Category: Brain Aneurysm

1-Year Annie-Versary

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My one-year annie-versary was met with a beautifully, sunny and warm fall day. However, unlike last year’s day spent in ICU, this day was filled with self-indulgence and rewards- and why not?

  1. I took the day off work. I wanted to celebrate this day with living…not working.
  2. I treated myself to a one-hour aromatherapy massage, a french manicure and a warm stone facial at The Senator Inn & Spa.
  3. Dave and I enjoyed a nice mid-day cruise on the boat after my spa visit and I called my mom…something I was unable to do for almost 7 days last year. He set out a Care Bear and a very sweet card for me. (Check out this entry on the history of the Care Bear.)
  4. Dave presented me with a small pumpkin and a card which contained a gift certificate for my favorite greenhouse Longfellows Greenhouse at the hotel. He had packed the pumpkin in his suit case! LOL
  5. Dave and I enjoyed a wonderful dinner at The Senator Inn & Spa’s restaurant Cloud 9 and started it off with a champagne toast before dinner. We ended with a carry-out tiramisu to enjoy later in our room.
  6. We enjoyed the pool and hot tub at the inn and worked off our dinner…well, Dave did! LOL
  7. We stayed overnight in a spa suite with a nice gas fireplace and very cushy beds.
  8. The next day Dave and I had a terrific breakfast then enjoyed a visit to the greenhouse to pick up some pumpkins, hay and corn stalks for some seasonal fall decorating. I don’t normally decorate for fall, but this year I am because I’m here to enjoy it, so why not?
  9. A fall drive through the hills to enjoy the foliage was next and another sunny, warm day greeted us.
  10. We enjoyed a long cruise on the boat where at anchor, we both fell asleep. Thankfully, it wasn’t windy, so no fear of the anchor coming loose while dozing! LOL

The night before, the day of and the day after my annie-versary, were filled with lengthy discussions and memories of how it was a year ago and things that happened to not only Dave and myself, but to other family members and coworkers. I found out some things I hadn’t known before about the day I was admitted to the hospital and when I went into surgery and during recovery. Mostly because I was on so much medication I don’t a lot of it.

Although Friday was a day filled with rewards for myself, it was reward enough to be here and to be enjoying such a lovely time with my “Maine Man”…who has been smoke-free for a year as well.

I certainly had some strange emotions flowing through me this past week. I can’t even put some of them into words. I just know in remembering how things were last year I’m very lucky and very blessed.

Thoughts

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It’s odd. As the one-year anniversary of my ruptured brain aneurysm looms closer, as I repeat doing some of the same things I did last year, I get “nervous”. I can’t think of any other word for it. It’s like, if I do the same things I did last year, it’ll happen again or something. Even though I know it won’t. Silly really.

I also think about the things I did last year not knowing I had the little, well, NOT so little, time bomb there. The stress of work is bringing it all back heavily. How did I not burst an aneurysm during the previous years of the catalog? Why didn’t it burst during my most stressful days last year? Certainly, it could have been worse and I’m very lucky to be here to experience all the lovely stress of THIS year’s catalog process, but I can’t help think about last year and how close I could have come to facing the grim reaper.

It’s almost like I’m reliving last year, but this time with the knowledge I had the aneurysm. It IS making me take things slower and easier and I’m giving myself more breaks and trying to enjoy life more this fall than I did last fall. I’m just lucky I’m HERE this fall to enjoy it right? No one reads this…not sure why I ask questions! LOL

10 Months and Counting

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I failed to realize that this past Sunday was my 10 month anniversary of my rupture. And even though I failed to realize it, the way I spent the day was a celebration of life and enjoying it with family and enjoying the outdoors.

It was a beautiful day full of glorious, bright blue skies, light winds, no humidity and warm, but not hot, temperatures. Dave and I enjoyed coffee & tea out on the boat at the dock, then his niece Kim drove up from Portland and joined us. We spent all day out on the water. At least three separate trips with breaks for more food and drink in between. A very enjoyable, restful, un-stressful day with close family.

In the past 10 months I have recovered nicely. Things certainly could have been a lot worse. I take life and do things far more slowly than I used to. I guess that old adage to “stop and smell the roses” is coming in to play. There are just more important things to be concerned about in life. It doesn’t mean I still don’t want to go on a big shopping spree and buy a new wardrobe and drop that 10 extra pounds I can’t seem to lose, but it isn’t as important to me as it used to be. I’m healthy, I have a job and am living each day – and I’m very lucky to have a loving family and my “Maine
Man”.

Dave has been my rock, my handyman, my chauffeur, my broad shoulders, my sounding board and so much more. I couldn’t have gotten through this without him, literally. If he had not been home that morning last Oct. 4th, I don’t know if I would have driven myself to the ER that morning. I don’t know if I could have. Truthfully, I probably would have waited until later that morning and called to see if I could get in to see my regular Dr….and that may not have happened right away. Granted, Dr. Kwan may have very well saved my life, but Dave has save me in so many other ways. I’m so very lucky.

I’m not sure what my one year anniversary will bring. Probably lots of memories and I’ll be so busy at work during that time, I’ll probably be too tired to do much, but I will mark the occasion in some fashion.

I still get headaches, I still get very, very tired, my eyes will still bother me on occasion, I still get winded…but it has been worse. And I’ll continue to hold on to that. 10 months down….many more to go.

I’m Really Glad

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I’m really glad I have kept a record of my recovery from my ruptured brain anuerysm, coiling surgery and recovery. Even though the entries from the first few days are more remembrances, than actual recordings of the day’s events, it has proved to be a terrific reminder of just how far I have come.

The simple things of doing a loud of laundry or loading the dishwasher as being daily accomplishments are a good reminder of how unstable and insecure I was back in Oct. & Nov. and how much progress I have truly made since then. The headaches directly related to the annie, the blood leakage and the surgery have ceased. I’m back at work full-time, driving and grocery shopping. I think it’ll be good to remind myself of those days when I’m feeling frustrated with the things I still can’t do fully. I may NEVER be able to work at top speed on some things again, but it’s good to remind myself that I wasn’t able to do much less than that for a short period of time. Thankfully, it WAS a short period of time. As I have continued to state….I’m very lucky.