Jane's Story - Brain aneurysm and subarachnoid haemorrhage

Jane is a diagnostic radiographer and worked for the National Health Service for over 20 years before becoming a Senior Lecturer in Diagnostic Radiography. In December 2014, she suffered a life changing subarachnoid haemorrhage. This is her story.
Up until December 2014, I was a relatively healthy woman but at the age of 44 I had a subarachnoid hemorrhage.
I woke in the middle of the night with a headache. I had a cold so I thought maybe I just had a headache because I'd been coughing, but I couldn't even lift my head up from the pillow. My initial thought, as a radiographer, was that I was having a subarachnoid haemorrhage but then I thought to myself to stop being a drama queen - it's just a headache. I tried to go back to sleep but then it got much worse.
Initially, the nurses thought I just had a cold and that's why I had a headache, but when I did see an A&E doctor, he thought I may have a viral meningitis. They told me that I needed to have a CT scan of my brain and a lumbar puncture, just to rule out subarachnoid hemorrhage, because I was
over 40 years of age.
I had a CT scan and then about an hour later they came back and said that I needed to go for another CT scan but that this time, I would need to have contrast. Later, I was moved from the
A&E apartment to a short stay ward. On my way, the doctor stopped us in the corridor and spoke to my mum and said that they would need to take "Jane to a quiet place". My first thought was "I've got an aneurysm haven't I?" and he said yes. I was transferred to a neuro centre and pretty much after that I don't really remember much because it was all a bit of a shock.
I was transferred to a neuro Hospital under blue light in an ambulance and when I arrived at the other hospital, lots of people were all around me, hooking me up to things and examining me. Later on that morning, I had to go for another set of scans and a neuro interventional radiologist came to see me. He said that I needed treatment that day.
I then went down to theatre where I had embolisation of the aneurysm. When I woke up, I was back on the neuro intensive ward and still had a headache.
Two weeks later I was discharged from hospital and everything was fine. I'm doing okay. I'm still not a hundred percent of the person I was beforehand but I managed to hold down my job and cope with day-to-day life experiences. I do get tired all the time but I work that into my daily routines so I know that if I've got a heavy day at work, I'm not going to be awake enough to go out in the evening, or if I want to go out in the evening I'll make sure I have a lighter day.
Queen Square had a massive impact on my recovery. Once you'd had your surgery, it's fine as you know you are mended but actually, what people don't know is cognitively and psychologically the damage that's been done to you. I felt like I wasn't the same person so I came to Queen Square and I had some really good treatment with one of the neurologists to help me through my
cognitive disabilities that I now have and also psychologically getting to terms with the fact that I'm not that person that I was before the haemorrhage. Realising that you suffered a near-death experience is something that is really hard to cope with and the psychological help I got through Queen Square has been amazing.
The future is good. I'm finally decided that this is the year that I start to live my life again because it's coming up to three years now and I've been gradually working through the recovery and the psychological issues that I've had. I'm taking my life forward and living my best life.
I've always known as a radiographer that the signs and symptoms of subarachnoid haemorrhage are a thunderclap headache - literally like being hit over the back of the head with a baseball bat - that's the kind of headache I had. If you feel like it's not a normal kind of headache for you or if you start to feel like you are sensitive to the light, you feel sick or you've got neck stiffness, then seek advice straight away as it's a medical emergency.
There are amazing support groups out there. The Brain and Spine Foundation is one of the best ones because it gives you straight forward information about what you need and there are also really good support groups on social media. I found a lot of people on Facebook, American
groups mainly, but the the Brain and Spine Foundation has its own forum where everyone shares their experiences. You may think that you're not recovering quick enough but actually everyone's recovering at the same speed. I've made a friend through the Brain and Spine Foundation Facebook group and we meet up and we share our experiences. That's what things like that are there for so that you know don't feel like you're left alone.
If any of the issues raised in this video have affected you, then please speak to the Brain and Spine Foundation or for medical assistance, contact us at [e-mail]