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» Welcome |
Thank you for visiting Behind the Gray. We are an online support community for those whose lives have been affected by a subarachnoid haemorrhage or stroke.
Our aim is to offer friendship, support and a place where you can share your highs and lows. We are not qualified to give medical advice, but hope that you can benefit from our own experiences and those of our families. Membership is free and we hope that you will join us and share your own experiences.
“During my own recovery, I have found the support of others who have been affected by an SAH or stroke to have been a great comfort. To be able to communicate with fellow sufferers and share experiences is of paramount importance and a great aid to recovery.”
Joining an online support group can often be an excellent way of coping with your illness. If you are experiencing difficulties after suffering from an SAH or stroke and have difficulty leaving your home, an online community can often be one of the greatest first steps in coping. You can maintain your anonymity which helps many become more candid about their feelings, fears and frustrations. You may also learn information and tips that you might not have been aware of about your illness or that of a loved one.
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 How I became a platinum blonde and what happened afterwards. |
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Mar 04, 2010 - 2:04 PM - by Blondie
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Friday morning, 29th October, 2004 and I really really didn't feel like going to work. I felt sick and my shoulder and neck were so sore that I led out flat on the living room floor. Work was going to be hectic that day – we'd just changed our phone supplier over to BT, and we were anticipating problems, which were effectively mine to resolve. On the plus side, work was in Bath, and that was halfway to my then boyfriend, Tink's house in Bristol – and that was where I was planning to spend my weekend.
So I took my rucksack, made my way to the train station, and went to work. As suspected, our phone lines were routed incorrectly, and the company was effectively losing business as each minute passed. It was all a bit of a disaster really, and when I phoned our “dedicated contact” I realised that no one had told him of this new role, and he definitely had his jobsworth's hat on. We argued for a few minutes; I'm embarrassed to admit that I probably wasn't being very professional, but I was so sore, I couldn't sort myself out. The phone call came to a very heated conclusion, and as I stood up after disconnecting I felt as though I was hit twice on the back of the head with a large plank.
My boss was talking to our Comms Manager, Adrian, and I went to update them. “I think I'm having an aneurysm” I said, although as far as I know I'd never heard of an aneurysm, let alone knew what one was. I made my way down three flights of stairs to go outside for a cigarette. I was a heavy smoker, 20 a day, and I always really enjoyed it. If I had a cold, or a cough, I still always wanted a ciggie. Not that day though; I stood outside and realised I felt far too ill to smoke, a scary moment indeed (!) I took the lift back upstairs, and locked myself in the disabled loo. By now my head was really very painful, and although I didn't know it at the time, I was talking to myself in the loo, and briefly refused to come out.
Whilst my colleague Elly told my lovely workmate Gilly that something was wrong, I made my way up the final flight of stairs and laid out on the sofa in the staff room. I clearly remember Gilly trying to convince me to let her take me to Tink's so I could rest up, and, quite unusually for me, I was rude and grumpy, trying to get her to... [Read More]
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224 Views
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My Story by Debbie M |
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Mar 01, 2010 - 11:32 AM - by DebbieMcKenzie
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June 19th, 2009 is a day that I will never forget. At 8.30 p.m. I suffered a Subarachnoid Haemorrhage (SAH).
I have finally decided that it is time to document the most terrifying experience of my life. If I seem to ramble, please excuse me, as I will type this as it all tumbles out of my head.
I had experienced a most exhausting week at work. We were in the middle of renovations at work, so therefore mess and chaos everywhere. My boss was ill with the flu and had taken the week off work, something which he never ever does, so he must have been sick. Needless to say I felt very stressed by the end of the week.
The week had ended and I was looking forward to the weekend. I had my dinner and was sitting outside having a breath of fresh air when all of a sudden I started to feel funny. I felt a really strange feeling in my head. Something that I can’t really describe other than I thought that I was going to faint. I quickly went inside and told my husband, Paul, that I didn’t feel very well, that I was experiencing a weird sensation in my head and that I had started to get a massive headache and really bad neck pain at the base of my head. He asked me if I wanted him to take me to the hospital or get an ambulance, but once he asked me that question I thought that maybe I was being a bit dramatic and that I would just have a couple of paracetamol and have a lie down. I asked him to sit with me and drifted off to sleep.
The next morning ( Saturday 20th) I woke up still with a headache and neck pain. I just took it easy and pottered about the house for the morning. I still wasn’t feeling well by early afternoon, so decided I would do a Google search of my symptoms on the internet as I felt that it wasn’t like a normal headache. Quite a few results came up and I narrowed it down to either meningitis, which I knew I didn’t have, or a brain haemorrhage. It was at that stage that I became quite alarmed and decided that the best thing to do would be to go see a Doctor. But it was early afternoon on a Saturday.
I got Paul to take me down town to try and find a clinic that was open but the first one we went to was closing for the day and advised that we go to the medical clinic that is at the local hospital. So... [Read More]
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187 Views
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Simon's Story by Joy |
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Feb 02, 2010 - 10:48 PM - by simonsjoy
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This is the story of our terrible experience October 2008. Simon 47, came into the lounge and said he was going to Morrisons for some milk and did I need anything at all? As I was talking to him he clasped the back of his head and said he had a terrible pain and thought there was something terribly wrong!! He sat on the sofa and closed his eyes and said he needed to lie down, he went up to bed and I took him some paracetamols as I thought he just had a migraine and he went to sleep. The next morning (Saturday 18th October) he said he felt sick and dizzy but the headache was not so bad, I asked him if he wanted me to run him a bath as I thought it would make him feel better, he agreed but went back to bed soon after.
I went to the chemist and spoke the the pharmacist for advice and she gave me codeine for him. He stayed in bed for the day, with me taking him drinks and tablets. The next morning (Sunday) I had to go to work till noon, so called my daughter at 10.30 to check on him she said he was not making much sense and was worried. This was when i thought this must be something more than migraine. I called the out of hours Dr number and was called back by the Dr, he wanted to speak to my husband so I gave him my home number as I was still at work and called my daughter on her mobile to advise her the Dr would be calling. She called me back and said the Dr was on his way. I left work and hurried home just as the Dr got there.
He checked Simon and told us he thought it was a brain aneurysm and we need to get to hospital ASAP as Simons blood pressure was 240/180. He gave him some sort of spray on his tongue and called an ambulance, he said it would not be long and gave us a letter to give to the hospital., as he had to go to another patient. An hour later still no ambulance, so I called and they said it had gone to another emergency and one would be with us soon! When they eventually came, it was a complete rigmarole being examined and explaining all over again.
We were eventually on our way, but were taken to our nearest hospital but were told that it did not take patients on a weekend!!! so would have to go the a different hospital 15 miles away. At last we were there and put into a side ward, 4 hours later and after talking to numerous nurses... [Read More]
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651 Views
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John - My Story |
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Jan 14, 2010 - 3:38 PM - by johntaras
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It was a normal start to the week; I woke at about 5-00 am and came down for breakfast. My routine was to go back to go back to bed for an hour before work. But not today, I felt sick at about 6-30 and my head was banging. As the day went on I became delusional, more sickness and a banging head.
At about 4-30 pm my wife called a doctor who did not know what was wrong with me. I was unresponsive so he called for an ambulance. They took me into the local hospital where I had a CT scan. This showed the bleed and they called the centre at Stoke who had to decide if they could help me. Luckily for me they took me at midnight via emergency ambulance to Stoke. They operated and put my first drain in at 1-00 am. I was unconscious then for two days on a ventilator due to breathing problems.
On Thursday I had an angiogram to see where the bleed had been. This highlighted an aneurysm and bleed on the brain. On Monday another angiogram allowed them to fix the aneurysm by coiling it.
On Friday they capped my drain to see if I could cope with the fluid on my own. This did not work and I became sleepy and confused, during the early hours of the morning I was taken back into theatre a new drain was opened up as a second hole was drilled in my skull.
The following day I think I must have pulled out my drain. My wife received a call saying they were going to operate and insert a shunt in my head to cope with the fluid. I had an infection in the fluid so this had to be treated first.
After the Shunt went in my general health improved rapidly and my abilities also improved: feeding myself and becoming mobile around the ward. The last twist was to find that the pains in my chest were down to blood clots. This meant I was put onto Warfarin, I am still having tests to level out my INR value (tests used to determine the clotting tendency of the blood).
My time in hospital seven weeks in total was strange with a gap of about one month in my memory due to the trauma of the situation. I know that I am lucky to have come out of the situation as I have.
I find each day a how did I get here day, how did I survive what was predicted to be a catastrophic bleed. I am very grateful to all the medical... [Read More]
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274 Views
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