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SAH 4/5/2019 - Kim


charming

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Hello all, 

 

I'm so glad that I've found this!  I've been looking for a support group since I had my SAH in April.  

 

Mine was very much unexpected.  I was getting ready for bed on a Friday night, brushing my teeth.  While I was in the middle of it I got the worst headache, ever.  It was so painful I had to lay down, with a mouthful of toothpaste.  I also had a super stiff neck and I was so dizzy that I thought I was going to pass out.  I've never fainted or anything before so that definitely freaked me out.

 

I ended up able to get back up to clean out my mouth and get my phone to call my mom but the intense pain never left.  And, that's when I started throwing up.  Over and over and over.  It felt like it would never stop.

 

My mom didn't know what was happening, so she told me to take something and try to get some sleep, lol.  But, I knew something was wrong after the pain wouldn't go away so I ended up taking an uber to the hospital.  I brought a trash bag with me in case I needed to throw up.  I didn't in the car, luckily, but as soon as I was walking into the hospital it started again. 

 

Once I got inside the hospital I signed in and they pretty much brought me back instantly.  This is where I stopped remembering things.  I have no memory of anything that happened at this hospital or me being transferred to a bigger hospital for my treatment.  A few days later I finally came to in the hospital bed.  They ended up coiling my aneurysm.  They had put a drain in my brain.  My mom and my brother had come to the hospital but i don't remember that. 

 

Once I came to myself and realized what was happening it was so very scary.  I couldn't get up and walk without having to call a nurse because of my drain.  I had days and times when I was in a lot of pain.  If I sat up quickly when someone came to visit, I'd get this crazy pressure in my head and I couldn't move.  The only thing that made it go away was when I eventually threw up.  I had that happen a few times.  

 

I was in the hospital until April 21st, after they were able to remove to drain.

 

One thing that surprised everyone - especially the nurses - was how I was able to do everything for myself from the beginning.  I never needed help walking or going to the bathroom.  It was like I was the same person just tired and in pain.  I watched a lot of TV.  During the first few days the only thing I noticed that was hard and I was struggling with was texting people.  I was typing a bunch of gibberish, but that went away within a few days.  

 

I'm told I'm lucky.  Most who live through this have deficits.  I don't have any.  I went back to work a month from leaving the hospital and I was driving right away.  I was alone in my apartment within a day or two after leaving the hospital.  

 

What I have now are almost daily headaches.  I get tired easily.  I end up working from home at the end of most days because working exhausts me.  

 

All of my CTs so far look good.  I'll have a cerebral angiogram in Feb 2020.  If that looks good he told me I won't have to see my neurosurgeon again.  I feel blessed to be alive.  

 

I hope so badly that the headaches will start to lessen.  

 

It's so nice to meet you all.

 

 

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Welcome to BTG Charming, I love your forum name :) 

 

Fatigue is a common leftover from a SAH, you have to try and pace yourself. Also, to be back at work after a month is possibly a little too early. Did you have a phased return which could probably have helped you to overcome the fatigue a little.

As for the headaches it is advisable to keep well hydrated as that really helps. Do you drink plenty of water?

 

Have a look round the site and read other members experience s of recovery. Nobody's recovery is the same but you will find information that you can relate to.

 

You are doing well as in many instances recovery from an assault on the brain can take months or even years. 

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Hi Charming,

 

Welcome to BTG, sorry to hear that you suffered SAH, sounds like you are doing ok, it is still early days for you and you seem to have got back to your normal routine pretty quickly, fatigue is a very common side effect of having a bleed on your brain,  try to make sure you stay well hydrated as this can help with the headaches.

 

Taking things easy and getting plenty of rest is important early on in recovery, if you are overdoing things your body and your brain have their own way of letting you know that they have had enough.  Listen to them and when you feel tired take some rest.

 

My SAH happened in the bathroom too, I was also alone when it happened, by the time my partner came back from walking our little dog, I was unconscious. I am 5 years down the recovery road, have a few issues but I am still here, a survivor.

 

Look forward to hearing more from you, I wish you well as you go along on your recovery journey.

Love 

Michelle xx 

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Hiya Charming,

 

Also a survivor of SAH 4  and I didn't remember being ill.  I did see my Parents who wouldn't speak  to me. 

 

Weird dreams and a load of gobble de gook I spoke ..bit like now  ha  xx

 

BTG/this site got me smiling again and singing to some others dismay ha ha..I knew I wasn't alone in this  once shunt was put in...

 

Good luck Keep taking the water xxx You have done really well xx

 

Win xx

 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi Charming, oh I recall that snazzy hair cut and look. Thankyou for sharing your story. 

 

Well done on how far you have come. I was 39 when I had mine in 2012 , like you had an EVD , lost days, couldn’t walkor read but was determined to ‘carry on’ as I had before doing things ‘my way’ but my brain let me know things had changed significantly and over time I have made plenty of adjustments to life as I previously knew it. 

 

Looking back i can see that adrenaline of surviving kicked in and masked how I was really feeling, I pushed way too hard, way too soon but I wanted to claim back all the independence I had taken from me so suddenly and traumatically.

 

Please be considerate of your event, your bleed. It did happen and equally you also had surgery for a drain so there’s will be scarring, damage and effects at the site of the bleed itself. This is not my wishing to scare you but just to say to slow it down and enjoy the moment of now. Place regular breaks after anything that requires cognitive effort, eat well and remember that whilst invisible to you you did break a piece of your brain.

 

Can you run on a recently  broken leg? Yes if young and otherwise healthy but you’d be ill advised to do it without care and consideration of that injury. Our brains require the same consideration. It will thank you for it in the long term. 

 

Take care, I wish you continued healing. 

 

 

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