Tell me about cerebral aneurysm

In My Humble Opinion
1

We just found out that my mother has a cerebral aneurysm. She had a stroke in September, and she has recovered almost fully from that. Unfortunately, some of the tests while she was in the hospital indicated that she might have an aneurysm, and a recent angiogram confirmed it.

We are currently waiting to hear from Shands to find out when she will be able to get in to see the neurosurgeon. All we know from her local neurologist is that it is small, not ruptured, and located on the left middle cerebral artery.

I’ve read about both the coiling as well as the clipping treatments, and I’m hoping that she will be eligible for the coiling procedure.

Have any of you dealt with this situation before? How scared should I be right now? What kind of disability could this leave her with? I know the chance of survival, should it rupture, is not good. What are the odds like if you catch it before it ruptures? Hopefully we’ll find out all of these answers when we get to Shands, but until then my mind is swimming with questions.

2

My sister had a cerebral aneurysm, but that was 20 years ago, so I imagine that treatments have improved. Her aneurysm had a slow leak, so she was hospitalized and once her condition was stable enough, the operation took place. I’ll call her tonight and ask her details about the method used. She had at least one other malformation of a vessel in the brain that was repaired, so she’ll know.

She recovered fully, even went on to have 3 children. She has to take anti-epilepsy meds for the rest of her life. She had been told that she might have some motor difficulties, but she assures us that she never experienced any. The degree and type of damage created by an aneurysm depends among other factors upon its location in the brain. I’m not a doctor, and I’m sure one of our medical people will come along and post more precise information.

Good luck to your mom, and hang in there.

3

Wow, that’s amazing to hear. Thanks.