Do You Know the Signs of a Brain Aneurysm?

It is of utmost importance that we truly pay attention to the signs and signals of our body. This story of a young mother from South Carolina reminds us that a brain aneurysm can happen to anyone.

While Lee Broadway had experienced migraines since her childhood, her last and worst headache, ended up being a signal that cost Lee her life.

After suffering through unbearable pain, she called her husband, Eric – who rushed home from work to take her to the hospital.

“I knew this couldn’t be good because I’ve seen her deal with pain before,” he told People Magazine.

Just two days later, Eric said goodbye to his middle-school sweetheart and mother to his 4 children. Lee passed away in the hospital due to complications from a brain aneurysm.

We should be aware of the signs and symptoms because brain aneurysms can happen to anyone. Caused by a bulge in a brain blood vessel, often times they form without any symptoms and are ultimately undiscovered until they suddenly leak or rupture.

If a rupture does take place, patients report feeling a sudden, extreme, and excruciating headache, unlike anything they’ve ever felt before. In this case, one should always seek medical attention right away.

There are many common signs of a ruptured aneurysm that you should know, in addition to the onset of a sudden and severe headache:

• Pain induced nausea and vomiting
• A stiff neck
• Blurred or double vision
• Dizziness and sensitivity to light
• Seizure
• Drooping eyelids
• Loss of consciousness
• Severe confusion

As shared by Healthline.

In the case of a brain aneurysm that is leaking, but hasn’t yet ruptured, you should also be aware of these signs and symptoms:

• Pain above and behind one eye
• A single dilated pupil
• An unexplainable change in vision or double vision
• Numbness of one side of the face

While a single root cause to brain aneurysms is unknown, people who smoke, use cocaine, have high blood pressure or drink heavily are more susceptible. They can also occur after a head injury or certain blood infections.

This doesn’t mean you should rush to the hospital with every headache, but if you do experience a headache much more severe than usual, it’s better to seek medical attention. We should trust your bodies when they’re showing signs of distress.

Unfortunately for the Broadway family, Lee’s aneurysm was so bad, that it left her brain dead. Her story should encourage us to be more aware of the signs and symptoms of an aneurysm.