‘Worst Headache of My Life’ Signals Something More Ominous for Nurse

Mother of two Crista Harris had a full life, with an active family and a job she loved as a nurse. A splitting headache threatened all that.

“Out of the blue, I had the worst headache of my life,” Harris says. “It was only getting worse over time. And after taking over-the-counter medications and nothing was happening, that's when we decided we needed to do something about it.”

Harris and her husband headed to an emergency room at Orlando Health.

Used to taking care of her own patients and her family, Harris knew she had to remain strong as she sensed her headache was something far more serious.  “I knew I had to put my brave face on and be there for my family,” she says.

Meanwhile, doctors in the ER collaborated with the neurosurgeons at Orlando Health Neuroscience Institute to figure out the cause of Harris’ headaches.

“When Crista came into the ER with a severe headache, they were concerned that she may have a ruptured aneurysm,” says Dr. Jay Vachhani, a cerebrovascular neurosurgeon at Orlando Health.  

An aneurysm occurs when a weak section of a blood vessel in the brain stretches and balloons outward. The stretched vessel walls become thin, putting them at risk of rupturing. Half of all patients with ruptured brain aneurysms die and many survivors face permanent cognitive damage.

Tests revealed that Harris had an aneurysm but thankfully it had yet to rupture. Now, she had to decide how to make sure it didn’t.

Dr. Vachhani sat down with Harris and her husband and explained the type of aneurysm she had, drawing pictures and answering their questions.

“It's important to try to make sure you individualize the treatment for the patient. When all you have is a hammer, the whole world is a nail,” Dr. Vachhani says. “If you have multiple treatment options available, including endovascular options, conservative options, as well as open surgical options like Crista's case, it gives you more tools to try to tailor it for that patient.”

Due to the irregular shape of the aneurysm and a history of blood clots, the best option for Harris was a craniotomy.

As a nurse at Orlando Health, there was only one place Harris trusted with her own care.

I knew I had to put my brave face on and be there for my family. - Crista Harris

“I wouldn't have chosen another facility even if I wasn't an employee. I knew I would be well taken care of at Orlando Health,” she says.

After a successful surgery, Harris woke up on the opposite side of the nurse/patient relationship, and she didn’t like it.

“I felt like I was a bad patient,” she admits. “I kept thinking to myself, ‘I'm a nurse, I can take care of myself, just let me get up and walk to the bathroom.’ And they didn't want me to walk yet, and I kept telling them, ‘I'm a nurse, I can do this.’ I was being a bad patient to my nurse because I wanted to be independent.”

Harris’ recovery was much shorter than expected because of her drive to get back to doing what she does best — helping others. Only six weeks after brain surgery, she was back at work as an Orlando Health post-operative nurse helping others like herself recover after an operation.

“I don't think I could have gotten back to where I am without Orlando Health. It's been a big part of my life and my recovery and my family at work has been a big part of my recovery,” Harris says.

There was one part of her life, however, that Harris was hesitant to resume: running. She was an avid runner before her aneurysm, completing multiple marathons. After surgery, she had some discomfort and had given up the more strenuous runs she loved so much. But her oldest son wasn’t ready to let her give up her passion.

“My son and I just happened to catch the end of the New York City Marathon last year, and we caught them talking about this woman who was a two-time brain aneurysm survivor and a breast cancer survivor.  And my son looked at me and said, ‘Mom, why are you not running anymore?’ And he challenged me, and I said ‘Let’s do it together.’”

For many patients, an aneurysm serves as a wakeup call. When a seemingly normal headache turns into a life-threatening emergency, it puts everything in perspective. For Harris, it made her more eager than ever to get back to helping others as a nurse at Orlando Health. And it made her appreciate every stride on the trail as she runs alongside her son.

“Now I'm running again. We're training for the New York City Marathon and will run on the Brain Aneurysm Foundation team. I knew it wouldn't be easy, but it would be fun because I had a partner to do it. And when my kids challenge me, I put everything into it. My family is my inspiration, but I definitely think I inspire them, too.”