When most people think back to their wedding day, they have tears in their eyes with nostalgia and wish they could relive the celebrations.
But Christy Aaron draws a blank.
Just two and a half weeks after marrying husband Jake Aaron in September 2018, the Alabama small business owner suffered a catastrophic brain hemorrhage.
Doctors gave her a 10 percent chance of survival. She survived, but has no memory of the three years leading up to the fatal attack.
“Jake shows me videos and pictures of the wedding, but they don’t trigger memories in my brain. To me, the photos look like a woman at a wedding and nothing more,” she said.
Christy and Jasper Aaron married in September 2018, but 17 days later Christy suffered a brain hemorrhage that robbed her memory of the special day
Christy was rushed by helicopter to the University of Alabama at Birmingham Hospital after doctors discovered the bleeding
Mrs Aaron, now 31, hopes to say ‘I do’ to her husband again in a wedding she will remember for a long time.
Her ordeal began one evening in September 2018, when she noticed a migraine coming on.
She didn’t think much about it until she woke up the next morning feeling like her head was about to explode.
“I had a migraine… I woke up burning, so I jumped in the shower and stood under cold water,” she said The Lede.
She had a very high temperature and her right leg felt numb.
They camped at Walker Baptist Medical Center, where doctors told Mrs. Aaron that her blood pressure was “through the roof.”
Medications to lower her blood pressure didn’t seem to work. The doctors decided to do a CT scan because Mrs. Aaron fell into a coma.
“At that point, she didn’t have much control over her body,” her husband wrote in a Facebook post recounting the ordeal.
‘It was very difficult for me to hold her still enough for the scan.’
A doctor told him that his wife had a brain hemorrhage caused by a ruptured aneurysm and that she needed to be seen by a neurosurgeon as soon as possible.
She was rushed by helicopter to the University of Alabama at Birmingham Hospital, and after spending 57 days there and undergoing multiple surgeries, she was able to leave.
But the hard work was just beginning, as she had to learn to talk and walk again.
Nearly six years after the aneurysm, she continues to undergo physical and speech therapy and has vision problems.
The couple hopes to redo their wedding, but plans to wait until Ms. Aaron returns to full health.
A brain aneurysm is a bulge or bulging blood vessel. It can cause leaks and bleeding in the brain, which can be life-threatening.
Symptoms of a ruptured aneurysm include sudden, severe headaches, nausea and vomiting, a stiff neck, blurred or double vision, sensitivity to light, seizures, and loss of consciousness.
An unruptured aneurysm may have no symptoms and may not require treatment.
The causes of brain aneurysms are often unclear, as was the case with Ms. Aaron.
Risk factors for brain hemorrhage include high blood pressure, smoking, heavy drinking and old age.
Treatment may include surgery or medication to restore blood flow and relieve pain.