It was a beautiful evening in late January. I was at a restaurant on the harbor, having dinner with the executive team, sales & marketing teams, of my company. We were laughing and reflecting on the days events at our Quarterly Business Review. Everyone was unwinding with a cocktail and enjoying the night.
I took a phone call that almost paralyzed me. My Dr. had shared that I have an aneurysm in my brain. I didn't have much background information on aneurysms at that time, but I knew from the sound of his voice it was something serious. I sat back down at the table with everyone and wasn't sure if I should lean over and tell my boss, if I should somehow find an excuse to leave the dinner, or just sit there with my frantic thoughts. I had already ordered my food, so I decided to stay. My food arrived, but there was no appetite or interest in eating. Instead I ordered another glass of wine. Once dinner was over and I was in my car, I began shaking all over, uncontrollably. Fortunately, I was staying with friends that nite and was able to surround myself with love and support.
A brain (cerebral) aneurysm is a bulging, weak area in the wall of an artery. The artery walls weaken causing ballooning of the blood vessel wall that can form an aneurysm. Aneurysms grow due to constant pressure from blood flow. They often enlarge slowly and become weaker as they grow. Think of a water balloon, the more you fill it up with water the tighter the balloon becomes and it can burst in your hands, when too much water has filled the balloon. This is the same case with an aneurysm, as blood fills the balloon, it becomes weaker and eventually can rupture, causing death or if you survive a rupture, you can be severely disabled. 50% of ruptures end in death.
Aneurysms are either hereditary or caused by years of high blood pressure, smoking and heavy drinking. There are no known aneurysms in my family, I'm not a smoker or heavy drinker. I have had high blood pressure on and off over the years, but it's been controlled through diet. It wasn't until recently that my blood pressure has been high...probably because of the stress I have, knowing I have a ticking time bomb in my brain.
I do feel extremely fortunate that we discovered my aneurysm prior to a rupture. Statistically about 1.5 to 5 percent of the general population has or will develop a cerebral aneurysm. About 3 to 5 million people in the United States have cerebral aneurysms and don't know it. Most aneurysms go unnoticed or don't produce symptoms, until it ruptures. When an aneurysm ruptures, it is described as the worst headache of your life.
I was lifting with my coach and naturally we were pushing my limits. I was straining to push the weight off my body, when all of the sudden I had this sensation of a lightening bolt coming down the center of my brain. It was so painful I had to squat down and gather myself. This happened several more times over the course of 3 weeks. It was then that I reached out to my Neurologist and they ordered an MRI the next day. They suspected it could be a tumor. When you have been diagnosed with Cancer, you always have to consider a recurrence. The MRI came back showing no signs of a tumor. The Dr then ordered and MRA. An MRA shows images of your blood vessels. It was that test, that revealed I had an aneurysm.
There are three options to consider when treating an aneurysm.
- watch it; take images every 6 months
- coil the aneurysm
- craniotomy (brain surgery)
The options presented by your Dr, will depend on the severity of your aneurysm, your age, the likely hood of the aneurysm growing etc.
Given all the facts I gathered from 3 different neurosurgeons, I chose craniotomy. I found one of the top surgeons in the US, who specializes in surgical aneurysms and AVMS. He's performed over 7,000 surgeries of this kind. Patients from around the world, come to him. He's a chief surgeon at UCSF. When you are looking at having any kind of brain surgery, you want to make sure you are in the hands of a very skilled and experienced surgeon, to lower the risks of something going wrong.
I feel very comfortable with him and have had nothing but positive experiences with the medical team at UCSF. My surgery is scheduled for June 19th!
No comments:
Post a Comment