Community Health & Wellness
Gig Harbor mom, gymnastics coach recovering from ruptured brain aneurysm
Aimee Hentschell suffers from migraines, so the severe headache that began on March 20 was nothing unusual for her. But as the pain worsened, something told her this was different.
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The pain got so bad that she asked her ex-husband to come over. As he was en route, she realized she couldn’t wait for him to arrive and called 911.
The rest is hazy. Hentschell really can’t remember some details, because she was suffering from a ruptured brain aneurysm.
“A lot of stuff I’m still trying to work out, and I’m still trying to process it,” she said.
Ruptured brain aneurysms rare
According to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, brain aneurysms are not uncommon and can occur at any age. They occur more often in women ages 30 to 60.
However, ruptured brain aneurysms happen in only about 30,000 patients per year. Symptoms of a ruptured aneurysm include severe headache, nausea and vomiting, stiff neck, blurred or double vision, sensitivity to light, a drooping eyelid, confusion, loss of consciousness and seizure, according to the Mayo Clinic.
Aimee Hentschell spent three weeks in the hospital after suffering from a ruptured brain aneurysm in March. Most of that time was in the Neuro ICU at Tacoma General Hospital in Tacoma. Photo courtesy of Bella Hentschell
What Hentschell experienced was a serious medical event. Her father, Larry Weniger, said a doctor told them the rupture was a 4 out of 5 on the severity scale.
“The doctors and nurses kept saying that they were surprised at how well I was recovering, and how fast I was recovering, and that they couldn’t believe I was the same patient that they were working on the week before,” Hentschell said.
Hentschell, a mother of three, lives in Gig Harbor and coaches young gymnasts at a gym in Kent. She grew up in the sport and is passionate about coaching.
Coaching is what she loves to do, she said, and she believes that she was saved so that she can continue to coach.
Generous community
Her eldest daughter, Bella, who is in college in San Diego, set up a gofundme for her mother’s medical bills, and soon people were donating.
Aimee Hentschell believes that her passion for coaching gymnastics is why she’s still here. She nearly died, after suffering from a ruptured brain aneurysm in March. Photo courtesy of Bella Hentschell
“My family and I were hesitating at first,” Bella said, “but my mom is a single mom, and I need to look for support.”
Donors have contributed more than $23,000 toward a goal of $28,000.
When Bella set up the gofundme, doctors told the family that Aimee would be in the hospital for up to six weeks. But she healed quickly and was cleared to go home on April 10. She spent most of those three weeks in the Neuro ICU at Tacoma General Hospital.
“She got there right at the right time,” said her mother Maggie Weniger. The Wenigers live in Lacey. “That’s the key, is to get there on time. She almost died in the emergency room. She had a seizure at the hospital, and bled into her brain. She’s on 20 medications, so we are here to help with that.”
Recovery time is uncertain, and will require more visits to her neurologists, and include more assessments. But, Hentschell said she is learning that the recovery of her brain is not as simple as say a foot, or hand.
“The brain is way more complex, and involved,” she said. “If you feel like there is something wrong, it’s better to be safe than sorry, and it’s a lot easier to be like, ‘it was nothing,’ than it being something and not being able to come back from it. It’s better to be wrong than dead.”