Alan's Story

was browsing through the internet when i stumbled across your website and was fascinated by all the information available!

LTER,

I suffered my sub-arrachnoid haemorrhage in March 1996 aged 27!

I was stood in the kitchen drying the pots when I heard a bang in my head and my left ear was pounding and making a noise like when you put a shell to your ear. There was a terrible pain all the way down my neck & back. My first instinct was to call my then 6 year old daughter into the house in case I passed out because I knew something was very seriously wrong! My partner at that time was at work so I rang for my parents to come quickly. When they arrived my father rushed me off to casualty where I waited an hour and a half to be seen. Vomiting violently and screaming out because of the pain in my head (which is very unlike me). I was also experiencing photophobia and the doctors were convinced I had meningitis. When it was clear in there opinion that I didn’t have meningitis I always remember the doctor in charge saying "that I just had a headache and to send me home".

But his assistant said "I think we ought to keep an eye on him overnight". (Consequently that man probably saved my life.) I was put on a ward for the night and sent for a CT Scan in the morning which revealed bleeding.

I was transferred from Doncaster Royal Infirmary to the Royal Hallamshire in Sheffeld where I believe a lot of brain injuries are treated. I was taken in on the Tuesday night and my surgeon said he would take further scans and probably operate on the following Monday as there was no rush and he wanted the blood to clot a little first. I was taken for an angiogram and then put on a side ward on my own; I remember that all I wanted to do was sleep all the time and I had to wear a mask over my eyes to counteract the photophobia!

I also remember one night after my parents had gone home my surgeon ( a fantastic man named Mr Kemeny) came in to check on me about 9-30pm and I asked him what were the risks involved with my surgery and he said flat out that I probably had a 50-50 chance! Which I thought was brilliant of him to tell me man to man on our own in that room.I remember being wheeled into theatre and Mr Kemeny telling me what he was going to do and I just said "YOURE THE BOSS" and felt so much trust in this man that I wasn’t the slightest bit nervous!

The first thing I did after waking from surgery was order some food as I hadn’t eaten in a week.

I looked like "Frankenstein" with all the staples in my head and my eye was staring. I was laid flat for 4 weeks and remember having to be taught how to walk again as my legs had forgotten how to! I remember on the day of my departure Mr Kemeny came to see me and sat beside me on the bed and said that he would like to operate on my second aneurysm as soon as possible! Well as you can imagine i nearly died on the spot! My family knew about this but were going to tell me when I got home.

My recovery at home was comfortable and the only thing I can remember is that I had great difficulty in hearing 2 noises at once i.e.: a noise in each ear at the same time? And also I developed a very short temper (which has now gone-I think!)

I was requested to go for my 2nd lot of surgery in October 1996-exactly 6 months after my first! I arrived at the hospital at 5-30pm and was in theatre at 8-30am the following morning! Mr Kemeny re-opened the same scar and the recovery was pretty much the same as first time round.

I realise what a very lucky man I am-before I had my brain injuries I was a very laid back person and now I am so laid back its a wonder I don’t fall over.

I have always played Sunday morning football for the local pub team and giving this up was one of the hardest things I ever had to do. After about 12 months I was re-called to the hospital for another angiogram to check everything was ok-which it was! While I was there I asked Mr Kemeny about my football career and he said that I could go back to living life fully and that the chances of me having a Third aneurysm were a million to one!

Since that day I have played football ever since-I must admit that heading the ball for the first time was a bit nerve wracking but I soon overcame it.

It’s now 9 years since my brain injury (stopped smoking 9 years ago too!) and I can honestly say that I have not had 1 side effect or problem since!

My only concern is to do with the after-care service for sufferers as I was seen only once after my 2nd operation and have had no contact with anyone since?

When I had my 2nd aneurysm "clipped" my brain had to be revolved and the injury was at such an angle that I had to have a certain type of clip implanted! This clip was known as a HEIFETZ clip whereas my first clip was a YASARGIL clip. I was informed that the HEIFETZ clip was magnetic and so because of this I wasn’t allowed to have a MRI scan ever! I had to take it upon myself to inform my local casualty department of this in case I was ever rushed in unconscious and was taken for an MRI.

 Alan Mann