On March 4, 2004,at the age of 30, I suffered a massive subarachnoid hemorrhage (bleeding between the middle membrane covering of the brain & the brain itself). It was a mess to say the least.
- Marc (husband) found me unconscious on the bed not breathing (without any warning signs that there was something wrong)
- Because I had been so near death my heart started to shut down
- Fluid was filling up in my lungs
- I stopped breathing twice on Marc and he had to help me breath
- My jaws locked down and the paramedics couldn’t get a breathing tube in
- Was life-flighted to St. Mary’s Hospital where one of the Best neurosurgeons (Dr. Kimberly Walpert) was waiting
- Dr. Walpert put a tube in my head to release the blood and relieve the pressure, soon after she inserted the tube; I began to respond. I couldn’t talk because I had the respiratory tube in but the next day I was writing notes and asking all kinds of questions
- Dr. Walpert said "5 more seconds of bleeding and I wouldn’t have made it"
- She said that "I was as close to dead as she’s seen without being dead"
- They said that it was the fastest bleeding kind of brain hemorrhage and it is extremely rare for someone to survive something like this
- It was a miracle that it stopped bleeding and clotted itself off when it did
- If it would have happened 15 minutes earlier, Marc would have been at work and if it would have happened 15 minutes later I would have been driving to pick up our kids from school
- I experienced painful muscle spasms after the drainage tube in my head was removed and as the spinal fluid began to regulate itself, the pressure inside my body became so intense
- I experienced tremendous back pain that the Dr.’s said would subside as the blood dissipated from the spinal fluid
- Due to the hemorrhage, I now have problems with paying attention, concentrating, I’m slow & inefficient, impulsive, forgetful,& confused most of the time. My processing speed has been affected so I process things at a much slower rate
- My main ICU nurse said that he had never seen anything like it, that “I was one in thousands of thousands” They said I would be in ICU for 2-3 weeks and then in a step-down room about that long. They moved me out of ICU in a week and I was at home in less than 2 weeks
- I was supposed to be in the hospital for at least a month if not longer
- through the whole experience all the Dr.’s and nurses were amazed at my recovery
- Although I still had the intense back pain and spasms I knew that God was faithful to complete the GOOD work that he had started.
After 7 months of intense back aches and painful spasms that started to affect my daily activities, Dr. Walpert ordered a MRI and that’s when they found an AVM in my spineAVM- (arteriovenous malformation) is an abnormal tangle of blood vessels in the brain or spine. An AVM can be thought of as a “short circuit” where the blood doesn’t go to the tissues but is pumped through the short connection, artery-vein and back to the heart without ever giving nutrients to the tissues, this arrangement is a problem because it does not give the spinal cord a chance to absorb oxygen form the blood. Spinal tissues are starved of normal amounts of oxygen, and the cells that make up these tissues begin to deteriorate or die off. It also puts the thin walled veins under a lot of pressure. Over time, the veins or the abnormal group of blood (the AVM) may rupture and cause a spinal or brain hemorrhage. (That was the cause of the subarachnoid hemorrhage)Spinal AVM’s occur anywhere along the spinal cord and develop inside the protective dura and close to, on or within the spinal cord. They are believed to be congenital (present at birth), caused by mistakes that occur during embryonic or fetal development. (Just think God protected me through my childhood, it could have ruptured at any time)Death from the first hemorrhage is between 10-30 percent. Once a hemorrhage has occurred, the AVM is 9 times more likely to bleed again during the first year.I was referred to Dr. Barrow; (one of only three) Dr.’s in the country that could do an operation if I needed one. On November 16, 2004, I had an 8 hour operation to remove the mass of tangled blood vessels that were wrapped in my spinal cord. It was a long and painful 3 & ½ months recovery due to the complications from the healing process. I now have a big scar with a lot of scar tissue that has made it painful for me to do the simple things that most people take for granted like walking, sitting, driving, bending, going up & down stairs etc. It has affected all parts of my life and has left me being depressed because I can’t do things with my family that I use to and I’m always in pain. And not to mention all the stress from the medical bills that were over $100,000. But we are CELEBRATING because I am ALIVE! Through the recovery process we learned a lot. We have a lot to be thankful for - we have seen and felt God’s love for us, and we have seen God work in our lives.It has brought me, Marc & the kids closer. We were able to show our kids that God really does have a plan and a purpose for us. Although we had some very difficult times and it was not easy, all the pain and trauma I went through, I wouldn’t change a thing because of what we have learned. I am doing well now and that is a testament to the power of prayer and what a POWERFUL and FAITHFUL God we serve. The Lord worked mightily on my behalf and I am TRULY THANKFUL that He saved me and healed me. THE LORD HAS DONE GREAT THINGS!
Keep Believing in Miracles~
Autumn
*Thanks for reading my story. I hope that it encouraged you*
