We reviewed the causes of
and treatments for ruptured and unruptured aneurysms. The
surgery is over, the survivor awakens, and recovery begins.
The first stop is the Neurological Intensive Care Unit for
observation, where rupture patients are closely monitored
for a period of time and then they are moved to a
neurological floor. Without complications, a release to home
or a rehabilitation hospital follows. You are different and
your life and that of your loved ones has changed.
The post-operative
recovery varies widely and physical and emotional
impairments may not always be temporary. Some deficits may
be compensated for. A spouse or parent survivor may not be
able to resume their prior position as financial provider,
family authority figure, and/or the physical and emotional
role as a marital partner.
A significant tool in the recovery journey for many is a
support group. In my case, Karen’s (my wife) nurse
practitioner, Deidre Buckley suggested that I visit the
brain aneurysm support group at Massachusetts General
Hospital (MGH), which she pioneered in 1992. Considering
myself able to handle anything, I resisted; she persisted
and eventually I relented. That experience was so beneficial
that I have a near perfect (6 year) attendance record at
Boston’s MGH Support Group, have been instrumental in that
program’s expansion, and strongly advocate its value to
survivors and their families.
A brain aneurysm support group is a mutually supportive,
community-based, respectful environment where survivors and
their family caregivers benefit from the experience of those
who have gone before them. You quickly learn two very
important facts; you are not alone, and things do get
better.
In 2004 there was one brain aneurysm support group in
Massachusetts. Now there are five: Merrimack Valley
(Haverhill, 2004), South Shore (Scituate, 2005),
Rehabilitation Hospital of the Cape and Islands-South Shore
Group (Sandwich, 2006), and the HealthSouth Braintree
Rehabilitation Hospital Support Group. |
