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I was experiencing the most horrible headaches and for 4 months I was bouncing back and forth between eye doctors and family dr's. I had xrays (assuming it was a sinus/allergy issue) Due to the fact that I also have M.S. I finally had a cat scan as a new dr. felt the symptoms I was showing could have been due to M.S.. Within 24hrs of this test I was in an O.R. . I had an acute subdural hematoma. I had not been involved in any car accident or major trauma. The only thing we could determine was that I tripped on a nature walk! The headache and poor coordination were the big warning signs.

I had my Basilar tip aneurysm clipped in 2007. I was lucky. I had an MRA after back surgery, because I was having constant headaches, (later diagnosed as spine problems), and they caught the little brute. I may have gone all my life with no problems, but it may also have ruptured. I owe a great deal to my family doctor at the time, for his dedication and awareness. I have a big scar and a plate in my skull, but I am alive and kicking.

I am 53 years old and just stumbled upon this story about Lisa Colagrossi and ended up at this webpage. I have been having severe headaches since July 2016. One lasted 13 days before I finally went to the ER. Nothing helps these headaches which always start in my neck at the base of my skull. They then seem to go thru my head and land behind my eyes. The sides of my head never hurt. Only the back and behind my eyes. My doctor tried a migraine medication which did nothing. He finally ordered an MRI of my head and neck. They both came back normal. Since then I am still having the headaches at least one a week and sometimes up to three a week. I am very sensitive to light and my neck feels like it becomes a steel rod sticking into my head. I have been told to just take 1-2 hydrocodone every six hours and sleep. These headaches are different than any I've ever had before and I know something must be causing them. My question is "Is it possible to have an MRI (with contrast) and still have an undetected aneurysm?" Usually I can take 2 hydrocodone and some nausea meds and sleep for 8-10hrs and I'm better. Thank you for this page and for making people more aware.

I am John, Christina's husband. Christina is 43 yrs old and a mother of 7 children. On the morning August 29th 2015 I found Christina (Tina) laying on the garage floor. As a prior EMT I knew that she did not have much longer to live based upon how I found her. I immediately called 911 and she was transported to our local hospital in which it took them about 40 minutes to realize that she had suffered a massive subarachnoid hemorrhage. Our hospital did not have resources to help her so they asked where I wanted her to go, I told them Mayo in which Rochester, MN is an hour from where we live. I asked if they could get the helicopter but due to the fog they were unable to fly so she had to be transported by ambulance. Mayo had told the physicians at the hospital how to prepare her for transport and what medications to administer. When she finally made it to Rochester they immediately placed a drain tube into her scalp to release pressure and begin to remove some of the blood. I was informed that she had a very minimal chance of survival and was asked if I wished for them to continue to provide life support. of course my answer was to do whatever they could possibly do to maintain her life. After a few hours they took her into surgery to see if they could coil off the aneurysm, in which they were unsuccessful due to its size and the fact that there was 3 lobes coming off of it. They placed another drain tube in her scalp so she had one on each side of her brain due to the large amount of blood. They told me this was a grade 5 hemorrhage and that even if she could possibly survive, she may be severely handicapped. She spent 19 days in the ICU and an additional 29 days on a recovery floor where she was then transferred to a long term care facility. In December of 2015, I prepared plans for her care and modifications to our home to bring her home. On February 10th after modifications were complete and needed items were purchased we brought her home and she is now cared for by one of our daughters during my work hours and I provide cares the rest of the time. She has no short term memory, has moments of confusion, and has many physical handicaps but has began walking with assistance using a walker or by holding onto our hands. She has made great strides and I am so grateful for her still being here today and for how far she has came. For over a year before she had the hemorrhage, she had many headaches in which she had seen her Dr's and a few emergency room visits for. They even performed a CT scan after I requested that they check her brain to see if there was something causing the headaches at one of her ER visits, but because it was just a normal scan, they did not see the aneurysm because there was no bleed at that time. A couple of months later she also developed vertigo and was seen for that but only provided medication to help alleviate the vertigo. My wife quit going to the doctors after 10 months because she said that her Dr made her feel as if she was just seeking medications. Please do not allow medical staff to deter you if you think you need further testing. I wish I would have went back and demanded further testing after the vertigo started and now am extremely regretful for not doing so. Their lack of concern for the symptoms almost cost her life and possibly disabled for life and there is nothing we can do about it now. Please pay attention to any warning signs and heed immediate medical help from a professional, knowledgeable provider.

I lost my daughter to an undiagnosed brain aneurysm. She was 25 years old. She had no major health issues. The day she died she complained of a slight headache, not a severe one. She took some advil and went upstairs to take a nap. She never woke up. This has devastated the family. I just hope people read some of these posts and get help.

My husband, thankfully, is still alive today. About 8 years ago he was in nursing school at aged 50 while working full time. He decided he wanted to fulfill a life long dream of helping others. Well, something was not quite right. When he went in for a regular check up, he was talking with the receptionist about having headaches and memory off. She shared how she lost her husband due to a brain aneurysm some time back. He thought she was nuts when she told him mention to the doctor He almost didn't, but he did. He went for the test and, low and behold, he had a brain aneursym and was referred to Columbia Presbyterian to a nuerosurgery consult. He was luck. It was not the size that bothered the surgeon but the location. Well, he went in for a craniotomy and it could not be clipped because his was attached to a main artery wall. Even more the reason why he needed to get in. So, 8 years ago, they successfully capped the aneursym with muscle flap from his scalp. To this day it is still in tact, has not grown. Had he not had this done, surely I would be righting this as a widow and not a lucky wife. Please, please do not ignore the warning signs. Get checked out.

13 years ago, I had a brain aneurysm. Thank God, I happened to be working at a local hospital, in the Radiology Dept., and was having severe headaches that landed me in the ER several times, only to be told that it was probably stress. Fortunately, for me, the Radiologist in my dept., insisted that I have an MRI done immediately. Two hours later, he called me with the news. I had an aneurysm that was ready to burst. The next week, I had surgery to clip it. The neurologist that performed the surgery was the best!! Again, Thank God, today I am living well, no after effects, and truly feel that I am a walking miracle. Today, I caution anyone who tells me that they are having headaches, please see your Dr. immediately, and INSIST on having an MRI done. A CT scan will NOT show an aneurysm.

April 27 1992 I was 22 years old and indestructible...so I thought. I was out for a jog about a mile from home and felt the most painful pressure/headache that is so unexplainable, I stopped turned around and started walking home, By the time I got to the end of my street, I started vomiting which happened 3 times, I had tunnel vision and seemed like I couldn't hear anything. I got home, my mom took to me to the hospital and after a catscan, they found the culprit right at the base of my brain...5 days later, they operated. I lost my sense of smell and my short term memory is just aweful which is very frustrating but in the big picture I cant complain. I am married now and have a beautiful daughter. Life goes on!! I am kinda glad in a weird way to be a part of a group that survived. God bless all of you!!

I read many of the other entries in the guest book. Unfortunately, my story is not one of survival. 9 years ago, my 40 year old husband died suddenly of a ruptured brain aneurysm while I was pregnant with our second daughter, and our older daughter was 10 months old. He had been having headaches for about a month or two prior to his death. At the time, we thought it was due to a change in his work schedule, and the hectic life of having a baby and one on the way. He had made an appointment with a neurologist, but it was scheduled for a week after he died. He had a history of slight high blood pressure, but the doctor didn't think it was bad enough for medication. In retrospect, many of the signs were clear, but at the time it didn't occur to me that anything could be seriously wrong. After he died, I found out that my husband's grandfather and uncle had died of the same thing, though at an older age. Although our girls and I are doing well now, and I have since remarried, I wish we had known more about it at the time and perhaps life would have turned out differently. I applaud this foundation and it is my hope and wish that many more people can be spared with more education and awareness. RIP David, we love you!

I had three aneurysms. Two of them the doctors fixed. The third one they are still watching. Lisa's foundation asked that if you had aneurysms, you write about it. Well, here I am. I was at work when it happened. I just grabbed my head. The pain was unbearable. This is where the long haul begins. It was Dr. Jonathan Brisman who did the surgery. It took 6 weeks in the hospital and another week in rehab before I came home. My right side was completely numb from my head to my toes. I couldn't write. The doctors who have helped me through the years are Dr. Wirkowsky and Dr. Friedman. They are neurologists. I couldn't talk at all. I have seizures each month, but they are watching them. It took a long time, but I'm in better condition than I was seven years ago. The date it happened was May 23, 2009. I think Lisa was a remarkable person, and I couldn't believe she died from the same thing I had. I look back now and think maybe she was looking down on me. My husband is helping me write this.