On 3 July 2013 I was diagnosed with a cerebral aneurysm, which later turned out to be two. This blog is a journey into my brain as I deal to the aneurysms lurking there. Along the way I'm calling on the collective proverbial wisdom and sage advice of some recognised (and maybe a few not-so-recognised) writers for aphorisms which complement my journey.

This is not just a personal journey but also a journey of discovery for everyone who has, had, or knows someone with a cerebral aneurysm.


Thursday 15 October 2015

It's not how far you fall, but how high you bounce that counts. ~ Zig Ziglar


Recently I tried to access any recovery reports about Russell Gilbert, host from the “Hey Hey It’s Saturday”, and the latest article which even mentioned him was dated 6 October – but it didn’t talk about his recovery. I am not a voracious star-follower, but that frustrated me. When will the public become interested in brain aneurysms and recovery? If it’s not available on a famous person, will it ever be around for any other person?

I Googled to see what I could find about any media reports on anyone. The first one, which I’d found many months ago, was about Leola Foon, 27 February 2011, called “I survived a brain aneurysm”. I had posted this to BASA earlier this year.

Next I found “Life in the balance”, about Elle Hughes, on 15 November 2011. 

SunshineCoast Daily listed 13 stories about aneurysms, including one about Karra Crisp titled “Karra the miracle survivor”, 27 March 2012, teenager Jessica Torrens who died, “Teen’s sudden death stuns friends”, 15 June 2012 and Noel Mooney from Coolum, “Coolum father lucky to survive aneurysm 'time bomb'”, 25 September 2015 – this seems like a good newspaper. 

A person (undated) wrote to Healthshare. Doctors replied with very small answers but their question was definitely responded to properly by another person who had an aneurysm!

“Storage Wars” star Dan Dotson featured on 20 June 2014. 

Many newspapers and websites are overseas.

  • Articles about stars Joni Mitchel (2015), Sharon Stone (2001, article 2014 ), Neil Young (2005).
  • Gayle Gaw, on Pinterest, has her site titled “I’m a Brain Aneurysm Survivor” and includes articles, quotes and pictures – very good!
  • Maria Ross had her aneurysm in 2008 and wrote “Rebooting my Brain” – an article appeared on  27 August 2012.
  • Lisa Paige Klein had her aneurysm in 2006, reported in Brain InjuryPeer Visitor website. 
  • Tammie Morgan Parris had her aneurysm in 2012, took on working to raise BA awareness, and an article appeared in December 2013. 
  • Joe Biden, USA VP in 2013, had his aneurysms in 1988. His talk aroused responses from people who needed advice about aneurysms.
  • WABC Channel 7's Lisa Colagro died March 2015, reported on many TV news because of who she was. 

 The forlorn neglect by Australian media is not good. Most articles seem to be about women with breast cancer and men with prostate cancer and, this month, on Mental Illness, yet there are very few articles about people who have brain aneurysms. In Australia there isn’t even a brain aneurysm foundation – it is included in an organisation, BrainFoundation, which covers so many other illnesses. USA has the world’s “leading source of private funding of brain aneurysm research”, Brain Aneurysm Foundation – that should happen in every civilised country!

The brain aneurysm is common. 1 in 50 people can have one, and for someone without diagnosis it could rupture and kill them. Then the media will report about it. Just a short article, maybe one local newspaper, very rarely carried around the whole country.

Very recently the ABC radio channel spoke about the Choir of Hard Knocks, which includes Jac, a former IT executive whose aneurysm six years ago left her with a partly paralysed vocal cord. This choir is something that the whole country should learn about – so many different people singing!

My wish is that every media in Australia will write about every person with an aneurysm who is admitted to a hospital, and what happens to that person. LiveScience said: “A person is considered brain-dead when he or she no longer has any neurological activity in the brain or brain stem — meaning no electrical impulses are being sent between brain cells.” 

Until then? Report on everything that happens about brain aneurysms!


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