A 31-year-old woman who is consistently left wondering whether she will 'die today' has opened up about the first symptoms she experienced before she received a diagnosis.
Amber Ford, from Scotland, first began to notice issues with her health in 2018, but it wasn't until an MRI scan in April 2024 that she finally learned the truth about what was causing her issues.
Initially she feared she may have throat cancer, but after a CT scan revealed a 'shadow' in her brain, she underwent the MRI which revealed up to three aneurysms.
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Aneurysms are formed by a bulge in a blood vessel in the brain - and if they burst, it can be incredibly serious.
Now, the 31-year-old has described living with 'unbearable anxiety every day'.
Speaking with PA Real Life, she described thinking: "'Are they going to rupture today?' and 'Am I going to die today?'"
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Looking back on the first signs of concern she noticed, Amber remembered in 2018 when she woke up one day to find her face was 'all twisted'. After going to the doctor, she was diagnosed with mumps and Bell’s palsy, a condition which causes temporary weakness often to one side of the face.
“Since then, things haven’t been right – my bloods have been off, I’m always catching infections, things like that," she said.
Further symptoms emerged towards the end of 2020, when Amber began falling asleep at work, and even while she was 'standing up'.
“I started having bad headaches to the point I couldn’t lift my head and the light in the room was too much," she said. "I was being sick in my sleep and I was waking up choking, I couldn’t breathe.”
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She also experienced 'disturbances' to her vision, as well as a loss of function in her legs while laughing and 'out-of-character' changes to her behavior. Even when Amber raised her symptoms with a hospital, she felt she was not being taken seriously.
“I knew there was something wrong with me for a long time but I was being told that I was bringing these issues on myself or I needed psychiatric treatment,” she said.
'Convinced' she had throat cancer, she then used her work's private healthcare to get the CT scan which eventually revealed the 'shadow'.
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The MRI then revealed that Amber has a fenestration in her brain, where a single artery is split into two, as well as potentially up to three aneurysms.
Now, she's faced with the prospect of undergoing surgery to cut off blood supply to the aneurysms; a procedure which comes with the risk of causing a haemorrhage, leaving her permanently disabled or even dead.
Alternatively, she could 'do nothing' - but then the aneurysms could rupture at any time.
While searching for solutions, Amber has found a doctor in the US who specializes in complex and rare aneurysm cases. She's now launched a GoFundMe to help raise money for travel and treatment.
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“This has completely taken over my whole life … I don’t even leave the house because I start having panic attacks,” she said. “I genuinely just want my life back, I want to have a family and enjoy my life."
If you'd like to donate to Amber’s GoFundMe page, you can do so here.
Emily Brown