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October 7, 2008

Recovery from brain aneurysm often takes hard work, dedication

By JEFF MEYERS

PLATTSBURGH -- Looking back on that fateful day in May 2005, Jan Washburn now recognizes the symptoms that suggested something was wrong.

But when she collapsed while at work for Plattsburgh Mountain Valley Teleservices, she had no idea that the insidious cause of her ailment would change her life forever.

"I had just gotten back to work from lunch maybe 20 minutes earlier," she said. "I remember that I started feeling dizzy and seeing these red circles in my field of vision.

"I thought I was having a stroke and asked my supervisor to call me an ambulance. Then I passed out."

Washburn, of Keeseville, still cannot remember anything after that point.

"I have a lot of curiosity about everything, and I've interviewed my husband (David) often about it," she said.

She learned that the doctors at the CVPH Medical Center Emergency Department had first thought she was suffering from food poisoning, considering that she had just returned from lunch prior to the attack.

But shortly after her arrival at the ER, a friend who had eaten with her arrived and said they had both had the same meal and so it could not be from the food.

"They did a CAT scan and saw that I had suffered a ruptured aneurysm and needed to be transferred to a place with a neurosurgeon," she said.

LONG RECOVERY

An aneurysm, which can occur in other areas of the body as well, is a bulge in a blood vessel that can be dangerous and even deadly if it ruptures.

North Country Life Flight was called in, and Washburn was transported to Fletcher Allen Health Care in Burlington, where she spent about three weeks in Intensive Care and Recovery, most of which she does not remember to this day.

"When I started to come to, I remember asking my husband if I stroked out,'" she said. "He said, No, you had a brain aneurysm,' and I remember thinking that sounded better than a stroke."

But the road to recovery proved long and extensive. Home again, she spent six weeks in physical therapy and had many problems with her balance and speech.

"Once I got home, reality set in, and I realized it was going to be a lot harder than I thought," she said. "It was a rough year with a lot of adjustments."

She has not been able to go back to work and still has problems with fatigue, but she has spent a great deal of time "paying back" the people who were involved in saving her life, particularly as a volunteer for the Life Flight organization.

"They were just wonderful people," she said of Life Flight. "They truly are neighbors helping neighbors."

VIOLENT HEADACHE

As she looks back, Washburn can remember feelings of pressure behind her ear that could have been a precursor to the aneurysm, but the experience was something she never imagined would happen to her.

Mary Ann Bradford, from Peru, had a similar experience with a ruptured brain aneurysm.

"I was doing errands, like I usually do in the morning, but I pulled into the driveway (that day) with a violent headache," she recalled. "I shut the car off, went into the house and lay on the kitchen bench. From then on, I remember nothing."

Her husband, David, was not home at the time, but fortunately, he arrived soon after her collapse, she learned later. Although she responded when he asked what was wrong, he felt something serious was going on and called for the ambulance.

She also spent weeks in Burlington recovering, and when she returned home, doctors said she would either need to be admitting into a nursing home or would need "24-7" care.

"My husband was retired, and he said he would take care of me," she said. "He had to do everything for me, and he was so wonderful through it all."

She has rebounded since those troublesome days two years ago, but now, as she approaches her 65th birthday, she has returned to work running her own tailoring business.

"My memory is crap," she said, "and I don't go out of the house without a note with me (with directions and any other relevant information for the errand she is on).

But, she said, "everyone is so happy to see me back."

It sometimes "perturbs" her that she can't move as well as she did prior to the aneurysm, but she is pleased with her progress and also appreciative of all those who helped her through the ordeal.

"I guess the best part is that I don't remember (the attack)," she said. "Beyond that, I've done remarkably well."

E-mail Jeff Meyers at:

jmeyers@pressrepublican.com

brain aneurysm facts
E An estimated 6 million people in the United States have an unruptured aneurysm.
E About 40 percent of all people who have a ruptured brain aneurysm will die as a result.
E Four out of seven people who recover from a brain aneurysm will have disabilities.
E Brain aneurysms are most prevalent in people between 35 and 60 but can occur in children as well.
E Women, more than men, suffer from brain aneurysms at a ratio of three to two.
From the Brain Aneurism Foundation: wwwbafound.org

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