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Sub-arachnoid haemorrhage: Yvonne McQueen's story
I woke up one Saturday morning in late 1992 with a very bad headache, light sensitivity and a stiff neck. At first I put this down to having had a very stressful week at work (I was employed in a marketing agency then), got up, took a couple of paracetemol and went back to bed. Felt fine two hours later, got up and carried on as normal.
I remembered I’d had something similar a few years previously, where I’d also had some minor confusion, but nothing was diagnosed then.
Later that week (in 1992) I decided to go to the doctor. I never get headaches and this one had been particularly bad. My family doctor (now retired) was very good and, because I’d had metastatic cancer in 1981, decided to treat it seriously. He referred me to a neurosurgeon (Peter Teddy at the Radcliffe Infirmary in Oxford), who after running some neuro tests on me, commented that he thought I had a subarachnoid haemorrhage due to an aneurysm.
I was duly given appointments for brain scans and an angiogram in Oxford, which showed that I had two aneurysms, one larger than the other. As the neck of the larger aneurysm was too deep inside the brain to clip, it was decided to carry out a coil embolisation, a procedure where a platinum coil is carried on the end of a catheter up through the body’s arterial system through a tiny cut in the groin. At the time, this was a clinical trial at the Radcliffe Infirmary and I understand has since been found to be extremely efficient in treating difficult aneurysms.
It was a terrifying experience. I think that anything to do with the brain is a worry, it controls so much and I felt as if I had a ticking timebomb waiting to explode. The thought of someone operating on my brain was also frightening - being aware that so much could go wrong, that I might be left paralysed or dead. I was very shocked at the diagnosis and thought of all those times when I'd played squash, been out running and generally exerted myself - when the aneurysm could have ruptured completely.
In addition to the coiling, the surgeon performed two craniotomies on me, to wrap both aneurysms in order to strengthen the aneurysm walls. It was thought unnecessary to coil embolise the smaller aneurysm.
I obviously don’t remember much about the operation, and was in intensive care for a few days. I looked pretty awful as the right side of my face was black and blue, and my eye swollen, but this soon returned to normal.
The treatment at the Radcliffe was first rate – the nurses and doctors were all very good and extremely helpful in explaining the procedures. But I found it a very frightening experience! We only have one brain and if something goes wrong, it’s pretty serious! I also felt very nervous at leaving the security of the hospital when I returned home.
My husband was alive then, and I had tremendous support from him, and from family and friends. As I was not allowed to be left on my own, my husband took me to my parents every day where I was well looked after, fed and watered, and given my various medications at the appointed times. Looking back, I can recall feeling very tired, having headaches and generally feeling a bit wobbly.
But I got through it! I am now fit and well, and even went on to study for a Masters degree some 2 or 3 years after surgery. So there is life after your brain has been fiddled with!!
I’m very fortunate that my GP took seriously my complaint of a headache, I’m very fortunate that I live near Oxford’s Radcliffe Infirmary with its excellent Neurosciences Department, and I feel that all patients with similar complaints are fortunate to be able to access so much information through the Brain & Spine Foundation.
