Our group held its second brain aneurysm support meeting tonight since the start of the pandemic. Held outside, with proper spacing, and all wearing masks, we enjoyed a stunning, summer evening in Portland.

There are regulars who attend the meetings every month and there are those who try to attend when they can. So, we never know who is going to attend each month. Sixteen people attended tonight with two new survivors and a neuro nurse who brought a unique perspective to the group.

At last month’s meeting, our first since February, our group facilitator asked us to find something positive that has happened during the pandemic instead of trying to focus on all the negatives…because there certainly are a lot. It was a wonderful idea and gave us a chance to catch up with one another. I don’t believe the words “brain aneurysm” were even mentioned that evening. We left feeling “good” and grateful for those positives we were able to mention no matter how small they might have been.

Tonight we were asked to share something we have done this summer that has allowed us to get away from the chaos and uncertainty. We also went around the “room” and shared our brain aneurysm stories again. With new people in the group it can put them at ease to hear other’s stories, know they’re not alone, and it allows us a chance to offer advice and comfort if needed.

After 14 of us shared our relationship to brain aneurysms and added our “summer story”, we then met Elizabeth who has been a neuro nurse for over 30 years and who currently works at Maine Medical Center. It was fitting she was the last in the group to share HER story after listening to all of OUR stories.

She was not a brain aneurysm survivor and didn’t have a relative who had a brain aneurysm, but because of the field she is in, Elizabeth has seen the effects that a brain aneurysm can have on patients and their families at their most vulnerable stages: admittance to the hospital and during emergency and elective medical procedures.

What she does NOT see is how those patients fair once they leave her care and guidance in the neuro ward. So, tonight it was an eye-opening and rewarding experience for her to hear from survivors themselves, how they’re coping, how they’re surviving and thriving after their first, second, and sometime’s third experiences with brain aneurysms.

Elizabeth eloquently shared her feelings regarding our group and the survivors who shared their stories and how it gave her a new perspective and insight into healing and recovery. A perspective she never would have got had she not joined us tonight.

It also dawned on all of the survivors that, of course, a nurse who cares for these patients for a brief period during the ugliest parts of the patients experience would wonder how is that patient doing now? How is their family coping with this trauma? Did they regain their memory? Were they able to walk again? One forgets they must see patient after patient and not really get any kind of resolution or closure because THEY aren’t the ones who meet us during our followup appointments at the neurosurgeon’s office.

Elizabeth also shared that they don’t really remember the type of brain aneurysm we had, or its location, but they DO remember the family and the people around the patients and perhaps their initial struggles. She remembers the patient…not the medical condition.

What an eye opening perspective for us all to hear. We thanked HER for sharing that perspective and she thanked US for allowing her to hear our stories about our lives and healing after our initial brain aneurysm experiences. She also realized that the healing and PROGRESS can occur well after one or two years.

Many survivors are told they’ll be healed and back to “normal” in a year or two or that after two years, you got what you got. Many survivors also know this is NOT the case. You may look normal, but your brain can still be struggling with many, many different smaller deficits that, in time, WILL and can get better. But it takes time…lots of time.

I am so glad Elizabeth and the new survivors joined us tonight and shared their stories. It’s a good reminder of how fragile life is and those stories continue to inject new perspectives on SURVIVING and THRIVING with brain aneurysms.

Love & Peace