Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Before the discovery of X-rays, and the constitution of a group of
medical specialists able to interpret the shadow images, only a few attempts
to intervene surgically had been carried out on the human brain (Fishgold
and Bull 2002). However, during the twentieth century neurosurgery has
benefi ted from the developments in radiology and gradually become able
to offer surgical treatment for an increasing number of conditions of the
brain. Some of those who survive a ruptured aneurysm can, thanks to some
acute neurosurgical or endovascular intervention, recover without suffering
from any after-effects.
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But among survivors you often fi nd signifi cant
morbidity. Many who due to the haemorrhage lose their ability to move
around recover after some time, but often continue to suffer from cognitive
problems or problems related to the self. Even if these problems are not
always immediately observed by other people, they are very obvious for the
suffering person, as this woman writes:
During the day of May 26th 2003, I was going about my normal daily
tasks, of managing two real estate offi ces, which I owned. I drove from
one offi ce to the other, to check on the staff, and was about to leave
when one of my staff asked me to look at an email from one of the
tenants. I read it and suggested that I could answer if for her. I sat down
behind her desk and suddenly was racked with this incredible pain in
my head. I passed out, and was revived some 15-20 minutes later by the
medical staff in the centre, vomiting and with loss of bladder control …
So unexpected. How my life changed in a split second. … What would
the future bring. I have had to learn to do other things to keep my
mind active, sewing and knitting for the new baby. I cannot deal with
any form of confl ict, and loose concentration. I used to sleep the night
through, now I wake sometimes on the hour. I cannot deal with traffi c,
so am unable to drive. I have no inclination or motivation for the tasks
associated with running my own business. I have diffi culty remembering
simple things like making a favourite recipe. I don't have any feelings
of being grateful for getting a second chance at life, something that my
specialist confi rmed happens to a lot of aneurysm survivors.
This woman, like many other storytellers on the website, describes how
the ruptured aneurysm in one second changed her life for ever. After having
survived a treated ruptured aneurysm many of the storytellers experience,
just like this woman, remaining symptoms or more correctly, after-effects.
When the medical philosopher Kay Toombs suggests that 'symptoms of
illness are the patient's reports of what is experienced as an alien body
sensation' (Toombs 1992: 33), she is referring most of all to experiences
such as pain and bodily weakness. But people who are living with a post-
ruptured aneurysm are generally referring to other kinds of sensations or
experiences. These after-effects are often experienced as a blend of strange
