Support group at CDH helps aneurysm survivors cope with recovery, answers questions
Stacy Nolan could not quite make it through her story.
The 35-year-old Wheaton resident told a support group that during the last eight years, doctors had discovered five brain aneurysms. Two have been operated on. Three, however, remain.
“I just kept asking myself, ‘Why?’” she said, through tears, at a support group meeting at Central DuPage Hospital in Winfield.
The support group was the brain child of 28-year-old Roopa Desai, a Carol Stream resident diagnosed with a brain aneurysm in 2009. When she pulled through surgery to remove it in March 2010, she looked for a place to talk to others who had gone through the same experience. However, she soon discovered that those places did not exist in the immediate area. She reached out to the hospital and was soon working with registered nurse Diane Broadley to organize the group.
While the group is relatively new — the September meeting was just the second — Nolan said having the outlet to talk about her condition to others who know what she is dealing with makes it easier.
“It’s just knowing other people have it and are able to move on with their lives,” Nolan said. “It’s someone with common knowledge about this and we can move on from it.”
The group meets once a month. For more information on the group or the schedule, call (630) 933-2191.
With Broadley guiding the discussion, the seven survivors in attendance at last month’s session shared stories of their lives with the aneurysms. At the same time, Broadley dispelled some myths about them. For instance, she said, once an aneurysm is treated, patients can live normal, healthy lives. Even having one does not necessarily preclude someone from doing risky things, such as bungee jumping and riding a roller coaster, Broadley said.
Broadley commended Desai for starting the conversation.
“(The survivors) get the feeling that they are not alone,” Broadley said.