On May 18, 1998 I was in West Palm Beach with my girlfriend Sue. We planned a week’s vacation to paint and update my condo. I was on the phone with my husband telling him about the day. This was around 5pm. I have no memory of this but have been told that this is what happened. 

I told John (my husband) that I suddenly wasn’t feeling well. I fell to the floor, dropped the phone and called for Sue to help me. She said I told her to “call an ambulance, something is wrong with me”. She grabbed the phone and John was still there and she quickly told him she would call him back. 

The ambulance came and took me to the first hospital but they determined it was a neurological problem and they could not help. They tried a second hospital but again they could not help. The third hospital had a doctor that knew of a new procedure in a 5-year trial called “coiling” that had just started in Miami. He determined the problem, but because of the location of the aneurysm in the brain, felt that if there was a chance for survival I may be a candidate for the experimental procedure in Miami and should have the aneurysm coiled. 

The doctor called my husband in Maine to let him know that he needed to get on the next plane and he would try to keep me alive until he got there! I understand that before John could get there I started bleeding out again, they induced a coma and fortunately the bleeding stopped. 

John arrived and consulted with the doctors and they put me on a plane to Miami and he and Sue and my brother and eventually my son arrived at Miami Doctor’s Hospital. Dr. Wolfe, a neurosurgeon and Dr. DePrima, a radiologist worked on me for many hours threading the coils into the aneurysm. They began each coiling from the artery in my groin and used X-rays to guide the coil to the ruptured artery where they released it into the aneurysm. Apparently it was a very large aneurysm and they put more coils in than they had ever done. 

They had to stop because the last coil did not engage and “seat” itself completely into the aneurysm. They decided to leave it and hope the blood would clot inside and cut off the flow to the weakened area.

I was in the Miami hospital for about four weeks, until they felt the risk of vasospasm had passed and I could make the flight to Brighton Rehab Hospital (currently New England Rehabilitation Hospital) in Portland, Maine where I spent two or three months. I was then an outpatient at Westside Neuro Rehabilitation in Lewiston, Maine for two years.

Afterwards, it was a long time before I started to realize something wasn’t right. People don’t understand that I was perfectly happy because I didn’t realize there was anything wrong with me. My mother came to Maine to live with us so I was never left alone. I was like an infant and completely unaware of any danger I might cause. I fell a lot as I had terrible balance issues, I had no bowel control and often had accidents. I had no immediate memories. If someone visited me and left the room for a moment, when they returned I was surprised to see them and thanked them for coming…every time they were out of my sight! 

I said whatever was on my mind with no filters and often told stories that had no truth to them! I wasn’t thinking they were lies, I was simply saying whatever came to mind! I was still in the rehab hospital when my friend Annice visited. I started telling her I was a nurse and asked her if she knew that. She was telling me that she had no idea of that. That’s when John butted in to tell her I was not a nurse and not to let me believe that I was. I remember telling John to mind his own business because he did not know everything about me! I did a lot of crazy things at the rehab hospital because I clearly had no idea of who I was or why I was there.

I was just beginning to feel like I knew who I was again, when I found out later that same year that more blood was getting into the aneurysm, and I had to have recoiling in November, this time in Boston. Unfortunately, it was like all the months of works were lost and I was starting all over. No balance, no bowel control, no idea of who I was or who I knew or what I did.

“Make the best of your life today. Be kind and do good deeds, the world needs all the help you can give.”

— Marg

Most people have no idea of what causes aneurysms and how to help someone. Coiling has allowed many people to not only live, but to have a life.

I tell people that if you spend enough time with me you will begin to see the struggles I still and always will have. I don’t worry about them anymore… because as I’ve aged I realize that most people have memory lapses too! It’s been 28 years and I’ve enjoyed every one of them!

I learned a lot from this adventure and sadly I have had two brothers die from aneurysms since I had mine. I also know that tomorrow is never promised to anyone so make the best of your life today. Be kind and do good deeds, the world needs all the help you can give.

It’s important to let people know that brain aneurysms can happen to anyone at any time. If there is anyone in your immediate family that has had one you should mention it to your doctor and be checked. 

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