An influencer has opened up about her experience suffering from a life-threatening brain aneurysm after she initially thought it was nothing more than a migraine.
Meredith Staggers, 35, from Houston, Texas, has detailed the agonizing pain she endured while experiencing the effects of a bleeding brain aneurysm, which she tried to brush off as a headache.
The founder of popular lifestyle blog Cake & Confetti had fell victim to migraines for years, especially when she pregnant.
However, in August, the influencer experienced what she thought to be another pounding headache like the others.
Meredith Staggers, 35, has detailed the agonizing pain she endured while suffering from a bleeding brain aneurysm, which she thought was a migraine
The mom-of-three, from Texas, and founder of lifestyle blog Cake & Confetti opened up about her experience in an interview with People
Meredith explained that she had always suffered from migraines, but back in August, she began suffering from stroke-like symptoms while running errands
While running errands on August 4, Meredith began to suffer from stroke-like symptoms.
‘I started seeing an aura in my left eye and started slowly losing my vision. My face started going numb and then I started losing feeling in my hands and feet,’ she told People recently.
‘I was trying to call my husband and I couldn’t press the buttons on my phone, like it wasn’t registering in my brain.
‘I was finally able to contact him but 10 or 15 minutes later I lost the ability to speak coherently.’
After finally being able to phone her husband, he immediately came to her rescue and rushed her to the emergency room, where she said medical professionals thought she was ‘under the influence of drugs’ because of how incoherent she was.
The doctors ran both a CT scan and a chest x-ray, but the two both came back normal.
And after spending nearly nine hours in the ER waiting room to be evaluated by a doctor, the-mom-of-three ultimately decided to leave since most of her symptoms had subsided.
‘I started seeing an aura in my left eye and started slowly losing my vision. My face started going numb and then I started losing feeling in my hands and feet,’ she told People recently
After finally being able to phone her husband, he immediately came to her rescue and rushed her to the emergency room
And after spending nearly nine hours in the ER waiting room to be evaluated by a doctor, the-mom-of-three ultimately decided to leave since most of her symptoms had subsided
However, one week after the blogger brushed off her symptoms to those of a severe migraine, she experienced yet another major episode.
While at an OB/GYN appointment with her daughter, Meredith suddenly lost her vision, couldn’t hold her child, and wasn’t able to communicate with the doctors.
But again, she thought it was a migraine brought on by hormones and stress – since she had recently given birth and her newborn daughter was suffering from pneumonia.
‘I wasn’t only just dealing with the postpartum hormones that an average woman experiences, I also had this unusual case of having to be in the hospital with my tiny little baby,’ she explained.
‘And so, in that moment I assumed I was having a really bad panic attack and it triggered this migraine again.’
Meredith’s nurse then advised the mom-of-three to see a neurologist, just in case she was suffering from something other than a migraine.
The next day, Meredith scheduled an MRI with her primary care physician.
The MRI showed that Meredith actually had a five-to-six-millimeter brain aneurysm.
Her brain aneurysm was about the size of a fingertip, and she was rushed to the hospital.
An aneurysm is a bulge of a blood vessel in the brain.
When it ruptures it cause the blood to release into the brain, causing a life-threatening stroke.
Meredith’s neurosurgeon, Dr. Joseph Cochran at UTHealth Houston and Memorial Hermann, explained that her symptoms were due to leaking or a bleeding brain aneurysm found behind her left eye, pushing on the nerves.
He added that the mom-of-three was ‘lucky’ to have caught it when she did and not when it ruptured.
‘When an aneurysm ruptures, only about half of people make it to the hospital, probably about 40 per cent of people are dead before they get to the hospital,’ Dr. Cochran told People.
‘So it’s a devastating thing but if you catch it before it ruptures, it can be very easily fixed with very little pain and suffering.’
Days later, the lifestyle blogger was scheduled for surgery.
However, one week after the blogger brushed off her symptoms to those of a severe migraine, she experienced yet another major episode
The next day, Meredith scheduled an MRI with her primary care physician. The MRI showed that Meredith actually had a five-to-six-millimeter brain aneurysm
On August 15, her neurosurgeon was able to perform an endovascular flow division, which involves placing a catheter through the groin and up into the artery to divert the blood away
‘That was obviously very emotional news as a mom of three young girls and [I was] just feeling immediately really scared of what was to come,’ she recalled.
‘But at the same time, I did feel a huge sense of relief that I did actually have an answer to what had been going on.
‘It was just a very surreal thing because it happened so quickly. One minute it was like, ”Oh you’re having a migraine,” and then the next it’s no, it’s something that’s going to require surgical care.
‘I would have never, in my wildest dreams, thought that it was an aneurysm.’
On August 15, Dr. Cochran was able to perform an endovascular flow division, which involves placing a catheter through the groin and up into the artery.
The device is then deployed and diverts blood away from the aneurysm. Meredith’s neurosurgeon called this procedure a ‘game changer’ because it allowed for the blogger to make a speedier recovery.
Dr. Cochran advised that anyone experiencing the ‘worst headache of you life’ seek an MRI, especially if the pain makes you feel nauseous.
He added: ‘If somebody’s having headaches, and symptoms are unrelenting, they should get some sort of imaging of the blood vessels in their brain to make sure that there’s not an aneurysm.’
The three main causes of aneurysms are high blood pressure, smoking, and family history or genetics.
While recovering from her operation, Meredith learned that she had a family history of aneurysms.
While recovering from her operation, Meredith learned that she had a family history of aneurysms
Meredith’s doctor told her that her children, brothers, and sisters should also be evaluated for an aneurysm
Meredith is now sharing her story in the hopes of raising awareness, explaining, ‘If I could help one person catch it then I would feel like a huge success’
‘Once I was diagnosed with mine, my mom told me my grandfather had two aneurysms, one of her cousins, and then several other people in the family on the same side all have either died or had an aneurysm that was caught,’ she explained.
‘There were several cases in my family but it was something that before I was diagnosed, no one ever mentioned.
‘And then that inspired my mom to go get an MRI and get checked out just in case.’
Dr. Cochran told Meredith that her children, brothers, and sisters should also be evaluated for an aneurysm, and noted that if someone has an aneurysm their ‘first degree relatives should get checked.’
Because of her big following on social media – where she has racked up over 77,000 followers – Meredith wanted to share her story in the hopes of raising awareness.
‘All of a sudden I was like, “Why is no one talking about this?” I didn’t feel like there was much awareness around brain aneurysms,’ she told People.
‘Whenever you go to the doctor and they ask about your family history, brain aneurysm isn’t on there.
‘They ask about diabetes, cancer, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and it just really made me realize that there’s a huge void.
‘So sharing my story, if I could potentially help one person catch it like I did then I would feel like it would be a huge success.’
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