The day I nearly died – 5 Life Lessons from surviving a Brain Aneurysm

The day started off like any other.  I woke up to a beautiful morning and did what I usually do when it’s a great day. Make the most of it! I went to spend the day by a friends pool. It was idyllic.  Reading,  swimming, chatting,  napping.  A perfect day.

Until the moment everything changed.  We had left the pool and gone upstairs to watch a movie.  That’s when it happened.

The most excruciating headache I have ever had. So sore that I fell to the floor, clutching my head and screamed out loud in pain.  The kind of pain I’ve never had. I’m a migraine sufferer so I know pain. It felt like my brain had exploded. This was followed by a sore neck and excruciating pain up and down my spine. Then I threw up.

I knew something was very wrong. I said to my friend who was with me ‘I think I’m dying’

She rushed me off to the hospital. She is a doctor and she suspected there was something very wrong with my brain.

She was right.  A scan revealed a ruptured aneurysm in my brain.

Until this day, I didn’t even know what an aneurysm was.

Now I had one.

An aneurysm is a balloon-like bulge of an artery wall. A ruptured aneurysm releases blood into the spaces around the brain, called a subarachnoid hemorrhage, a life-threatening type of stroke. 

The chances of survival are 1 in 4. The 1 that does survive has a 50% chance of having major brain damage.  We had no idea which of these I would be.

It was touch and go. I needed brain surgery to fix the aneurysm. The night before my surgery, I wrote a heartfelt goodbye on Facebook in case the operation wasn’t successful.

I had 2 surgeries performed by two of the best neurosurgeons in Africa .  The first one didn’t work. The damage was just too much.

The 2nd one to implant 2 stents into my brain was successful. Then it was wait and see.

While I waited, my life literally flashed before my eyes as if on one of those old school projector screens.  I even had moments where I saw the often talked about ‘white light’ that’s associated with a near death experience.

The first few days were critical. A stroke at any time could kill me.

I was one of the ridiculously lucky ones. It wasn’t my time to go yet.

After 2 weeks in hospital, I was well enough to go home and start the long road to recovery.

The slow pace of recovery brings lots of time to reflect.

The lessons I’ve learnt from this experience are these:

SURROUND YOURSELF WITH PEOPLE WHO LIFT YOU UP

This was key to my recovery. I was immediately surrounded by friends and family. They supported me in ways I didn’t even know I needed support. Everything I was responsible for or needed, was taken care of. The offers of help poured in. The comments and messages of love flew in by the hundreds! I have never before felt that much love and healing energy being sent my way. I’m convinced that it’s a big part of the reason I healed so quickly.

In healing, as in life, we need each other.

Find your tribe. Love them hard!

DO WORK THAT MATTERS – TO YOU!

Contemplating my death, I realised I was completely at peace with the impact I had made in the world and the legacy I would leave behind. Having spent the last 4 years of my life sharing the magic of The Flow Experience with the world meant I had created my dream – a business and experience that profoundly changes lives. I had provided deep powerful life changing experiences for myself and hundreds of others. I was totally fulfilled.  My life really made a difference. That mattered to me.

What matters to you will be different to me. Only you know what matters to you. Do that! Not what matters  to your parents, friends, boyfriend, girlfriend, school, or society.

What matters to YOU!

It’s your life, so live it YOUR way.

LIVE LIFE WITH NO REGRETS!

During my near death experience I realised that I had NONE of the 5 regrets of the dying.  These are:

I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me. – Follow your dreams. No matter how crazy, unconventional or silly they may seem.
I wish I hadn’t worked so hard. – Spending too much time working means you miss out on time with friends, family, children and partners. You miss out on travel, life experiences and special occasions. Figure out what’s important to you, and spend more time doing that!
I wish I’d had the courage to express my feelings. – Suppressed feelings get stored in your body and cause all sorts of dis-ease. Speak your truth.
I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends. – We need each other. Connection, community and belonging are keys to a happy life.
I wish that I had let myself be happier. – Happiness is a choice. Choose Happy every day!

I didn’t have any of these regrets because for the last 4 years, I have lived in flow.  For me that has meant:

Living my life on my terms.
Doing work that I absolutely love.
Not doing anything out of guilt or obligation or any other negative energy.
Spending quality time with my tribe – the people I love.
Following my bliss every day – spending time doing activities that make my soul light up.

If today was your day to die, would you have any of these regrets?

If you answered YES to any one of them, take action today and change that.

You have NO IDEA when your time is going to be up.

Don’t die with any regrets!

BE GRATEFUL

Every day that I wake up since the aneurysm feels like a gift. I am deeply grateful for every extra moment I get to spend with my friends and family, doing work that I love and living a life that I love.

Even when things aren’t perfect, the gratitude for simply being alive, is always with me.

Life is a true gift. Enjoy it!

Timea Kulcsar is the founder and facilitator of the online coaching program – The Flow Experience. It is an online personal transformation program to help you shift out of the old paradigm of having to stress, struggle and hustle to survive and into the new paradigm of tapping into the ease, joy and magic of life itself.  If you’d like to know more, visit www.flow-experience.com and sign up for Timea’s free 7 days of Flow email series.

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