Rebounding from a rupture

Michelle Hayes was enjoying a morning at the neighborhood pool with her daughter, Kelly, and granddaughter, Riley, when she noticed she wasn’t feeling quite right. While changing her granddaughter’s diaper, she felt a strange sensation in her sinuses but shrugged it off, thinking it was no big deal.

When walking to her car a few minutes later, Hayes was overcome by a sense of weakness and dread. She dropped her belongings, sat on the sidewalk and screamed for her daughter to call 911.

“I told her I was having a brain aneurysm. I don’t know how I knew it, but I literally used those words,” Hayes said. “Then I started throwing up. It didn’t feel real. I don’t remember it being that painful, but apparently I was screaming.”

Rapid response

Hayes’ daughter called 911, then immediately called her father, Terry Hayes, MD, who is a Baptist Primary Care physician at Mandarin South.

“I was at my office when Kelly called. She said there was something drastically wrong with her mom – she was having headaches, staggering and vomiting and rescue was called,” said Dr. Hayes. “I could hear the stress in her voice. I could also hear a bloodcurdling yell coming from Michelle. She may not remember being in pain, but she clearly was.”

Dr. Hayes rushed to meet the ambulance at Baptist Medical Center South. When he arrived, they had already taken his wife for a CT scan of her brain.

The radiologist immediately read the scan and saw Hayes had a ruptured brain aneurysm and a subarachnoid hemorrhage.

A brain aneurysm is a bulging artery, which is caused by a weak spot in the artery wall. A subarachnoid hemorrhage is bleeding in the area between the brain and the thin tissues that cover the brain. It is a life-threatening medical emergency.

Within a few minutes, Hayes was transported by helicopter to Baptist Medical Center Jacksonville’s Stroke & Cerebrovascular Center.

Surviving brain surgery

“The next thing I remember really vividly is them loading me into the helicopter to be flown to Baptist Jacksonville. It was very surreal,” said Hayes. “I remember little bits and pieces of it, like seeing the interstate and thinking the cars looked really small.”

When Hayes arrived at Baptist Jacksonville, Ricardo Hanel, MD, PhD, neurosurgeon and co-medical director of Baptist Stroke & Cerebrovascular Center, and his team were waiting for her.

Dr. Hanel performed endovascular coiling on the ruptured aneurysm, saving Hayes’ life.

During this procedure, small metal coils shaped like springs are surgically placed in the affected brain vessels to stop bleeding in a ruptured aneurysm. It involves threading a microcatheter through a small incision in the artery of the groin. The catheter is guided through a blood vessel and up into the brain using real-time imaging similar to an X-ray.

Subtle symptoms

When a brain aneurysm bursts, the person suffering it has a 50% to 60% chance of living,” said Dr. Hanel. “If we find the aneurysm and fix it before it bursts, the person’s odds are way better.”

In hindsight, Hayes recalled subtle symptoms that indicated something was wrong.

“For a few months, I’d wake up on certain days just not feeling right. It was oriented behind my right eye. I didn’t have headaches, I just felt like something was off,” she said.

While there are no clear signs someone will experience a ruptured brain aneurysm, there are risk factors to keep in mind. Those who have a family member with a brain aneurysm are at increased risk of having one themselves.

Additional risk factors for a brain aneurysm include:

• Age (especially people older than 50)
• High blood pressure, uncontrolled diabetes
• Alcohol or drug abuse
• Head injury
• Infection in a blood vessel and hardened arteries

Women are at higher risk than men.

Symptoms of an unruptured aneurysm may include:

• Headache
• Pain above or behind one eye
• Blurred or double vision
• Difficulty speaking or swallowing
• Numbness or weakness on one side of the body, including the face, an arm or leg
• Seizures

If a brain aneurysm ruptures, it typically causes a sudden, severe headache, often described as the worst headache of one's life. A person also may experience loss of consciousness, confusion, seizure, nausea and vomiting, stiff neck, sensitivity to light, numbness or weakness, or blurred or double vision.

Life after aneurysm

Hayes spent three weeks in the Intensive Care Unit after surgery and underwent extensive physical therapy after being discharged. She’s grateful and optimistic about her recovery journey.

“It’s pretty impressive how fast everything was done,” she said. “There was a good chance that I wasn’t going to make it. I can’t say enough about the care I got. Dr. Hanel saved my life. He and his team are amazing.”

Dr. Hayes agreed that his wife received excellent care.

“As a physician, it was interesting to see the whole series of events from the other side, as a patient and family,” he said. “It was extraordinary. I can’t say enough about the care my wife received. They were ‘Johnny-on-the-spot’ each and every time.”

Hayes is driving again, and she’s spending a lot of time with her family.

“I’m getting back to myself. I feel very blessed, even more blessed than I did before,” she said. “I’m a little bit more emotional now, and I appreciate things more. An experience like this changes you. I’m very grateful to be here.”

A ruptured brain aneurysm is a medical emergency. If you or a loved one experiences symptoms, call 911 immediately. If you or someone you know has been diagnosed with an unruptured brain aneurysm, visit baptistjax.com/brain or call 904.861.0316 to learn about treatment options.