A Brain Aneurysm Can Wipe Out Years Of Memory.

It's good to survive a brain injury. That's a bit of a dumb statement, but remember, there are down sides to everything. Surviving a ruptured brain aneurysm is no exception. To date I'm missing about 10 or so years of my recent past. I can pull up some of the things I write about from memory, but most of it is drawn from notes.

It's amazing how much we take for granted when it comes to our everyday life. I rely heavily on Bonnie, that's my wife, to keep me up to speed about my past.

You remember what you were doing 10 years ago. Not me.

You know how to drive a car. Right? Not me. However, I do remember 40 + years ago that I drove all sorts of military vehicles. I once drove a VW from Germany to Switzerland. Now I have all I can do to get a car started. That's frustrating.

There is a high side to these brain aneurysms that hemorrhage. I'll bet you raised your eyebrow on that one. But get this. I have no memory what so ever of smoking. So... I don't smoke.

Bonnie had to pull out some old pictures of me with a cigarette stuck in my face to prove to me that I actually did smoke. She had our doctor show me my file that said I needed to Quit Smoking! I actually asked him if he fudged my file so that it had me pegged as a smoker. That went over big. I don't recommend this as a way to kick the habit.

Here's another problem with this type of brain injury; or any type for that matter. Short term memory takes a beating too. How do I know? I just went back and looked at some of my earlier posts and it seems that I've mentioned this no smoking thing before.

I'm not harping at the smokers of the world. I actually think that the government is over stepping its authority when they dictate where a person can do something like smoke. The odd part is that smokers of the world are the majority but the minority, non-smokers, rule the roost. It comes down to "The Wheel That Squeaks Gets The Grease!"

I'm not getting into this debate. It's just a passing thought. Do as you will.

I'll wrap this up. I've found that I must keep a set of notes handy to help me with my past. That list is up to around 300 Q&A's now. I've been working at this memory thing for 3 1/2 years and I don't seem to be making much progress. But I ain't giving up! I've also got a few physical drawbacks. So What!

You may as well find a corner and assume the defeated position if you throw in the towel. Life is too grand to just quit. So you have some physical short falls. It Don't Matter! So what if you don't remember everything. Again, It Don't Matter!

I'll get into this a bit later. I'm more tired than a one armed paper hanger. Everyone take care and stay healthy.

Dick...

PS. A personal note. Boo, My hair is just slightly thinner, not gone. ;^}

I was very lucky with my brain aneurysm. Considering.

I'm jumping back to day two of the hemorrhaged brain aneurysm. This is all second hand information because I was totally detached from reality. I didn't have a clue to what was going on. I'm told that I was fully conscious. But I still didn't know that anything had happened. (There's an interesting term "Dissociative Event" that I'll go over again later that sort of covers my situation.)

Here's an article that paints a clear picture of what a cerebral aneurysm, or brain injury if you will, actually is. (A lot of the information about a brain injury is taken from this source.)

Okay, back to day two. They had drilled a hole in my skull and inserted a drain tube so some of the pressure from the bleeding could be relieved. (The hole, covered by a piece of scalp, is still there.) Anyhow, it was determined that my ruptured artery could be fixed by inserting a metal plug.

In this type of non-invasive intervention, a catheter carrying a very thin platinum coil GDC (Guglielmi Detachable Coil, named after the very famous Italian surgeon Dr. Guido Guglielmi.) is inserted through the vein of the patient's groin. Later, using an angiogram as guidance, the catheter is moved through the vein up into the affected area of the brain. The aneurysm sac is then fitted with the GDC.

It usually takes less than three days for the aneurysm to become occluded, or blocked with embolized blood, thereby preventing potential or further bleedings. However, there is still a risk of re-bleeding after this period.

They keep a close eye on you for the next couple of days to catch any new bleeding. And guess what. I made it! I was very lucky to have everything on my side.

A year after the incident I had another angiogram to have the coil checked. It's been 3 1/2 years since my brain injury and I think it's about time I set-up another angiogram. They're not that big a deal so I can't come-up with a good reason to keep putting it off.

It sounds scary but it does not hurt and it is very safe with today's doctors. It's kind of like your first jump from a perfectly good airplane. You ask yourself "Why Me!" as they shove you out the door. You close your eyes for the second jump, and by the third one it's a piece of cake.

That's about it for today. I'll cover the "Collateral Damage" in more detail later.

Take care and stay healthy.

Dick...

Knowing who your are after a brain injury.

I'm skipping past day two of the brain aneurysm event to cover a problem that's caused by a brain injury. I'll get back to day two in the next day or so.

The "Knowing who you are after a brain injury" title above, specifically a brain aneurysm that burst, sounds a bit vague. But it's not if you've experienced one of these brain traumas. I did not have a clue who I was when I came back to reality.

Here's an article that may help clear this up. 'Potential Deficits'

I didn't have access to any of this help when I spent time in the "Rehabilitation Hospital". Don't get me wrong. The rehab hospital we have in our area does a very fine job. The problem is, as I see it, they seem to have a rubber stamp program to rehab all brain injury people. It does not work.

I spent many hours learning how to count money and make change; and that is good. More endless hours was spent on how to make a bowl of macroni and cheese for lunch; I wasn't going to starve that's for sure. This is a well-spent $200 per hour rehabilitation time. I wish I had opened that store. I'd be very rich today.

However, I still did not have a clue about who I was. My wife stepped in and started working with me to learn who I was. She made up a list of common everyday questions. The questions don't seem to make much since to those that know the answers.

For example:

• What's your first name?
• What's your last name?
• What's your full name?
  
• When is your birthday?
• What's your father's name?
• Where were you born?
• What's your mother's name?
• Are you married?

This is only a sample of questions that someone that suffered a brain injury cannot answer. Bonnie, That's my wife, came up with 300 such questions. She worked with me every day with the questions until I started to get them right. It's really frustrating not knowing who you are. Did I mention that I have three kids? That's something I didn't know at that time.

This type of Question/Answer game is very helpful. Try to get someone to make up a set of questions that fit you if one of the deficits you are experiencing is a loss of your identity.

Take care everyone and stay healthy.
Dick...



[Note: Specific medical advice should be obtained from a licensed health care practitioner.]