A Brain Aneurysm Creates Some Strange Effects.

Sorry about the delay. Some days are diamonds and some days are stone. Yesterday was a stone day.

Your life can really get messed up when you suffer a brain injury. That is, of course, assuming that you survived the brain aneurysm blowout. ;^) Terrible humor. One thing I have noticed is that my confidence has taken a serious hit.

My incident was about 4 years ago come this next April 3. I didn't have a clue about what was happening for the 1st year. I went through a lot of physical therapy to get back my ability to walk from one end of my house to the other.

One thing you have to come to grips with is the idea that the brain controls everything you do. Simple things like walking, talking, spiting, go right out the window when you are the victim of a ruptured brain aneurysm.

One of the hard parts of getting back on your feet is accepting the fact that you will need help. You cannot do it on your own, there's no if's, and's, or but's about it. Sometimes life sucks, but that's the way it is. If you don't get the needed help you will, in all likelihood, end up chasing dust bunnies in the sunlight that shines through your living room window.

I’ll cite a perfect example of what actually happened to a woman my wife worked with shortly before I had my blowout.

She suffered a multiply brain aneurysm hemorrhage three weeks before my troubles. There was quite a delay before she got any help. We spent a month in ICU at the same hospital and at the same time. I guess she had seniority. She had, and still has, a much tougher go of it than me.

One of her main deficits is; is that she is really bull headed about getting help. Anyhow, she has now been committed to a constant care home because she can no longer do for herself.

Could she have pulled herself together and gotten any better? Who knows. It’s really hard to call those shots in life. I think she would have done much better had she been able to pull herself up by her bootstraps.

This is turning into one of those down days. Just let me say this. If you know anyone that has survived a brain aneurysm incident and they don’t want your help; stick with them. It will take a lot of effort on your part to not give up on the victim but it will be worth it in the long run.

Stay healthy

Dick…

Blood-Brain Barrier Permeability Changes
after Subarachnoid Hemorrhage:

A Brain Aneurysm and me.

I get some interesting mail about the problems that come with a brain injury like a hemorrhaged aneurysm in the head. What's really surprising me is the number of people that go through the agony that takes place when the damn things blow.

It comes right out of the blue. One minute you're fine, then BAM! You're stepping in the deep stuff. I didn't see mine coming. In my case everything was in place and I survived with a good deal of my abilities left to live a fair degree of living.

I have a few deficits, but I ain't complaining. There are many out there that are in far worse shape than myself. One of my problems is grammar. You may notice a few "high school" grammar screw-ups so just kind of bear with me.

One thing I had to go through, like it or not, is therapy. You're in real trouble when a brain aneurysm bursts. Your mind gets really messed up and you need help to get back on track to be able to resume some sort of a life style.

My physical abilities, walking, waving, winking, things we all take for granted, have all taking a serious hit. A good deal of my first year was spent in physical therapy. The first three months of the therapy was critical to get me moving.

Physical therapy is not that big a deal. If you are satisfied with having someone serving you for the rest of your life then I guess you can stick your nose up to the hard working part of therapy.

However, getting your mind back in shape is a real pain in the kester. The first thing you have to do is realize, (admit), that you are going to need some help. Ego, also known as bull-headed dumb, rules a lot of us. Think about it. Have you ever heard this?

1. I know what I'm doing.
2. It's my life.
3. If I want your help I'll ask for it
4. I'm ok.
5. I can work this out by myself.

It's tough to come to grips with the fact that you are no longer able to do the everyday things you've always handled yourself. It took me awhile to realize that I actually did not know my own birth date.

Here's where my wonderful wife came into play. She made up a list of about 300 questions that revolved around the common things we all know about ourselves.

1. Where do you live?
2. What is your birthdate?
3. Where were you born?
4. How old are you?
5. Are you married?
6. Do you have any children?
7. How many kids do you have?
8. What are your kids names?

These type of questions proved to be the key to putting my mind put back into what is now an orderly fashion. I was surprised to reliaze that I didn't know the answeres.

**I'll have to get back to this tomorrow. I'm starting to ramble.**

One of the problems with my brain aneurysm is that I don't have the ability to stay focused on what I'm doing. Er'go, I need a break.

A quick note: A brain injury stinks. The problems seem to linger on forever. Don't let-up and don't give-up. A ruptured brain aneurysm is a two edged sword. It slices through your life and it will also slice through those that are near to you.

Take care and I'll see you tomorrow.

Dick....