My Story.....

Pam Mason

April 1997. 8.45.Sunny,sunny day.

On my bike cycling to work on a tiny road on the outskirts of the village in East Sussex where I lived.
Near my destination I suddenly felt very wierd.and I fell off my bike and lay on the side of the road and started vomiting.
I couldn't focus on anything and I lay watching the trees spinning and uncontrollably being sick.
Luckily a lady stopped in her car and asked if I needed help.(This was a very small road with little traffic)
I couldn't speak,so she assumed I had been in a collision with a car.She took me to my local health centre where I was put in a side room to 'straighten up'.I later found out they thought I ws under the influence of alcohol....
I was told I was having a migraine,(which I had considered anyway) and lay on my side and watched the clock go from 9.00 until 12.00.
My sickness seemed to subside and at midday a volunteer took me home where I went straight to bed.

That is the last thing I remember,tottering up to my front door.My son Russ,16 at the time,answered the door,and helped me to bed.
My partner Mick got home around 7.00 and was told I was acting strangely...Talking complete rubbish and making no sense.
My doctor was called.The same one I had seen that morning,and he said straightaway to call an ambulance and get me to Hurstwood Park hospital in Haywards Heath.I was lucky to live near there and this hospital specialised in neurological problems.

I had had a subarachnoid haemorrhage.
I was operated on 2 days later and a clip was put on the offending artery.
My family were distraught....On top of that I was told I had another unburst amneurism on the other side that would need operating on at a later date.
But on the bright side,I loved being in hospital.Hurstwood Park is part of the Princess Royal Hospital in Haywards Heath.It has a 'cottage' feel about it,and the doctors and nursing staff are all second to none.
I was there a month,and was told that my 2nd operaton would be in a few months time.
When I got out the first thing I did was shave my head.I had lost a fair portion of my knee length blonde hair due to the operation,and my pleas for a set of clippers went unanswered whilst I was in Hurstwood Park...And it didn't bother me one bit.Which was pretty amazing because I was known for my long blonde hair since I was a child.
In July 1997 I had my 2nd operation.This one was different in that a platignum wire was threaded through from my groin and up into my brain and filled the unburst amneurism.No invasive surgery this time,although I was told it was still very risky...
So another month in Hurstwood Park.That should be the end of my story...

When I returned home my lovely partner Mick was told he had 6 months to live.He had a long term illness which finally got the better of him.
He lasted 5 years.And he died 5 years ago.
And we miss him terribly....

Russ moved in with his girlfriend and I got so lonely in our old house,so I decided to move and have a fresh start.I moved in December 2006 and Russ produced me with my first grandchild on May 16th this year.

I was having driving lessons when I had the amneurism and when I returned to the wheel a year or so later,it was clear that I was a menace...So I decided to give up.Shame,as I could do with being able to drive...

The other thing I suffer from are termed as 'fits'. I have just had my 4th one.Each time I vomit uncontrollably,lose control of my bladder (nice!) and then 'lose consciousness' for about 10 hours.But I don't really,because although I can not move,speak or do anything,I can hear what is going on around me. Each time I am returned to hospital for tests,lumbar punctures etc...And my anti seizure medication is tweaked.

Incidentally...When I was in my local Health centre when I was first ill,at no point was my blood pressure,pulse,or temperature taken.
I don't know if they would have known there was a problem if they had...But at no point did I lose consciousness for that 3 hours.I just wanted to go home..When I got home I wrote to my doctor and told him this.
I received a rather curt letter back saying that they DID do all those things and as I had a subarachnoid haemorrhage I was not in a position to say what went on.

My life has changed in strange little ways.I seem to have no short term memory.I can no longer set my video timer,watches...
I have to use a simple microwave oven with a dial,rather than a complicated one with lots of buttons.
I had no trouble with these tasks before...
And my computing skills are very basic.
But I am alive.

Nice to share my story with you all.

Pam Mason.

Age when ill: 39. Age now: 50.

Thanks to Pam for sending in her profile. Anyone else who would like to share their story can send it along with a photograph (if you're not shy!)



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April 1997. 8.45.Sunny,sunny day.

On my bike cycling to work on a tiny road on the outskirts of the village in East Sussex where I lived.
Near my destination I suddenly felt very wierd.and I fell off my bike and lay on the side of the road and started vomiting.
I couldn't focus on anything and I lay watching the trees spinning and uncontrollably being sick.
Luckily a lady stopped in her car and asked if I needed help.(This was a very small road with little traffic)
I couldn't speak,so she assumed I had been in a collision with a car.She took me to my local health centre where I was put in a side room to 'straighten up'.I later found out they thought I ws under the influence of alcohol....
I was told I was having a migraine,(which I had considered anyway) and lay on my side and watched the clock go from 9.00 until 12.00.
My sickness seemed to subside and at midday a volunteer took me home where I went straight to bed.

That is the last thing I remember,tottering up to my front door.My son Russ,16 at the time,answered the door,and helped me to bed.
My partner Mick got home around 7.00 and was told I was acting strangely...Talking complete rubbish and making no sense.
My doctor was called.The same one I had seen that morning,and he said straightaway to call an ambulance and get me to Hurstwood Park hospital in Haywards Heath.I was lucky to live near there and this hospital specialised in neurological problems.

I had had a subarachnoid heamorrhage.
I was operated on 2 days later and a clip was put on the offending artery.
My family were distraught....On top of that I was told I had another unburst amneurism on the other side that would need operating on at a later date.
But on the bright side,I loved being in hospital.Hurstwood Park is part of the Princess Royal Hospital in Haywards Heath.It has a 'cottage' feel about it,and the doctors and nursing staff are all second to none.
I was there a month,and was told that my 2nd operaton would be in a few months time.
When I got out the first thing I did was shave my head.I had lost a fair portion of my knee length blonde hair due to the operation,and my pleas for a set of clippers went unanswered whilst I was in Hurstwood Park...And it didn't bother me one bit.Which was pretty amazing because I was known for my long blonde hair since I was a child.
In July 1997 I had my 2nd operation.This one was different in that a platignum wire was threaded through from my groin and up into my brain and filled the unburst amneurism.No invasive surgery this time,although I was told it was still very risky...
So another month in Hurstwood Park.That should be the end of my story...

When I returned home my lovely partner Mick was told he had 6 months to live.He had a long term illness which finally got the better of him.
He lasted 5 years.And he died 5 years ago.
And we miss him terribly....

Russ moved in with his girlfriend and I got so lonely in our old house,so I decided to move and have a fresh start.I moved in December 2006 and Russ produced me with my first grandchild on May 16th this year.

I was having driving lessons when I had the amneurism and when I returned to the wheel a year or so later,it was clear that I was a menace...So I decided to give up.Shame,as I could do with being able to drive...

The other thing I suffer from are termed as 'fits'.
I have just had my 4th one.Each time I vomit uncontrollably,lose control of my bladder (nice!) and then 'lose consciousness' for about 10 hours.But I don't really,because although I can not move,speak or do anything,I can hear what is going on around me.
Each time I am returned to hospital for tests,lumbar punctures etc...And my anti seizure medication is tweaked.

Incidentally...When I was in my local Health centre when I was first ill,at no point was my blood pressure,pulse,or temperature taken.
I don't know if they would have known there was a problem if they had...But at no point did I lose consciousness for that 3 hours.I just wanted to go home..When I got home I wrote to my doctor and told him this.
I received a rather curt letter back saying that they DID do all those things and as I had a subarachnoid haemorrhage I was not in a position to say what went on.

My life has changed in strange little ways.I seem to have no short term memory.I can no longer set my video timer,watches...
I have to use a simple microwave oven with a dial,rather than a complicated one with lots of buttons.
I had no trouble with these tasks before...
And my computing skills are very basic.
But I am alive.

Nice to share my story with you all.

Pam Mason.

Age when ill: 39. Age now: 50.