I have thought about sharing this story in some way but never had a serious platform or forum that it was relevant. Not really a good facebook status either so here goes:
I was 22 when it happened. I had just finished 2 months at trade school for my first year of welding. I had been fairly stressed over the last couple weeks before it happened but nothing really out of this world. I went to work that day and no headaches no nothing. I had a ball hockey game that night and went on like normal.
I warmed up and didn't feel any pain at all, but on my first shift it happened. It was like someone hit me with a sledgehammer in both of my temples. I thought someone had hit me with their stick as hard as they could but nothing was going on. I saw stars and ran to the bench. I thought it was my helmet pressing on a nerve but even after throwing it off the pain just got worse and worse, and my neck was starting to get stiff and painful. I ran off to the change room and a friend watching the game saw me and ran in. I threw all my equipment off and was starting to feel nauseous so I tore the garbage bag out of the bin and told him to drive me NOW. I had my EMR which is basically entry level paramedic and knew by the time the ambulance got there and did their initial exam I'd be in even more trouble.
I directed my friend the 8km to the nearest hospital and I was just wondering what was happening. I couldn't really comprehend how much trouble I was in. When I walked into the ER, I was ghost white and holding the garbage bag and just shaking. The triage nurse took one look at me and rushed a wheelchair to me, bypassing the 5 or 6 people waiting in the triage line, and I was immediately being looked at. I told them I had a huge headache, sudden onset with no trauma at all. They call it a "thunderclap headache" and trust me it's pretty accurate. Both my pupils were different sizes, and I couldn't move my head at all without it just shooting agonizing pain. The stiffness and pain in my neck was from blood bleeding down by my brain stem. They immediately put my through a CT scan, and the Dr in the ER informed me I had a subarachnoid hemorrhage, I was bleeding between my brain and my skull. I asked him "Am I going to die?" to which he replied "No". This wasn't exactly a true answer, as they had no idea how serious this was yet, but I believe it was to just keep my calm and it worked
I was then wheeled into a long line of beds separated by curtains, while my family and some friends rushed to the hospital. I was pumped full of a ton of blood pressure meds, I think my blood pressure was something like 220/180. I was just dizzy and wanted to go to sleep. I'm not sure if I would of never woke up, but I didn't fall asleep for awhile. I was there when my family and a couple friends showed up but I had fallen asleep due to the drugs. I found out a few months after I had got out of the hospital that the Dr told everyone that I should be dead already, and another 15 minutes and I would of been. That most people would of already been dead with the same thing that happened to me and that I still had a long way to go.
They wouldn't let me drink any water because they may have had to do emergency surgery. They give you these flavored cotton swabs that are supposed to help but trust me they don't! I wasn't allowed to go to the bathroom because everyone knew I was going to drink from the sink so I had to pee in a bed pan, right in front of the nurses a couple times but neither of us cared. They then did an angiogram which is where they insert a catheter into the femoral artery and inject ink while taking a bunch of pictures of my head, to try to find the burst blood vessel. I went back to the bed, hoping for good news but they said there was too much blood and swelling to see it. I asked if they could relieve some of the pressure because it was so painful but they said no they couldn't. It would take them a week before they found the bleed.
The next week was a bit of a blur but I do remember waking up every day, seeing friends and family, walking to the bathroom, reading a book (The Stand by Stephen King. Not sure I really liked it though which is weird since alot of people think it's one of his best) Anyway, I was fully functional when I shouldn't of even still been alive, I still had an active bleed in my head and all they could do was keep my BP down. I slept 20+ hours a day, only really ate yogurt and jello and ice. After a week, they did another angiogram, and did happen to find it. It was in the front of my skull, I can't remember the exact vessel name though. I was told that they would perform a surgery, they would make a big incision on my head, cut a circle out of my skull and clip it. Then securing the skull with plates and screws and then stapling me back up. I asked him what the risks were, and I can remember that this was the time I was really worried. For some reason I was pretty calm the whole week, I never got too scared but now at this point I was terrified. He told me that the odds were 1/5. That I could die, not walk ever again, permanent brain damage, etc.... 20% but it was something that was obviously completely necessary.
The surgery was either the next day or the day after. I remember hugging my parents and saying everything would be fine. They wheeled me down to the OR and I remember it was so bright. There were people moving all over the place, I wish I knew how many but there was alot. They asked me how I was doing and I said fine, even though I'm laying there thinking is this it? Am I taking my last breath? I'm only 22 I have so much stuff to do yet.
They brought the mask over and said that it would put me to sleep. They put it on and said count back from 100. I remembered a friend of mine who told me when he got his wisdom teeth out that you'll only get to like 98 or 97 before you're out. I was like Oh man I gotta get further than him! I only got to 99 because I wasted a couple seconds thinking how I'd beat him haha.
So I woke up a few hours later, in a little recovery area. I was soooo thirsty. Like even more than when I got to the hospital the first day. I asked for something to drink and I finished off 2 full glasses of water and 1 of cranberry juice. I was supposed to be back in my room at a certain time but they kept me downstairs for a couple hours, I had to tell them to please tell my family I'm out and alive so they weren't fearing the worst. I saw the Neurologist later that day and he explained that the surgery was a success but there was still a couple questions, they wouldn't know what kind of effects I may suffer from bleeding over a week or the surgery itself. I got to go home a few days later, but I got extremely lucky. I was back to work in 6 weeks and back being active in 8 weeks. The neurologist told me that 50% of people die of a burst aneurysm before they even make it to the hospital. 45% of people have long term neurological defects. I managed to find myself in the 5%. I have no long term side effects, I can still play contact sports, lift heavy weights, no restrictions at all. I've had to have contrast CT scans every couple years since and since then everything is ok. I really am so so lucky.
I've come to appreciate life alot more, being so close to death has a way of changing you. I'm more patient with people, kinder, more generous. I try to live life to the fullest, I do everything I've ever wanted to do now, travel is a big one. I just think life is too short, and this was a way that really made me realize that. I hope you've enjoyed my story and I'm happy to share, thanks for reading.