Erika's Story

You just never know when there's a ticking time bomb in your head. Sounds unheard of, but that's exactly what happened to Erika Berry.

On the morning of Friday, January 29th, Erika, getting ready for work, was feeling fine, but all that drastically changed When she stepped out of the shower. Erika's condition went from the usual and ordinary to her dropped to her knees by a sharp pain behind her right eye.

Erika said, "I was also having pain in the back of my neck and could no longer move very far. I was hot and sweaty so, I laid over on the
tile to cool off."

That was all Erika managed to remember because it was at that point she lost consciousness and didn't wake up until almost 6 that afternoon.

Erika managed to stand up, grab the trash can and make her way to the
bed. She continued to slip in and out of consciousness for several hours
until her friend,Deborah, found her and rushed her to Medical Center.

Erika recounts, "I was in the ER for several hours having tests ran.
When they did the first CT, they noticed a sub arachnoid hemorrhage.
They then sent me for an angiogram where the aneurysm was very
apparent. I was finally placed in ICU around 6am Saturday morning."

Erika was flown to UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas for surgery
Sunday morning. An incision was made from the front of her left eye,
behind the hairline and down to the front of her right earlobe.
Erika's scalp was pulled back, the right jaw was dislocated and a piece
of her skull was removed to access the aneurysm.

Erika continued telling all about the surgery, "A small clamp was
placed at the aneurysm. The piece of skull was replaced and closed
with titanium plates and screws. The scalp was closed with 34 staples.
In all, I spent 10 days in the hospital in Dallas."

The doctors were so amazed with her progress that she was released
almost 5 days before her scheduled date. She continues to improve
everyday. Erika was happy to report that at her last check up
all went exceptionally well and she is not due back until April 27th.

Photo by Erika Berry