The Aneurysm Issue

I have other hubpages here, but this is my first one about aneurysms. I don't really know where to begin with this, so I guess the best thing is to begin at the beginning -- if that makes any sense.

This whole odyssey started on October 29, 2009. My husband and I were working as vendors (a.k.a. merchandisers), and were on our way to our first assignment of the day. The site was in a store some 40 miles from home. Because I have arthritis and carpal tunnel syndrome in both hands/wrists, my husband was driving. He still does the driving, because it's difficult for me now.

We were almost at the site when my left leg began to feel like it was going to sleep. I figured that was because of the way I was sitting, so I shifted my position. That didn't solve the problem, and instead my left arm started tingling as well. Stubborn as I am, I still refused to believe it could be anything serious. After all, I was only 48 years old, I was in good health, not considered overweight, and was very active. I was working as a vendor for 6 different companies at the time, which made it a full-time job. The pay was good, and I loved my work. I was also considered to be very good at it. One supervisor even nicknamed me "VendorWoman" when he saw the printout of my work schedule. My husband and I had completed close to 50 assignments in 4 days, and there were more coming.

But then I started feeling like someone had put a garbage bag over my head. It was getting hard to breathe. So I told my husband I wasn't feeling well. We both figured I just needed some air, so he rolled the window down. Needless to say, that didn't help either.

By that time, we were almost at the jobsite, and I figured this feeling would go away and I could get on with my work. But it was getting harder and harder to process my thoughts. When we got to the site, my husband asked if I was feeling any better. I wasn't, but thought maybe in a few minutes, I'd be OK. So he went in to use the restroom while I waited in the car. When he was done, he came back to me. I wasn't any better, and decided maybe I should go to the hospital.

Fortunately, my husband and I know that area well, and we knew there was a hospital just a few blocks away. By the time we got there, I could barely walk. I was immediately whisked into a room, and was being examined before I knew it. The diagnosis was a Transient Ischemic Attack -- T.I.A. for short, otherwise known as a mini-stroke.

So what does this have to do with an aneurysm? Well, the doctor decided to run some tests, one of which was an MRI. The aneurysm was an "incidental finding" on that MRI. It was determined that the aneurysm didn't cause the mini-stroke. But it didn't help matters either.

I wound up spending the night in that hospital, my husband at my side the whole time (he's such a wonderful man). My doctor said I needed to quit working. Period. Under doctor's orders, I took the next few days off, using that time to turn in my notice to each of my supervisors. I got permission (from doctor and supervisors) to finish out my existing workload with my husband's help (we were only a team with one company -- I worked for the others on my own). They really didn't have much choice, since my territory consisted of all those places nobody else would or could go to. The main issue was to be sure they didn't add more work.

So now, I'm retired and trying to get on Disability. Meanwhile, I deal with this "time bomb" in my head every day. Some days are good, and I can pretty much do what I want. Other days, like yesterday, are not so good. I get tired and feel sluggish all day. Often, this is compounde by the painful arthritis in my left knee, which often wakes me up in the middle of the night. I have an arsenal of pain meds which I can take during the day if I choose. But they make me drowsy, and I prefer to be awake and functional in the daytime. So I only take the meds at night -- but I still wake up after a few hours.

Yesterday, I was sluggish all day. I had a weird feeling of numbness around the left side of my mouth, with pain and stiffness in my left neck-shoulder area. I have arthritis in my neck and left shoulder too. When my husband got home from work, we went to the ER. I'm practically on a first-name basis with most of the staff there -- I've been there so many times. I have a little stuffed dog, named Buster, that I usually take with me because it helps to have something to hug (besides my husband) while I'm being hooked up to machinery. They even let me hold Buster while I get a CAT scan. Last time, afterwards, I told the machine operator "I'll bet Buster is the only dog who's ever had a CAT scan. He's disappointed though -- he went through the whole thing and didn't see a single cat." She got a good laugh out of that.

It was after 1 AM when we got home. The doctor gave me 2 Valium to take before bedtime -- to ease the pain and stiffness so I could sleep. They still don't know if it was caused by another mini-stroke or not, because that hospital really doesn't have the facilities for that kind of diagnosis. But the doc said if it happens again, no matter what time it is, come to the ER and they'll arrange to transport me to a place that does. Meanwhile, it's back to the old "watch and wait" for me.