A mum who blamed her headaches on the difficulties of parenting found out she had a brain aneurysm.
Elizabeth Presson, from Florida, US, thought her 'abnormally bad headache' was from having to look after her two sets of toddler twins, aged between two and three-years-old.
After visiting her doctor in December last year, the 31-year-old failed to respond to pain relief medication. Five days later, the busy parent developed a stiff neck and went to hospital.
There, Elizabeth underwent a CT scan which revealed that she had a brain aneurysm. Watch below:
Advert
What is a brain aneurysm?
According to the NHS, an aneurysm 'is a bulge in a blood vessel caused by a weakness in the blood vessel wall, usually where it branches'.
"As blood passes through the weakened blood vessel, the blood pressure causes a small area to bulge outwards like a balloon," the health service explains.
"Most brain aneurysms only cause noticeable symptoms if they burst (rupture).
"This leads to an extremely serious condition known as a subarachnoid haemorrhage, where bleeding caused by the ruptured aneurysm can cause extensive brain damage and symptoms."
The mum-of-four thought her headache was from the stress of parenting
The stunned tech company worker from Jacksonville said that the CT scan found the brain aneurysm.
"I called my parents, my husband, and my best friend and they all started freaking out," she said. "I was in so much pain. My head hurt so bad that I couldn't even look at my phone.
The mum has 'always considered myself to be very healthy' and she claims the whole family 'eat all the right things, do all the right things'.
"I don't smoke, I don't drink, I'd never considered the possibility that something like that could happen to me," she continued.
A lumbar puncture confirmed that the brain aneurysm wasn't bleeding and Elizabeth was kept in hospital for two nights before she was sent home.
Elizabeth is still suffering from headaches
Elizabeth, who's married to 35-year-old Robert Presson, said she is still experiencing the sudden headaches a couple of times a week and is waiting for an appointment with her neurologist at the end March.
She shared: "I meet with my neurosurgeon again in July. If it's grown they consider it an active aneurysm, which is at greater risk of rupturing so I'll have to get a stent placed in my brain.
"If it hasn't grown then they want to continue to monitor it on an annual basis, but it's something that I have to be aware of for the rest of my life."
"I can't smoke, I can't do anything to raise my blood pressure too high and obviously I won't be riding any rollercoasters or doing anything like that anytime soon," she added.
"I think the hardest part is the anxiety of knowing that it could rupture at any moment. My doctor told me if it ruptures and it doesn't clot within two seconds then I will just die instantly.
"At this point I just really wish we could be proactive and place the stent now because I don't know if I can have this looming over my head for the rest of my life. I'm in a constant state of anxiety."
Since the diagnosis, she said it's changed her perspective parenting and it's encouraged her to have more fun with her children.
Anish Vij