Comments on: Welcome to Brain Storms!

By: Brenda Johnson

Brenda Johnson — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 04:09:42 +0000

Barbara,
A sarcasm management website would be easier…otherwise there will be too much driving involved. (I live 2 1/2 hours from St. Paul). Mimicking behaviors should probably be added to that list, too. lol. I don’t mind at all that you forwarded my question, I have emailed the neuroscience nurse who received the information and now I’m waiting to hear back from her. I appreciate your help, humor and stories. Keep in touch, I’d like to hear how you’re doing. Thank you! ~Brenda

By: Barbara

Barbara — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 17:33:02 +0000

We really ARE kindred spirits! And no, I haven’t heard of a sarcasm management class, but I’d sign up if it existed. Should we start one? Toe-tapping and eye-rolling should be considered part of the subjects covered.

I don’t know the exact size of each of my aneurysms. I DO know that sizes ranged from small to medium. One was referred to as “the big nasty.” I have absolute faith that my doctors here will always do what they believe is medically possible for every brain aneurysm patient. I hope you don’t mind that I’m punting your question to their end of the field.

By: Brenda Johnson

Brenda Johnson — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 01:10:14 +0000

Dear Barbara,
Thank you for answering me, I know exactly the hand gesture you are referring to…as if a twirly hand can make our brain spit out the sentence we were trying to say or find the thought it lost. Instead, if you reacted like I would…the hand would take over my thoughts and become instantly annoying. The thought would never return, the poor spouse would probably get the annoyed look, or a sarcastic retort that I would immediately feel bad about. Do they offer sarcasm management classes somewhere? lol.

I hope you don’t mind my asking…and feel free to tell me it’s none of my business, but how big were your aneurysms…and how small do they consider too small to clip or coil? And..how often do they check the one they are observing? My email is crowe.asylum@yahoo.com if you would rather answer me there, or I am on Facebook search for the above email address, my name is Brenda Johnson. Thank you for being such an inspiration to everyone on this site. It’s really cool to be able to talk to others who have similar experiences with symptoms, etc. Thanks again! ~Brenda Johnson

By: Barbara

Barbara — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 16:15:53 +0000

Dear Brenda,

I admire your persistence at getting an answer about what’s wrong. I was not persistent enough, obviously. The surgeons at the National Brain Aneurysm Center fixed all but one of my aneurysms. One was (and still is) too small to clip or coil. When and if it grows, my doctors will fix it. If you are nervous about your aneurysms, maybe you could ask them to review your charts and give you a second opinion.

The hot/cold temperature bounce drove me nuts. Not everyone gets that with aneurysnms, so it probably is related to location in the brain. I used to stand outside in 20 below temperatures just to cool off. My poor husband… he suffered along with me!

You are right about lost sentences being difficult. My husband would do a twirly (and annoying)motion with his hand — as if he could help me finish my thought. Honestly, I worried that I was getting dementia. My family doctor thought it was depression. Truly, it WAS all in my head–just not the way any of us expected.

We have a lot in common. Keep in touch!

By: Brenda Johnson

Brenda Johnson — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 02:10:17 +0000

Barbara, Thank you so much for telling your story and sharing so many of your symptoms and the issues you face. I am wondering if they fixed all 13 of your aneurysms or if they are observing any? I am 38, have been diagnosed with 6 brain aneurysms, a year and a half ago they coiled one, the other five they check annually to see if they are doing anything. I had all of the same symptoms, and kept going back to the doctor until they did an MRI and found the first one. (they found 1 more on the MRA, then the other four with an angiogram). For 8 months, they kept trying me on different migraine medications combined with various antidepressants. The good part is that they caught mine before any ruptured, but the bad part is that the symptoms are all still there after the coiling. The speech issues don’t come up quite as often, it’s very disturbing to think one thing and have the sentence come out half backwards, then try to correct myself only to say it backwards again! My temperature is always all over the place, I get warm so I will suck on ice cubes to cool down, then I can’t get warm. I have never found a site where the symptoms listed are almost exactly all of the problems I experience daily. This site is awesome…it’s very, very comforting to hear other people experiencing the same symptoms (helps to confirm that I’m not crazy, or at least that there are other similar crazy people out there! Lol) Thank you so much for sharing. ~Brenda Johnson

By: Anne Sonnee

Anne Sonnee — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 22:35:54 +0000

Thanks for sharing your experiences, Barbara! The combination of your writing background with your own personal journey overcoming your aneurysm diagnosis and treatment provides a great foundation for this blog. I look forward to reading more from you.