Welcome to My Personal Page
I'm fundraising for the Brain Aneurysm Foundation!
I am participating in the Brain Aneurysm Foundation Run/Walk - New England at Castle Island on Saturday April 27, 2024.
Please consider donating to the cause to help me reach my goal of $2000.
As many of you know, I was first diagnosed with a brain aneurysm in 2012 at 22 years old. It was a scary and stressful time for my whole family. Unfortunately, at the time, my only option for treatment was a full craniotomy. In order to access the aneurysm, they made a several inch long incision along my temple and down to below my ear before drilling several burr holes in my skull and temporarily removing a portion of my skull about the size of a baseball. The surgeon placed a small clip like a clothespin on the aneurysm and closed my skull back up and secured the piece in place with several plates and screws. I spent several nights on strong pain meds in the ICU in complete agony, had 30+ stitches in my head, and was sent home with a full regime of steroids, pain meds, and I can't even remember what else.
I was blessed with an exceptional surgical team, and my surgery was a complete success; however, it took somewhere around 6 months of recovery time to get back to anywhere close to my baseline. It was an extremely painful and draining several months for me and my family and even to this day 12 years later I find myself with side effects.
In June 2022, unfortunately, a second aneurysm was discovered. This new aneurysm was very similar to the first; however, because of advances in treatments in part funded by grants from this organization, and with the help of my illustrious surgeon Dr. Ogilvy, I was able to treat my aneurysm endovascularly requiring only a tiny cut in my groin to thread a catheter up to my brain where they installed a metal sheath to treat the aneurysm. This treatment required only 1 night in the hospital, minimal pain medications or physical limitations, and only took a handful of weeks to feel back to myself enough to return to my job.
Without fundraising activities like this, the research that led to the development of this procedure would not be possible. While I hope to never have to go through this again, I ask you all to consider donating to save future patients from having to go through the trauma of a craniotomy.
Thank you,
Christina
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