Driving is just second nature. NOT! Not if you've suffered a brain injury.

Everything that everyone does everyday automatically takes a serious hit for us that suffer a brain injury. Simple task like:

1. Getting dressed
2. Brushing your teeth
3. Walking a straight line
4. Driving a car
5. Heating something in a microwave oven
6. heating water on the stove.

This list can go on and on but I think you get the idea.

This all came to mind yesterday when I thought I would drive into town to pickup some things at the store. It's been almost 5 years since I had a brain aneurysm rupture. I had forgotten everything there was to know about driving a car:

1. Which key to use
2. where to put the key
3. what the little letters on the dash meant
4. the levers on the steering column

I've been practicing over the past 5 years over the past 5 years in the hope that I would master the simple task of backing our jeep out of the garage. Well, I got it. I can get in our car and start it, and back out of our garage, without the least bit of effort.

That sounds like a great feat, and it is. What I didn't do was practice driving down the road. I'm willing to bet that if you're a driver you do everything automatically:

1. Watch what's coming at you
2. glance at the rearview mirror
3. give a quick look at the dashboard indicators
4. apply pressure on the gas pedal.
5. put your foot on the brake pedal when needed.
6. take your foot off the gas pedal when doing number 5 above.

One other thing I forgot to put up there; Keep your car in your lane.

Driving is just second nature. NOT!

Not if you've suffered a brain injury. I've got a long ways to go before I attempt driving on a busy highway. My good fortune now is that I live in the country and traffic isn't all that heavy.

Those 6 or 7 tasks listed above are repeated every second of every mile driven. I've learned just about everything in everyday life over in the past 5 years. It takes time and determination.

If you've suffered a brain injury;

1. Ruptured brain aneurysm. (Cerebral Aneurysm)
2. Stroke
3. Car accident

Don't give up! You'll get discouraged and even PO'd sometimes but don't let it get the best of you. It's a great feeling when you stick a cold cup of coffee in the microwave and and pull out a hot cup of coffee.

A Scary Time For The Family Of An Aneurysm Victim.

The main problem for a person that suffers a ruptured brain aneurysm is that it resembles the symptoms of a stroke. I suppose that if you stretch the technical jargon for strokes it could be called a stroke. However, there is a vast difference between the two. A clogged artery causes the stroke and a Cerebral Aneurysm rupturing is when a hole burst in an artery.

The first thing the doctors in ER told my wife was, that in my case, I didn't have a chance because of the excessive bleeding in the brain cavity and that she should prepare herself. Keep in mind that this was almost 5 years ago and there wasn't that much known about this sort of problem.

However, I think they were a bit premature in saying that to my wife. I think it's more appropriate to give a relative some sort of encouragement rather then a smack in the face of pending doom. But I guess there's no counting on some doctors bed-side manners.

I guess the point of all this is to say if you have a loved one in the grips of a ruptured artery in the brain; "Don't give up! There is always hope.

My wife was told that it takes about 21 days for the patient (victim) to make it out of the woods for his/her chances of a good recovery to fall into place.

It was a pretty rough time for my family. I had my problems, but nothing like what they went through.

Again, don't give up! Also, a prayer every once in a while won't hurt either.

Til later.

Dick....

PS... Notice the link on the right side about a webcast of a person that had an aneurysm that was taken care of before it ruptured. It's a very interesting hour of watching.