Aneurysm: Doctors misdiagnosed my ruptured brain aneurysm at 37 — the key wa.rning sign they overlooked

 

Living in New York, Julie Brothers is used to facing challenges—whether it’s chasing her dream career, squeezing onto a crowded subway, or snagging the last slice of pizza after a long day.

But last year, she faced the biggest challenge of all: a battle to survive.

At only 37, Brothers experienced a ruptured brain aneurysm that remained untreated for over 36 hours due to an initial misdiagnosis by doctors.

The dangerous delay put her at serious risk of a second bleed that could have resulted in irreversible brain damage, stroke or even d:eath.

“You know your body better than anybody else,” Brothers told The Post. “You might not be able to pinpoint exactly what’s going on, but if you feel like something’s wrong, you’re probably right.”

Missed signs, major risk

Apart from her high-stress job in TV production, Brothers lived a relatively healthy lifestyle with no major medical problems.

“Before the aneurysm, I think a sprained ankle was probably the worst of my health issues,” she said. But everything changed on the night of April 23, 2024.

Brothers was wrapping up work from home, hunched over her laptop and scarfing down takeout, when she was struck by a searing pain in the back of her head out of nowhere.

“I’ve never been shot in the head, however, if I were to compare it to anything, it was that sudden,” she said. “It was like something snapped inside of me.”

She had never experienced a migraine — but she’d heard the horror stories from friends and wondered whether this was her first.

“I started to think, wow, I guess people aren’t joking, because this is pretty awful,” she said.

Nausea, dizziness, blurred vision and a neck so stiff she could barely move followed. She managed to get a glass of water from the kitchen before collapsing into bed — but by the next morning, her symptoms had only gotten worse.

“I was vomiting and I was getting quite dehydrated because I couldn’t even keep a sip of water down at that point,” she said.

“I wondered, ‘Am I blowing this out of proportion? Am I crazy?’”
Julie Brothers
Her neck was still stiff. Though the thought of meningitis briefly crossed her mind, she brushed it off, assuming she had just slept in an awkward position.

Desperate for relief, she booked an Uber and dragged herself to a neighborhood walk-in clinic.

“I know they’re not particularly equipped to deal with medical emergencies … but I didn’t think I was having one,” Brothers said.

At the clinic, she described her symptoms to the doctors and mentioned that she suspected they might be caused by a migraine.

They agreed without running any tests. Instead, doctors gave her a shot of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs for the pain, a prescription for some anti-nausea medicine and sent her home.

Brothers isn’t alone.

“Misdiagnosis occurs 25% of the time because of the failure to do a scan,” Christine Buckley, executive director of the Brain Aneurysm Foundation, told The Post.

When pain turns deadly

CONTINUE READING ON THE NEXT PAGE 🥰💕