Give now

In My Area

Support groups
  • AdventHealth Brain Aneurysm Support Group

    Winter Park, FL

    Learn more
  • Baltimore Brain Aneurysm Foundation Support Group

    Lutherville-Timonium, MD

    Learn more
  • Bay Area Aneurysm and Vascular Malformation Support Group

    San Francisco, CA

    Learn more

Cynthia’s Story: My Journey to Recovery and Triumph

I’m told it was a rainy, cold November night. On the menu were drinks, friends, fun and games. But all of a sudden the aneurysm I didn’t know I had ruptured. It tried to kill me, and it almost succeeded.

My aneurysm was clipped that night, November 9, 2018. But it wasn’t done with me yet. A day or two after, I came down with pneumonia and a lung, kidney and a blood infection. I also had a stroke and my brain began to swell. I needed a craniotomy to remove part of my skull. At this point, the doctor told my family that they didn’t know if I would make it through surgery.

Then, on Thanksgiving Day, I woke up. My days at the hospital are hazy, but I was doing well. I had cranioplasty, to put my skull cap back. After a month and 10 days of being in the hospital, I was sent to a rehabilitation center for two weeks to try to repair the damage that the stroke had done on my left side.

I wish so very much, that I could say my story ends there. That life returned to normal and I was able to return to being a mom at full capacity to a five-year old little boy.

But that’s not what happened. On February 14, 2018 I had another craniotomy to remove the skull part that they put in, back in December. It had become infected.

Eleven months have passed since that night and, I am now going on surgery number seven for my third tissue expander – since there were complications with the first two. This September I will have my 8th surgery — a cranioplasty that will be the last piece of the puzzle – literally. Besides the many complications, I am fortunate to have excelled in Speech and Physical Therapy.

Once again, I wish so very much that I could say my story of recovery will end there. But I have another small aneurysm that will need to be treated, and I am still continuing Orthopedic and Occupational Therapy. The aneurysm on that rainy November night didn’t know who it was dealing with, because this is MY journey to recovery and triumph.

This site uses cookies

Our site uses cookies to personalize features and, via third-parties, to collect metrics on usage so that we can better tailor our site to the needs of our users. You can view our full cookie and privacy policies via the links below. To fully experience our site, please click Accept.