Indianz.Com > News > Yellow Bird: Recovering from brain aneurysm surgery

Yellow Bird: Recovering from brain aneurysm surgery
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Filed Under: Opinion

"It’s been a long two weeks, but I am now coming out of a relaxed phase of recovery from hospitalization. I had surgery to correct two brain aneurysms.

And — no pun intended — there are two things that stand out in my mind from that experience: the wonder of modern medicine and how dangerous and harmful cigarette smoke is to your body and particularly your vascular system.

First, it’s phenomenal how far healing methods has come over the years. The procedure done for brain aneurysms wouldn’t have been possible 40 years ago. Rather than cutting into the skull, the surgery today is done through the aorta, making it a two-day procedure rather than major surgery.

The danger, of course, is you are dealing with the aorta, a main artery, which must be managed carefully or you could easily bleed to death.

I should add from my conversation with Dr. David Tubman, interventional neuroradiologist at Abbott Northwestern Vascular Center in Minneapolis, that some aneurysms cannot be managed with this kind of procedure.

Those lifesaving things provided for us in this country reminded me that there is a Tubman and an Abbott Northwestern Hospital. I also realized the importance of family when I woke up after the procedure."

Get the Story:
Family does so much to ease hospital stay (The Grand Forks Herald 4/16)
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