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By Angela Ronson, Contributor
It started December 16, 2002, when I was 32 years old. I had a brain bleed at work. I had an AVM1 which bled. I didn't know about it and drove home for lunch. I lost consciousness for a bit and had an accident. I was taken back to work. I got a bad
headache at my office and walked with help to the clinic.
At the clinic I stopped breathing. From what I have gathered, they eventually took me to a hospital. They placed me on a helicopter, and flew me to a trauma center. That place did brain surgery just to stop the bleeding. That surgery was risky,
something like 30% survival. Afterwards, I was in a coma and remember family being told I would always be in a coma, and if I came out, I would be a vegetable.
I did come out of the coma, but couldn't talk or move. I guess being unable to talk and move appeared to be a vegetable, although I could understand. I've been told that I was worse than Terry Schiavo. I was alive, but had something in my head
that could cause another bleed that would kill me.
The AVM was so large and too deep in my brain to be removed. It was just left there but the bleeding stopped. I was only able to move my left side after some therapy. I taught myself to talk. I taught myself how do things with limited movement on my non-dominant side (I was right handed but could only move my left).
I taught myself how to manipulate the control on my electric wheelchair with my left, how to type on the computer with my left index finger, and how to write left-handed. It helped having worked with this population for years. So I already knew a lot of what to
do. It was good that I could talk again, then I could tell others what had to be done. I still wondered what kind of vegetable I was, and I would ask others.
Doctors at Stanford were able to remove the AVM from my brain in 2004. Since then I am learning to move my right side and other things (like typing with both hands). I'm basically doing everything therapy wise to my right side that was done to my left. Only this time therapy has been inconsistent.
It's a good thing I used to do therapy, although for a much younger age. I was an Infant Development Specialist, and worked with babies. Because of this, I was already familiar with how to get development started (which I needed since I didn't do anything) and I was familiar with other therapies given for this age (physical, occupational, and speech). Now I just repeat what I remember what was done to my left.
After the surgery, I was able to move my right side again. Most important, I didn't have that thing in my head any more which could have bled at any time. That meant I could have died at any time from something as simple as shaking my head "No".
Nobody expected this. I don't know of any vegetables that think, talk or write. I still don't know what kind of vegetable I am.
Update May 15, 2007: Through the direction of Stanford, I found a local neurologist a couple of months ago. Last month I had an idea and had her do a referral with my old therapists. You see, with Medicare, a referral from a different doctor looks like something entirely different. Anyway what I hadn't heard before...in the referral to the PT, the diagnosis was "recovered quadriplegia".
Update May 31, 2007: Some background--I have dysphasia, so I have a feeding tube. Last year at the hospital the doctor said if I ever swallow it might be a few years. Today, the PT aide asked if I was drinking more water. I told her I'm drinking more, just not water. I take 7 cans of Boost. It used to be all by tube. Now I drink one. So 6 via g-tube and 1 by mouth.
Update June 26, 2007: Yesterday I had one of the breadsticks from Pizza Hut. The speech therapist said I would eventually get to "pleasure eating". I really didn't find it a "pleasure". It was work. For me, work isn't pleasurable.
1 AVM - Arteriovenous malformations are masses of abnormal blood vessels which grow in the brain
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