A mother-of-three has made a “miraculous” recovery after a near-fatal rupture of a brain aneurysm caused major health complications when she woke up from a coma.
Julianne Smith, who was 38 at the time, suddenly collapsed on her kitchen floor in January.
Her 10-year-old daughter quickly called her father, who then called 911 and had Julianne rushed to a nearby hospital.
“So I showed up and Julianne said, ‘I just don’t feel good. “I’m so dizzy. And then she puts her hand on her head and lets out this horrible scream,” Mike Smith said. ABC’s Good Morning America.
He also told Cleveland Clinic that when his daughter called him, he could hear Julianne waking up and slurring her words.
Julianne Smith, mother of three, suffered a ruptured brain aneurysm that changed her life
Julianne underwent extensive rehabilitation and a recovery that surprised doctors and family.
From the first hospital, she was flown to the main Cleveland Clinic site in Cleveland, Ohio.
“I was on the brink of death,” Dr. Nina Moore, a neurosurgeon at the Cleveland Clinic, told ABC.
Only about 30,000 American patients experience ruptured brain aneurysms each year.
A brain aneurysm is a bulge or bulging blood vessel. It can leak and cause bleeding in the brain, which can be life-threatening.
“The fact that he’s here is an absolute miracle,” Julianne told ABC.
Symptoms of a ruptured aneurysm include sudden severe headache, nausea and vomiting, stiff neck, blurred or double vision, sensitivity to light, seizures, and loss of consciousness.
Julianne’s daughter found her on the floor and sprang into action to get her mother medical treatment.
An unruptured aneurysm may not have any symptoms and may not require treatment.
The severe type of rupture Julianne experienced only has a 10 percent survival rate, according to the Cleveland Clinic.
But the resilient mother defied the odds and fought through a grueling recovery.
“We were really amazed. She followed orders, she talked, as if she interacted with her family. “It was…truly miraculous,” Moore told ABC.
When she was hospitalized, she had several emergency surgeries. Surgeons had to drain excess fluid from his brain.
The mother had several emergency surgeries to save her life and was in a coma for about two weeks.
Another procedure was aimed at preventing the aneurysm from rupturing again.
Julianne’s brain was so swollen that they eventually had to remove a piece of her skull.
He developed vasospasm – when blood from the rupture irritates the surrounding blood vessels.
About 50 to 90 percent of patients with a ruptured aneurysm experience vasospasm, which can lead to strokes. So surgeons performed another risky surgery to prevent it.
After about two weeks in a medically induced coma, Julianne woke up in shock.
Julianne told the Cleveland Clinic: “I’m looking at the neurosurgeon and saying, ‘How did this happen to me?'”
“I take care of myself pretty well and I personally didn’t know anyone who had an aneurysm.”
Julianne said she is happy to be able to do the things she loves, like traveling and volunteering.
She couldn’t move the left side of her body and could barely speak words, but after intense rehabilitation, Julianne was able to walk, drive, volunteer at her church, and travel once again.
Julianne was able to return home on Valentine’s Day and continue her treatment. Just nine months later, doctors are delighted with his progress.
“Knowing what I know now about the severity of my breakup, I’m so grateful to be here,” she added. ‘I remember telling one of the therapists that I have a lot to live for. “I was so determined to get better.”
Moore told ABC: “To see her doing so well so soon brings us all great joy.”