I was 30 years old when I was diagnosed with a brain aneurysm.
It started with my mom. We were prepping for the holidays in 2016 when we learned about her brain aneurysm. She maintained a composed exterior and downplayed the whole thing, but I later found out she wrote goodbye letters to her family, just in case. Within weeks, she had successful surgery, and we thought the worst was behind us.
Just over a year later, in March 2018, I reluctantly got an MRA scan. Aneurysms can be genetic, so my siblings (and mom’s) and I all got tested. I was the only one with an issue. I was shocked. I had no symptoms, no headaches, no warning signs at all.
At the time, I was running full speed: managing the marketing department of a large orthopedic practice while pursuing my MBA on nights and weekends. A brain aneurysm wasn’t in the plan. Thankfully, I had the connections to know where to go. With Dr. Elad Levy and the team at UB Neurosurgery in Buffalo, I underwent an awake, live-broadcasted procedure.
The treatment worked! No more aneurysm. Recovery had some very rare complications, but I quickly got back to normal—with a completely different perspective.
This tiny aneurysm was an enormous life reroute toward my purpose.
While recovering, a colleague from the neurosurgery department asked what I planned to do after my MBA. I told him: “start my own agency.” He offered me a freelance position helping with their social media. The very same group that saved my life, and my mother’s! That one opportunity grew into working with individual doctors, then multiple practices across the United States—including several neurosurgeons and neurosurgical departments. Eventually, it became Atria Social, a five-person marketing agency serving doctors and healthcare leaders across the country.
This experience motivated me to help incredible doctors connect with patients and share their expertise online. If I could make stories of early detection and survival more common, if I could help the physicians who save lives reach the people who need them most, then maybe I could be part of something bigger than myself.
So, thank you, aneurysm.
You really freaked me out at first, but you taught me something I wouldn’t have learned otherwise. Conquering you gave me courage. Courage to build a career on my terms, courage to move across the country and start over, courage to dive deep into self development and meet my truth, courage to marry the love of my life, and courage to approach every scare in life as an adventure.
