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I read through a number of stories from survivors and noticed the common thread of wanting to help others avoid or be aware of stroke symptoms before they become a reality. Without a long story Blood Pressure plays a key role in these stories. I was told 130/135 was normal which they now know is 120 to be normal. I came home from work and it was just another typical demanding day. I spent some time with my wife and before retiring i got up for one more bathroom call and everything went out as I went unconscious and fell. I tried to get up, I called out to my wife and she tried to help me up but my core strength was gone and i couldn't get up. Little did i know the aneurysm had occurred. But then I drooled and I knew immediately i had had a stroke because my father had three strokes and drooled. The last stroke for him proved fatal. My wife called 911. I was taken to UCLA in westwood , fortunately for me thats the number one facility for a stroke attack. My left side failed fully including my left lung. A massive stroke, and an emergency tracheotomy and a stomach tube and into an induced coma so the brain could reabsorb the blood as the bleed was more central in my brain, not an easy operation. Coming out of the coma i couldn't talk or use my left side totally bedridden. That was the start of whats become a four year journey.. But the odds of not making it were 60/40 so im ahead so to say. But i wouldnt wish this on anyone. So pay attention to your blood pressure and keep your blood vessels as clean as you can. LonTinney

FYI. Check this website; HHT.org It is a vascular disease. .(50/50chance to pass on) HHT HAS MANY CENTERS OF SPECIALTY AROUND THE COUNTRY AND I URGE EVERYONE WITH AN AFFECTED RELATIVE, TO GET TESTED AT ONE OF THIS CENTERS.. PLEASE LOOK FOR THE NEAREST CENTER..... GO TO: ”HHT.ORG” I HAD AN ANEURYSM THAT RUPTURED AND MY SON AT AGE 6YRS HAD A HEMORRHAGE. We are both lucky to be here and healthy. Now we are very active members in HHT. I DO NOT KNOW WHICH OF MY RELATIVES HAD HHT... BUT IT COULD SHOW AS LITTLE SIGN AS MIGRAINES...Your organization is a blessing. HOWEVER, SOME AFFECTED PEOPLE MIGHT HAVE HHT AND NEED FUTHER TREATMENTS.....AVM’S NEED TREATMENTS since they show up in other organs and can get treated if getting to an HHT Center. Best wishes!

Scott Shepard Cocoa Beach, FL Brain Aneurysm------Age 15 I was out surfing in Ocean City Maryland and without any notice, I had a brain aneurysm. I almost drowned but was put out to the beach where I was transported to the local hospital. I was then helicoptered to Walter Reed Army Hospital (stepfather was a retired Lt. Col) and tested. Amazing that one of the best neurosurgeons in the world just so happen to be stationed at Walter Reed. He transferred two weeks after he had operated on me. My mother was told that because the aneurysm was in the lower stem of the brain (vital organ section), my chance of living was 1 in 100 and "if" I survived, I would be a vegetable. Nine months later I was surfing again and still surf today at age 65. I have been married for 43 years, have three daughters and five grandsons. Only by the Grace and Mercy of God and I here today to write this. Scott Shepard.

It was Easter Sunday morning and my sister was visiting my mother. She got out of bed, was nauseated and passed out on the floor. That Friday she had told a coworker she felt poorly, like "life was draining out of her". EMS was called and she was transported to the ER. She was intubated to maintain her airway and remained like that until all family was at her side. She was extubated and passed shortly after that.

Just wanted to write a little something my mom died at 57 of a brain Aneurysm.my sister decided to have a test on her 57th birthday and was also diagnosed with a brain aneurysm! I had the time was 55 and she said we needed to be tested because we were family and it was hereditary. So at age 55 I was also diagnosed with a brain aneurysm. My sister had a stent put in, and I had a coil put in. The odds of me getting another one a very slim same for my sister. I urge everyone that has a family member with an aneurysm to get checked it’s an x-ray. It’s not worth falling down and losing your life when it’s preventable. I do not know that I have anything in my head I do not have any side effects. I am just blessed that my sister decided to do this. I urge anyone to have the test!

On 4-21-17, I took my son to get X-rays. I was 37 years old. I’d had a bad headache the night before. I’ve had bad headaches most of my adult life. I’d had MRIs and neuro exams and nothing was ever found. I had no reason to suspect this was any different I started to feel funny during the x-rays, and felt a headache coming on suddenly. The headache started off as mild and quickly escalated. I wanted to get home to take some Aleve and lie down before work. I somehow managed to drive home as the headache and nausea increased. I got my son and I both inside. I went upstairs, took some Aleve, and fell down. The headache suddenly had become this demon of a thing that was easily the worst headache of my life. I threw up, and knew I was in some sort of crisis. I screamed for the babysitter who was able to call 911. She told them what I told her--that I thought I was having a stroke. I told her I was dying, to tell my family I loved them, and asked her to hold my hand. She told me I wasn't going to die, and cried along with me. I truly believed my number was up. She saved my life by being there and by calling 911. I am also grateful I wasn’t alone in what I thought were my final moments on this earth. It was lights out for me after that and the next 5-7 days have been pieced together by family and friends. I learned a few things after I woke up and got my bearings. 1) the headache I experienced is called a "thunderclap headache." After having it, the description seems perfect in a horrible way. 2) I had a subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) that was caused. Y an enormous aneurysm on my basilar artery. It was 1.5 cm. 3) For some reason, the hemorrhage stopped bleeding on its own before I made it into surgery. This is the only reason I'm alive and no one can explain why it happened. 4) 40% of people who suffer from SAH die before they reach the hospital. 5) 60% of those who survive have major deficits such as difficulty walking, talking, or performing their activities of daily living. 6) Other than being female, I have no risk factors for having an SAH. 7) An MRI I had done 7 years earlier showed no sign of the monster aneurysm. 8) This type of thing is potentially genetic. So now I get to worry about my immediate family having one, too. The ambulance arrived and apparently assumed this suburban mother of 4 was a heroin addict and gave me Narcan X 2 doses. This is the world we live in now. When I didn't respond, they loaded me up and took me to the nearby hospital (where I just was, getting X-rays for my son). A CT scan showed the enormous bleeding aneurysm. Some of my family made it to the hospital to see me very quickly before I was life flighted to the downtown main campus of the Cleveland Clinic. They told me I was awake and responding to them. I have no memory of any of this. I had emergency surgery to put platinum coils in the aneurysm to stop it from bleeding further. The next thing I remember, I woke up in the ICU a few days later with a tube in my throat and a severe headache. I had tubes everywhere. I had a Swan-Ganz catheter, and later, a PICC line. I had a drain coming out of my head called an EVD that drained my CSF and the blood from the aneurysm. I panicked with the tube down my throat. The worst part of the ICU easily was being awake and aware of being intubated and enduring deep endotrachial suctioning while alert. I begged to be sedated, for more pain meds. I chicken scratched on paper asking for drugs by name, asking for my fentanyl drip to be turned up. Every time, I was told I needed to be awake so my hourly neuro exam could be completed. It was hell. My first neuro exam that I remember, they shined a flashlight in my eyes and I felt my eyes going every which way. I was unable to focus. Everything was blurry and double. I saw concern in the doc's face and knew this meant nothing good. I had this symptom for months. I had to wear an eye patch and alternate eyes every two hours so I could see. I learned I had been extubated a few days earlier but had to be re-intubated immediately due to flash pulmonary edema. I also developed stress cardiomyopathy and my ejection fraction went into the 40's. I was started on intrathecal milrinone. I was told I'd still need to have 1-2 stents placed in the aneurysm. Everything was terrifying. The ventricles in my brain weren't reabsorbing the blood and the CSF. If that continued, I'd need a shunt. I had vasospasms which increased all my symptoms: confusion, headache, blurred vision, nausea. The neurosurgeon went back into the aneurysm and injected it with verapamil to try to stop the vasospasms. Eventually, they stopped. On 5-18 I received my shunt after CT scan showed my ventricles were still enlarged and I was too dependent on the EVD. I have a small scar on the back of my head and one in my abdomen from the shunt, which is permanent. I started physical therapy the next day. I had been in bed, not moving, for almost a month. They came every day, got me to slowly move my legs and neck around. Eventually they got me out of bed and to a chair. The fact that I could talk and walk meant that most of my neurological faculties were intact. Given the size of the aneurysm, this was incredible. Eventually I was moved from the ICU to a stepdown unit. Then, I was moved to a rehab facility where I spent the last three weeks. I had PT, OT, and speech therapy daily, most often, twice daily, where I worked hard to rid myself of the walker, and work on balance and endurance. In speech therapy, I worked on memory, word recall, problem solving, and even math. During this time, my husband took off work to take care of our brood of children. He had help, as we always do, and they all did a magnificent job, as we always strive to do. I eventually went home and continued my care as an outpatient. I got my stent placed about 2.5 months after my aneurysm rupture. The headaches were constant and relentless at first. I always had a dull throb in my forehead and temples. This sometimes escalates to a full on pounding without warning. Sometimes it feels like Michael Myers is stabbing me on top of my head over and over again. What no one talks about, at least that I’ve seen, is the profound effect strokes have on one’s mental health. I have anxiety, depression, and PTSD. I have this misunderstood thing called neurofatigue. There was a psychologist at my rehab facility, but she didn’t do much for me other than recommend I see someone when I was discharged. This area is one where the hospital systems need to improve. We need more mental health support for our stroke survivors.

To make a long story short...after waking up the morning of 8/1/11 out of a seizure I was brought to a local hospital where a ruptured Fusiform Brian Aneurysm was diagnosed. After spending 3 weeks in Neuro ICU I was released but at the time there really was no information readily available to help me to try and figure out what may happen next. Since then, over the last 6-7 years, the mortality rate has been dropping and the survival rate has been rising and it has resulted in numerous survivors wanting to tell their stories and share their experiences not only with our fellow survivors but additionally with caregivers, family and friends. With this infusion of knowledge, The Lisa Colagrossi Foundation is rapidly becoming a wealth of information in reference to not only the management of healing through it's members experiences but also the availability of reference materials.

I am retired and never experienced an aneurysm myself. I am sharing the story of my lovely daughter who died from an aneurysm in June 2016 at the age of 38. She had been to several doctors regarding headaches, and was repeatedly told that she just needed to lose weight. On June 18, 2016, she and I spent a afternoon together. It was rare for us to have that much time together because she had begun working a part time job in addition to her full time job. She loved both jobs, and appreciated being able to handle her financial obligations on her own following a painful divorce. After spending the afternoon together, I recall waving goodbye and telling her that I loved her. She responded by saying she loved me too. Less that 24 hours later, her daughter, who was a college sophomore at the time, arrived home after being unable to reach her by phone. The aneurysm had taken her life. The coroner told me that she died within minutes of the rupture. I still think of her each and every day and the pain seems that it will last forever. Young adults, my message to you is to schedule regular check-ups and seek second and even third opinions if a problem continues.

ON JANUARY 26, 2019 MY HUSBAND ADUARDO RUIZ WAS WITH US IN DGO. DGO FOR THREE DAYS, HE WENT TO THE CITY OF MEXICO BECAUSE HERE STUDY ARRIVED ON 27 HE LIVES ONLY I NOTICE THAT HE HAD COME WELL AND ON THE DAY WE HAD NO COMMUNICATION I LEAVED BECAUSE I TOLD ITS TIRED OF THE TRIP, AND ON MONDAY 28 LE I CALL AND I DO NOT ANSWER A FRIEND WHO GOES TO SEEK HIM HOME AND DOES NOT OPEN THE DOOR I TELL YOU TO TELL THE HOUSEHOLD THAT YOU OPEN IT AND YOU FOUND IT DROP IN THE UNCONSCIOUS FLOOR YOU WERE TAKEN TO THE HOSPITAL AND I TRAVELED FROM DGO TO MEXICO THAT DAY IN THE NIGHT THE DOCTORS TELL ME THAT I SUFFERED A CEREBRAL ANEURISM, THEY HAD TO TELL ME THAT THEY HAD SUFFERED A VERY BIG HEMORRHAGE THAT WAS GOING TO OPERATE TO DRAIN HEMORRHAGE, BUT ON THE NEXT DAY THEY SAY THAT IT CAN NOT BE BECAUSE IT IS VERY DEEP HOPE TO HAVE IF IT REACTIONED, GIVEN 10% OF POSSIBILITIES OF LIVING I TOLD ME TO PREPARE FOR THE WORST THING WAS A VERY STRONG DAMAGE, BUT DAYS SAY ME WE WILL SEE HOW TO REACT ON DAY 11 TELL ME THAT THE YOU WILL SURVIVE FOR YOUR HEMORRHAGE AND YOU CAN NOT OPEN THE BRAIN BECAUSE IT WAS VERY DEEP, THAT WE HAD TO WAIT IF YOU WAS AWAKENING OR MORIA COULD LAST DAYS MONTHS OR YEARS WE DID NOT KNOW, THAT DAY WAS THE WORST OF MY LIFE BECAUSE I HAD TO DISCARD FROM HIM I SAID YOU I LOVE MY FLAQUITO BUT IF YOU HAVE TO GO AHEAD, OR IF YOU WANT TO CONTINUE HERE WITH YOU FIGHTING FOR YOU EVEN IF YOU WERE MONTHS OR YEARS I LOVE YOU AND I WILL BE HERE, AND YOU START TO MAKE THE PROCESSES TO MOVE IT TO DURANGO, DGO SO THAT IT WAS CLOSE TO THE FAMILY AND I SAID, BUT THE FALLECIO ON FEBRUARY 07, 2019, I THINK THAT THE DRS. THEY HAD TO HAVE DONE SOMETHING MORE TO OPERATE IT OR NOSE, AND I THINK IF IT WAS GOOD BECAUSE I PASSED THAT ONE WHY? ONLY GOD KNOWS IT AND I WOULD NOT LIKE THAT MORE GENETE WILL HAPPEN WHY I HAVE PASSED THE