‘I had just 24 hours to live after medics missed brain aneurysm’

IT was a reassuring rub of the hand, a friendly gesture of support and best wishes.

For nurse Shona Green, though, it sent alarm bells ringing. She instantly knew that it was an acknowledgment from the staff member operating the CT scanner that something was amiss.

Soon a doctor was breaking the news that, had a brain aneurysm not been spotted, Shona had 24 hours to live.

But even so, she still might not pull through, or at least survive as she was, and she should say what she wanted to her family.

Rosyth mum-of-three Shona had suffered headaches for six weeks in the autumn of 2015, repeatedly going to see her GP.

“I thought it was a strange migraine but then I had double vision and a throbbing in the base of my neck,” said Shona, a nursing auxiliary at the Victoria hospital in Kirkcaldy.

“I think I went six times but it was put down to being muscular and I was given gels and painkillers.

“Because I was working on a ward, I kept checking my blood pressure daily and it was constantly worryingly high.

“It came to a crunch when I was sick at work and had to go home.

“I got an emergency appointment with my GP and was referred to hospital.

“It felt like my head was crushing, but at the same time like it was going to explode.”

It was at the hospital in Kirkcaldy that Shona learned the devastating seriousness of her condition after she was given the CT scan.

“I thought it was just to rule things out,” she explains. “But when the girl, who I knew, rubbed my hand and said to take care I knew she’d seen something.

“When the consultant came to see my husband Kevin and myself he said I had a bulging aneurism in my brain.

“I was blue-lighted to the Western General in Edinburgh and the surgeon said that 24 hours more and I’d have been dead.

“As it was, I could still die during the operation.

“I was in total shock, trying to take in what was going to happen.

“I was told I might not recognise anybody after the operation, be left paralysed or just not wake up at all.

“It was the scariest moment of my life.”

Shona was advised to say what could have been a final farewell to children Hayley, Nicole and Robbie and her grandkids before the delicate procedure to have coils inserted to seal the aneurism.

Thankfully the operation was a success, but after an extended period in hospital, Shona was to find that the recovery process was only just beginning.

She suffered debilitating fatigue and her character and personality totally changed.

“Before the op I was a bit of a party animal, I loved clubbing with friends and going to the pub with the girls from work,” said Shona.

“Since, though, I don’t drink alcohol and don’t want to go out like that all.

“It’s like a calmer version of the old me. Now I do things with Kevin, such as visiting Outlander locations.”

Shona became withdrawn and anxious, keen just to stay home. When a concerned Kevin suggested attending a session at Headway Fife, she was hugely sceptical.

But that first visit to the brain injury charity was a revelation.

“Speaking to other people who had been through similar things and knew what you were feeling was such a relief,” said Shona.

“It was like you could take down that front you’d been putting on.

“My face changed from being scared to being relaxed.”

Shona had feared she’d never return to work but with the support she was able to able to gradually get back to doing three days a week.

“I know I’m very lucky to be here and I’m really trying to treasure every day and enjoy what I have.”

For more, see headway.org.uk