Brain Aneurysm= Silent and almost always DEADLY

Who do you want raising your children when

you fail to understand the risks of a brain aneurysm?

Don’t let this be you.  Become informed about brain aneurysms.

THE SILENT KILLER.

Don’t let it happen to you.  Make yearly appointments

with your doctor and know the signs and symptoms of a

BRAIN ANEURYSM.

A brain aneurysm is a major medical problem that people every year die from, usually because they were not aware of the signs and symptoms.  For the ones who were aware and lucky enough to survive face many day-to-day problems.  These problems range any where from medical problems to problems with how they are treated by outsiders who are not aware of what they are going through. Due to this, there is a major dividing line between the survivors of an aneurysm and the people just observing the survivors.

The dividing lines between the survivors and the onlookers is that the survivors have battled a very hard road to get where they are today.  No one but them can understand all the pain and suffering they went through.  All the surgeries, the medications, the rehab and physical therapy, and mostly everyone feeling sorry for them when they should be celebrating their life because they lived.  For the people just looking in on the survivors, they think that the survivors are now a different person because they have had a brain aneurysm.  What they do not know is that just because at one point a person’s brain was not up to standards doesn’t mean it will not go back to how it was before or maybe even better. The person might change after surviving but the change they face is that they appreciate the small things and cherish life much more after surviving a near death experience then they had before.

Another dividing line that separates the survivors from the onlookers is the social aspects of life.  The survivors realize that they should spend less time worrying about work and the small things and spending more time with their friends and family.  When the survivors spend time with their family they think of it as extra time for that it’s time they might not have had, yet for the people who are just onlookers their time spent with the survivors is completely different.  When the onlookers spend time with survivors they cannot stop thinking about all the pain and trouble the survivor had to go through.  All they can focus on is the bad not the good.  The onlookers are always feeling this sense of sorrow when they should be feeling appreciative because they are able to spend more time with someone they almost lost.

Dividing lines as drastic as the one I’m talking about can shape a person’s identity.  The people who judge a brain aneurysm survivor as being handicapped, are not helping the survivors recovery process, but instead they are preventing it from healing by never letting the open wounds heal properly.  After so many times of being judge as handicapped, the survivor might start to feel as if they are handicapped and start to feel that maybe they aren’t the same person as before.  They began to associate themselves are being different and then overall their identity begins to change for the worse.

The dividing line that is so evident between the two groups can have major consequences to both parties in that both parties begin to think the worse from the people on the other side.  The survivors begin to think that all the onlookers are judgmental and feel that they don’t understand what they are going through but in reality that is not true for all people.  Some onlookers might have had a friend or family member who had a brain aneurysm, so they might understand to a certain extent what the survivor is going through.  On the other hand, the people looking in on the survivors might start to feel left out of the survivors life.  This is because what was important to the survivor before the aneurysm is no longer as important to them now and this results in the friends and family feeling excluded from the survivors life.

I recently interviewed two survivors of an aneurysm, one of which had 2 aneurysms.  I asked them at first simple questions about what an aneurysm was so they could loosen up a little.  What I realized is that when these people talk about their aneurysm, they are nervous at first because they are afraid that I might judge them but that isn’t the case.  I find their story intriguing and I want to keep finding out more.

Some of the answers I received back from the two interviews were interesting.  The first individual I interviewed felt that there wasn’t a distinct line between herself and others who have not had an aneurysm.  She said, “The only difference between everyone else and I, is that I feel that I appreciate life more now then I had before.  I think that unless someone has gone through a life changing experience they do not realized that we as human beings are not unstoppable.  They do not think that at any moment their life can be taken from them, and unless we live everyday to the fullest, we will regret the way we lived our life, which is why I am so thankful for my second chance.”  On the other hand, the second individual’s opinion was completely different.  He felt that people viewed him differently because of the aneurysm and that the way he lived his life was now being controlled by others.  At first he felt that he was normal again, but because of the reactions he was receiving from friends and family he started to really doubt that he was normal.  He said, “It’s not fair.  People shouldn’t treat me differently after my aneurysm.  It’s not like I have any brain damage.  I’m still the same person in the inside as I was before.  I just want my life to return to normal which will never happen unless people somehow forget I had an aneurysm.”

In conclusion, there is a dividing line between survivors and onlookers but this line is controlled by each individual and how they feel about an aneurysm.

People who suffer from a ruptured brain aneurysm become apart of a special subculture.  Everyone within that subculture, all share similar stories on how they got where they are today, as a survivor.   The survivors also can identify with many different spaces such as private, where the survivor keeps to themselves and doesn’t like to talk about what happened to them.  They isolate themselves from friends and family and begin to become depressed.  They begin to think that maybe they should have died so they would not have to deal with all the pain that comes from the aneurysm.  There also is physical space where the survivor has some physical problems such as they no longer can walk or talk and are dependent on other people for the rest of their life.  Personal space is another type of space that brain aneurysm survivors can identify with in that the survivors become really protected about their belongings in that, that’s all they have in their life that is the same before and after the aneurysm.  Even though their family and friends are still there, they treat them differently after the aneurysm then they did before, so the belongings are all the survivor has that is the same.  Mental space is the one that applies to brain aneurysm survivors the best.  It may seem to obvious that mental space is the best because mental and brain go together, but it is.  The reason it is the best is that because after an aneurysm the person is no longer the same as they were before the aneurysm and they may have some lasting effects of the aneurysm as a result of the brain being damaged.

The reason mental space is the best space for aneurysm survivors to identify themselves with is because after they have the aneurysm they are no longer the same person they were before the aneurysm.  After the aneurysm the person now thinks and acts differently because they know how lucky they are to be alive, because the majority of people who suffer from a brain aneurysm do end of dying or never waking up from a coma.  So for the lucky ones who do wake up and are able to continue their life, now take everyday as if it was their last.  They now appreciate life more than ever before and they want to spend all the time they can with their friends and family.  They also do not worry about the little things anymore and it takes a lot more to make them mad because if a person has one aneurysm they are highly likely to have another one, so if they spent  all their time worrying about what could happen next, then they would not be able to enjoy the life that was spared and the second chance they were given.  Some survivors after an aneurysm begin to help out around the community because they feel that if god saved their life then there must be something on earth they have not accomplished yet, or they were kept here because they were to make a difference in someone else’s life.

Another reason they identify with mental space is because some of the survivors end up having some type of mental problems where they may lose their memory and/or the ability to speak, walk, hear and to function as a normal human being.  Their life is no longer the same as it was before.  They no longer can live on their own, someone has to look after them 24/7.  For the ones who only lost one of the abilities listed above, they start to become depressed because they are not completely handicapped but enough to were their life is no longer the same and every day is a struggle to move past their new life long problem.  Every day they wonder why this had to happen to them and what they did to deserve all the pain.  They want their old life back where they did not have to  worry about what medicines to take.  They do not want to always have to go back to the doctor to make sure that they do not have another aneurysm and that the procedure performed to save their life had no life threatening consequences or complications.

The survivors also are apart of mental space because they are no longer viewed the same by the people around them.  They are no longer treated the same which could lead to them no longer being the same person.  The survivors just want to return to their normal life where their family and friends treat them like they were just find, not someone who had a brain problem. The survivors are no longer viewed the same as before the aneurysm they start to become depressed and isolated themselves from the people they loved the most.  They do this because they get tired of always being asked, “How are you doing today? How are you feeling? How is the recovery process going?” After so many times of getting asked the same questions it is hard to move forward when the people around you do not.  The survivor just wants to forget about what happened to them and continue on with their life but the ones they love the most will not let them.

The survivors of a brain aneurysm are always going to be fighting for their life and hoping that they will not have another brain aneurysm.  In fighting for their life, they also have to worry about how people view them, how their body will react to treatment, and how they will keep themselves from not becoming depressed.  In doing so is why people who suffer from a brain aneurysm are able to identify themselves with mental space more than physical, private and personal space.

Video: http://www.bafound.org/info/video_ruptured.php

When I was younger I always looked forward to story time right before bed.   My parents would tuck me in and then I would choose a story I would want them to read to me. I’m sure that I wasn’t the only child who loved when their parents read a story to them. Though, what happens when your life turns into a story that no one wants to read because the likelihood of a happy ending occurring is slim to none? The heartbreaking story I’m talking about are brain aneurysms. Hearing a story about brain aneurysms is one I would recommend to everyone. It may not always have a happy ending, but for the lucky ones who do end up surviving, are probably still alive today because friends and family were able to recognize the signs and symptoms early enough to save their life. It is estimated that 25,000 people every year have a brain aneurysm and of those 25,000 people only 15,000 will survive. Of those 15,000 people, the majority will face life long consequences because of the aneurysm. These consequences can range anywhere from physical problems, mental problems, or even problems with how people now view them.

To begin, an aneurysm is a weak bulging spot on the wall of a brain artery very much like a thin balloon or weak spot on an inner tube.  Aneurysms form silently from wear and tear on the arteries, and sometimes can form from injury, infection, or inherited tendency, as stated by the Brain Aneurysm Foundation.

People who have brain aneurysm usually do not know that they have one. They lead a normal life doing what ever pleases them, not knowing that their life will soon be turned upside down and they will be facing death head on. For many people who suffered from a brain aneurysm, usually had a family member who had a brain aneurysm or they fell in to the group of people who are more likely to have one. Of those people who are in the higher risk category should be extra cautious with the way they live their life and to avoid the causes that someone can help; the ones that are not inherited. Causes of a brain aneurysm are….

• Family history. Someone who has had close relative suffer from an aneurysm is twice as likely to have one themselves. The closer the relative the higher the risk of having an aneurysm.
• Previous aneurysm.  About 20% of people who have a brain aneurysm will most likely have another one.
• Gender. Women are twice as likely to have a brain aneurysm than men.
• Race. African-Americans are twice as likely to have a brain aneurysm.
• Hypertension.  People who have high blood pressure over an extended period of time are at higher risks of having an aneurysm then people who have normal blood pressure.
• Smoking.  Smoking is not known if it causes an aneurysm but it is known that smoking aids the aneurysm in bursting. So if someone has an aneurysm and it hasn’t bursted yet, it is best to not smoke.
• Stress.  Stress also can cause brain aneurysms. If it is extensive amounts of stress for a long period of time. Stress also is the number one cause that leads to a brain aneurysm bursting.
• Alcohol Abuse
• Drug Abuse
• Traumatic head injury

Once a person’s aneurysm has busted the person will have really distinct symptoms. These symptoms include…

• Gruesome pain within the skull
• Nausea and vomiting
• Stiff neck or neck pain
• Blurred vision or double vision
• Pain above and behind the eye
• Dilated pupils
• Sensitivity to light
• Loss of sensation

From the time of the aneurysm and until someone dies is a matter of minutes and the sooner the person arrives at the hospital the less consequences that will arise. Once the person arrives at the hospital they are usually hooked up to machines to help stabilize their body and from there they are taken to get a scan of their brain to see exactly where the aneurysm had bursted. Once they have figured out where and how they are going to fix the problem, the person is then taken to surgery. There are three different surgeries doctors can use on someone who has had a an aneurysm. The first method that could be used would be occlusion. Occlusion is where the doctors completely shut off blood flow to the artery they had busted and re-route the blood to a different artery. Some doctors combine occlusion with a bypass where they take an artery from the leg and graft it to the part of the brain where the artery had been shut down.

The second method that can be used is clipping. Clipping is the most common method doctors use on patients. In clipping the doctors remove a piece of the bone that is above where the aneurysm is and then they clip the aneurysm off of the normal blood vessel and then they attach the ends back together. The piece of the bone is then wired back on to the persons skull.

The last method that can be used is Endovascular Embolization or Coiling. In this method the doctors do not have to cut the person’s head open, instead they enter the brain through the bloodstream. In this method, doctors are able to use x-rays to help visualize where the aneurysm is located. Once they have found the aneurysm and are in the brain, a small incision is placed on the aneurysm and platinum coils are placed within the aneurysm to help stop the bleeding. A small electrical current is passed through the wire to help detach the coils from the wire.

After surgery the patient is then taken to the intensive care unit where they will remain for an extended time. The doctors have to make sure that the surgery was a success and that they are no complications. Also the doctors have to make sure the patient doesn’t have a stroke as a result of the aneurysm. The patient might also be in a coma. Once the doctors decide that the patient is in the clear and do not need to be monitored 24/7 they are released out of the intensive care and they are then placed in general care on the neurological floor of the hospital. It is then when the patient begin to under go physical therapy to help regain any control they lost because of the aneurysm; some people have more to recover from than others. Some people will face such problems as speaking, walking, seeing and hearing and others may not face any physical defects mental problems, such as depression and memory loss.

After leaving the hospital is when someone who had a brain aneurysm may feel a sigh of relief, but in fact their journey is no where close to being over with. Once they are home, not only do they continue to work on their physical therapy but they will have numerous doctors appointments to go to for the rest of their life to make sure everything in their brain is doing okay. The main reason for the appointments are to make sure that they do not have another one, which as I said before, people who suffer from a ruptured brain aneurysm are twice as likely to have another one.

Another reason why their journey isn’t over is because now they have to live with the fact that they had an aneurysm and how people may view them differently. People may treat them like they are dyeing and that they now have some mental issues and are no longer the same person. In fact though, the person who had the brain aneurysm is not going to be the same. The reason for this is not because they had brain damage, but because they suffered from a serious medical problem, and survived. Not many people survive a brain aneurysm, so when someone does survive it makes them think and act differently. This is because now they know how special life is and that in any moment it can be taken away and you then leave all your loved ones behind.

With a brain aneurysm being a really serious medical problem, everyone needs to be informed on the causes, signs, symptoms, and after effects of a brain aneurysm.  This is why I told the story from beginning to end of what an aneurysm is and the process someone needs to go through in order to survive.

“Cerebral Aneurysm Fact Sheet.” National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. 22 jan 2010. National Institutes of Health, Web. 31 Jan 2010. <http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/cerebral_aneurysm/detail_cerebral_aneurysm.htm#144253098>.

The Brain Aneurysm Foundation. 2009. Mintz Levin, Web. 31 Jan 2010. <http://www.bafound.org/support/recovery.php>.

Everyone in the world can be classified within a certain social identity. Social identities are self-definitions based on the defining characteristics of a social group.  A persons social identity can range anywhere from what they like to do or their career choice.   Though sometimes a person’s social identity is chosen for them.

My post today focuses on the social identity that comes from people who have had a brain aneurysm and survived.  Someone doesn’t just wake up one day and be like, “Today I’m going to have a brain aneurysm and survive.”  They do not choose to be apart of the social identity, it just happens.  People who are apart of this identity are mostly middle age or older but there are a few who are younger and even some children.

As of right now it is estimated that six million people are living with an un-ruptured brain aneurysm.  Out of the 6 million, approximately 25,000 people’s brain aneurysm will ruptured and 10,000 or 40% of the people will die.  This means that only 60% survive and the 60% that do survive are now apart of a new social identity.

For the people who survive, being apart of the social identity is an accomplishment.  Surviving a brain aneurysm isn’t easy and it takes tons of work from the patients and the doctors as well.

I recently interviewed a woman who has survived two brain aneurysms, one of which had ruptured.  Her story was very heartfelt and it makes you think about how lucky some people are in their life and that they must be destined for greatness if they are able to survive such a major medical problem.

This is how the interviewee explained her story, “In November 1996 the day was like any other day.  I woke up at the same time I always do.  During the day I baby sat my grandchildren, worked out at the gym and went swimming with my husband.  Later that night I ate dinner and then started to get ready to just have a restful night.  Around 7:30 p.m. I got in the shower and not long after being in the shower I felt this sharp pain in my head.  The only way I can describe the pain is that it felt like my head was going to blow off my body.  I called to my husband and told him to call 911 immediately and that something serious was wrong.  As he was calling 911, he helped me out of the shower and laid me on the floor.  Within minutes the ambulance had arrived.  When I arrived at the hospital they immediately did a scan of my brain and saw that I had a bursted brain aneurysm.  Once the cause was known, I was rushed into surgery in which they were able to save my life, though it was unknown how things would turn out.  The doctors told my husband before surgery that your wife may not make it out of surgery alive and if she does she may face life long problems such as blindness, hearing-loss, paralysis or speech-loss.  I overcame all the obstacles and in 19 days after some rehab within the hospital I was released.  The only problem I had was at first I wasn’t able to write as well but with time my writing began to improve and eventually it was back to how it was before.

The following January, I had to return to the hospital to get my second aneurysm clipped.  They found the second aneurysm at they same time they found the bursted one.  They were not able to fix the second one at the same time as the first because it would have been too much trauma on my body.  Two days after my second aneurysm was clipped I returned home and I have been fine ever since.  I have no side effects and I am not on any medications and I am back to my normal self.”

The interviewee is able to identify herself as a member of the subculture because she is one of the few people who live to tell about their story.  Not many people live to tell about it and from the ones that do they usually have some lasting problems caused from the aneurysm.  My interviewee is apart of a subculture within a subculture.  She is apart of the larger subculture of people who survive a brain aneurysm but she is also apart of a more exclusive subculture of people who survive and have no lasting effects.  As mentioned previously 60% of people do survive an aneurysm but half of those 60% will face life long neurological problems.  The interviewee is apart of the 30% who are able to return to their life how it was before the ruptured brain aneurysm.  Being apart of such an exclusive subculture makes the interviewee feel that her life is special and that it wasn’t her time to leave Earth.  She stated in the interview, “I guess God didn’t want me yet.  There must be something I was meant to do and haven’t done yet.”

Although the interviewee has overcome many obstacles in her life she has to deal with telling people she had brain surgery. Many people will look at someone differently when they find out they had brain surgery.  For some reason people think that once someone has brain surgery they are no longer who they were before, and that they might not be as intelligent.  Just because someone has had brain surgery it doesn’t mean who they are as a person changes.   During the interview, the interviewee talked about how when people found out about her surgery they treated her like she was on her death-bed.  She said, “People talked to me like I was dying.  The also talked to me like I was stupid.  I think they thought that my intelligence was altered during the surgery, which doesn’t make sense to me.  Having brain surgery shouldn’t change the way people view me.”

For the interviewee getting used to the way people viewed her in some ways was harder to deal with then the actual recovery from the aneurysm.  “The aneurysm recovery was 19 days but they way people see me will never be the same again.  I know that me being alive today is a miracle, I just wish other people were able to see it as a miracle and not a disadvantage.  I want to celebrate my life with others without them feeling sorry for me!”

The interviewee is now able to identify herself as a member of this subculture.  It took years for her to accept her faith.  At first she didn’t want to be associated with having a brain aneurysm.  Accepting yourself as being apart of this subculture isn’t the same as accepting yourself as being apart of other subcultures.  For example being a mother is a subculture that people are proud to be in and love to tell everyone about it, but how many people do you know are proud to be apart of a subculture dealing with brain aneurysms?  It isn’t easy telling people what you had to go through in fear that they will no longer treat you like they had before.

Over time, the interviewee came to the realization that she is special and now she loves to tell her story.  When I called her on the phone to get in interview she talked for 10 minutes straight just telling me about everything she went through.  I was barely able to get a word in.  Once she realized how her being alive is a miracle she no longer worries about what people think about her, all she cares about is her life and trying to make a difference in other peoples lives.  She now volunteers at the hospital where she almost lost her life.  She helps encourage people who are in the same situation she was in years ago.  She tells them that if they work hard, then they can be where she is today.

Every year on the anniversary of her aneurysm she visits the doctors who saved her life and she gives them a giant hug and kiss.  She is now celebrating her life more than ever with her four children, three grandchildren and her husband and she is no longer mourning on the fact that some people may view her differently.  It has been 13 years since the aneurysm and she is now 76 years old and doing better than ever!

The pictures below are from a magazine in which the woman I interviewed was featured in.  The reason she was featured in the magazine is because the doctor who performed her story was voted doctor of the year where she lives.  The two page article tells about her story and all she had to go through to get where she is today.

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