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Support groups
  • AdventHealth Brain Aneurysm Support Group

    Winter Park, FL

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  • Baltimore Brain Aneurysm Foundation Support Group

    Lutherville-Timonium, MD

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  • Bay Area Aneurysm and Vascular Malformation Support Group

    San Francisco, CA

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Surviving a Life Threatening Brain Problem

By Kerri Messinger

Kerri Messinger beat the odds by surviving two brain aneurysms. Her road back to health has been tough – and now she’s taking her gift of life to send a message to women everywhere…

At the age of 43, I have seen more years on Earth than my father. He was 40 years old when he died of a brain aneurysm. That’s a weakened area on a blood vessel in the brain that bulges out as it fills with blood, ready to rupture at any moment. I was 4 at the time and too young to fully understand what had happened.

But years later I would know his condition all too well. I am a two-time brain aneurysm survivor. The first was in 2008, and then again in 2013.

Not many people know that women are more likely to suffer a brain aneurysm than men. Those with a family history of brain aneurysm are at an even more increased risk, according to the Brain Aneurysm Foundation. I certainly didn’t know until after I was first diagnosed.

But my loved ones, female family members especially, can say otherwise: They know those statistics by heart by now, thanks to my constant reminders to get screened – and my story.

 

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