I was told by a private EMT and a separate urgent care clinic that I had the flu, when I actually had a slow leaking subarachnoid hemorrhage or ruptured brain aneurysm. When asked my symptoms, I told them I thought I had a stroke. I heard and felt a pop in my head and told them both this fact. I was a 46 year old female and described having these classic symptoms of a ruptured aneurysm – sudden extreme headache, nausea/vomiting, stiff neck, blurred vision, sensitivity to light. This is what I shared with the EMT and Urgent Care on the day of initial rupture.
The EMT told me that I had the flu and I should expect to have these symptoms for 10-14 days. I reminded them that I heard a pop in my head and asked if they had ruled out everything dangerous. They said, “I don’t want to scare you with what we have ruled out.” They indicated that I just had the flu and that they could give me a ride to the hospital if I still wanted it. They left me and my family feeling foolish for having called. I might add, the EMT was not called for diagnosis. They were called for an emergent ride to the hospital.
With the Urgent Care, I told them I had previously been diagnosed by the EMT with flu earlier that day, but that I did not believe this was true. I told them the same symptoms and that I had heard and felt the pop in my head. They shined a light in my eyes. They took my blood pressure standing, sitting, and lying down. They tested me for flu a and b. The test came back negative, so they said I had flu c which couldn’t be tested. They said Tamiflu would not help. They prescribed pain medicine and nausea medicine and told me this would last 10-14 days. The nausea medicine allowed me to finally take pain relief medicine and keep it down.
WHAT WAS ACTUALLY HAPPENING:
I had a ruptured aneurysm, as briefly described in this website, http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/brain-aneurysm/basics/symptoms/con-20028457. My understanding is that the aneurysm ruptured and continued to slowly leak. I had 5 out of 9 of the symptoms and described these to the EMT and Urgent Care. The initial rupture occurred on the day that I called EMT and visited the urgent care. I did not understand the urgency of necessary treatment at the time. I had been told by two separate medical professionals that I had the flu and to wait it out for 10-14 days. I was trying to follow their advice… I felt like I was dying. I had this slow leak for 9 days, evidenced by numerous periodic thunderclap headaches. Often these severe headaches would happen when I changed position in bed or elevated my head. After 9 days, I gathered the courage to get a third opinion and went to the emergency room. Given the same symptoms, the emergency room ran a CT scan and found the ruptured aneurysm. They immediately found a hospital that could handle the emergency and called for ambulance transfer. I had a Gran Mal Seizure and lost consciousness while being transferred from the ambulance gurney to the NICU hospital bed. The link also says that a “leaking aneurysm” (which is what I had) is almost always followed by a more severe rupture (which is what happened). Evidenced by the seizure and loss of consciousness upon arrival, the aneurysm ruptured more severely that night when I was admitted to Memorial Hermann Texas Medical Center NICU unit. This more severe rupture and the necessary treatments could have been prevented with a proper diagnosis and prompt treatment.
I had 5 out of 9 of the ruptured aneurysm symptoms listed on this link, no other symptoms, and I discussed these symptoms with the EMT and Urgent Care. I told both I thought I had a stroke. I now know I was correct; the subarachnoid hemorrhage is a hemorrhagic stroke. If you read the same website with regards to the flu, http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/flu/basics/symptoms/con-20035101, I only had 1 of 8 flu symptoms, which was headache.
Those professionals should know that subarachnoid hemorrhage could be a possibility and encourage further testing. Instead of explaining what they ruled out, so I could be watching for symptoms or researching on my own, they told me I had the flu and to stay in bed for 10-14 days. They both told me that “headaches are a symptom of the flu this year” and that I could expect the flu headaches to last 10-14 days. The EMT actually said, “I don’t want to scare you with what we have ruled out.” That statement alone almost killed me. If he had told me what he had ruled out, my caregivers could have further researched those terms and figured it out. After all, if you read about the flu, I did not have those symptoms. If you read about a subarachnoid hemorrhage, I did have those symptoms. Instead, my caregivers were researching things like encephalitis and meningitis trying to make sense of my illness, and I really didn’t seem to have those either. (At the time, we did not have subarachnoid hemorrhage or aneurysm in our vocabulary to research.)
LONG TERM DEFICITS:
During the course of treatment, they found 4 aneurysms total, one of which had ruptured. Since the rupture, I have had two others treated. The difference in treatment when one has severely ruptured versus one that has not is unbelievable. In April 2015, I had one coiled (same treatment as the one that ruptured) and was in the hospital for one night. In June 2015, I had one clipped via craniotomy and was in the hospital for two nights. It is assumed that the treatment of the slow leaking aneurysm would have been more similar to these treatments without the full rupture that occurred on day 9 without treatment.
I incurred higher doctor bills as a result of the delay in treatment. What could have possibly been treated with a one night stay coiling procedure, turned into a 2 week NICU stay. I had a drain placed in my skull to eliminate the bloody cranial fluid that had built up, which could only be handled in the NICU. The length of time without treatment caused vasospasms. Vasospasms typically appear 4-10 days after initial rupture. I endured two additional angiograms and an angioplasty treatment to make these vasospasms cease. I had a gran mal seizure upon arrival to the hospital NICU. It is assumed that the slow leaking aneurysm finally fully ruptured at that time. This caused me to be unable to drive for 6 months, which further affected my income. Also, I am required to be on anti-seizure medication (Keppra) which makes me very fatigued. I have since had an EEG to test the brain function. This test came back abnormal and they are unable to discontinue the anti-seizure medicine.
I am high functioning considering all I have been through. That does not mean that I am not changed and feel deficits on a daily basis. I am lucky to have made it through this ordeal and to be alive. If I had been properly diagnosed, this would have been even less severe.
I am working hard to encourage advocacy of this condition. I would like to see these medical professionals educated on the severity, symptoms, and diagnosis of ruptured brain aneurysms. Even if their medical diagnosis was flu, I should have been told about dangerous symptoms and conditions to watch. With the numerous medical conditions in 2015, I was able to speak with a large number of medical staff at appointments. I have been concerned with the number of staff that did not know the symptoms of a ruptured brain aneurysm. There is very little room for error in diagnosis with this condition, it is deadly. Yet, overwhelmingly, medical professionals are unaware or possibly believe it is too rare of a condition to even consider. I have two examples of misdiagnosis, with me giving textbook symptoms.
Compassion Fatigue