anything up. The CT angio is like a non-invasive angiogram where they introduce a contrast dye so that they can see the vascular system. The whole thing took about 15 minutes and is nothing to be scared about. First a nurse puts a canular in your arm then you get comfy on the bed on the CT scanner (big donut, not claustrophobic, no booming noise). Your canular will be hooked up to the pump with the dye and they take a ‘before’ and ‘after’ picture of your head. The dye gets pumped in quickly seconds before the second scan. This is the only odd bit as it gives you a hot flush and makes you feel as though you peed. (It also made me pass out but that says more about me than the procedure…. That’s my ‘goto’ move if anything uncomfortable happens, shock me, scares me, I exercise, stand up too quickly or forget to eat….!)

No results yet – 3rd September.

[Guest Clare]

They immediately asked her to surrender her licence too, a very sad moment for mum. I read that you have to apply for it back and that could take a couple of months, no mention of a retest. I told her about it last night and she said "oh no I wont pass"

Yes Mr Thompson, I forgot this name. He spent ages asking me about my family and drawing a family tree. Telling me his wife was a geneticist, what relevance it had I'm not sure, even I have managed to work out that my mum is an immediate relative, and I'm no geneticist

How strange I got my Appointment through this morning, 4th September.

I called the CT dept. and managed to speak to a radiologist who explained it all, I'm having problems getting someone to look after the babies. Anyway, I dont mind feeling as though I've wet myself I'm up for trying anything once.

What did they do when you passed out, bet that scared them, he he, they probably thought they'd killed you.

[Guest Hannah]

Hi Claire,

Re: the driving its something we are going to start looking into soon so I'll let you know what we find out.

Re: Mr T - how dare he be married!

Re: the passing out I came round pretty quickly I got the impression that perhaps they were used to this...

Enjoy your new experience

Hannahx

[Louise]

CONGRATULATIONS.

Louise.xx

[Guest Clare]

Thanks Louise.

Thought I'd post some pics, so you can see me and the girls, hope this is ok.

Me and Kate

Little Zara

Kate and Zara

They are so different. Kate is my mums life, and Zara, bless her, went through every emotion with me during my mums SAH.

These 2 girls are the best therapy we could wish for.

Clare xx

[Karen]

They're both gorgeous!

[Guest Clare]

Thankyou Karen,

I hope you dont mind me invading your forum with my pics