Massachusetts woman say her head ‘literally exploded’ before she had the scariest experience of her life: ‘I don’t remember him calling’

A Massachusetts woman says an ordinary day turned into a medical emergency after she developed what she described as an unbearable headache that left her unable to stand and with only fragmented memories of the hours that followed. TikTok Aunt Julie – The Cat Sitter (@julienashawaty) shared a series of videos in July 2026 documenting her hospitalization after doctors diagnosed her with a brain aneurysm. In the videos, she recounts the frightening experience from her hospital bed while recovering.

According to Aunt Julie, the ordeal began shortly after she returned home from work. “I walked into the bedroom, and my head literally exploded,” she said. She said she rarely experiences headaches, making the sudden pain especially alarming.

Her husband, Steve, brought her Advil while she tried to rest on the couch. At first, she believed she might have been experiencing what she described as one of her occasional vasovagal episodes because she felt overheated and nauseated. Instead, her symptoms rapidly worsened.

Things got hazy after that

Aunt Julie said her memory became hazy after that point. She recalled seeing emergency responders entering her home but struggled to piece together exactly what happened. “I don’t remember him calling, I don’t remember anything,” she said.

She remembered feeling extremely hot, vomiting, and being unable to stand when first responders asked whether she could walk downstairs. “They’re like, ‘We have to get you up. Can you stand?’ And I was like, ‘No,'” she recalled.

Emergency responders ultimately carried her down two flights of stairs in an evacuation chair before loading her into an ambulance. Aunt Julie said she remembers feeling confused during the ride and wondering why her husband was not beside her in the ambulance.

After arriving at the hospital, doctors informed her she had experienced a brain bleed. She described the following hours as a blur, saying medical staff administered medications, inserted a catheter, and began intensive treatment. At the end of the video, Aunt Julie said doctors expected her to remain hospitalized for 21 days.

In a follow-up TikTok, Aunt Julie described the recovery process as physically and emotionally exhausting. “This has been rough to say the least,” she said.

She explained that hospital staff woke her every hour throughout the night to monitor her neurological condition and watch for signs of a stroke. The constant monitoring left her exhausted, but she also reflected on what she viewed as an unexpected blessing. She said she had recently spent three weeks with a new baby in her family before her medical emergency occurred.

Strokes can feel like “the worst headache of your life”

According to the American Stroke Association, a brain aneurysm is a weakened area in a blood vessel in the brain that bulges outward. If the aneurysm ruptures, it causes bleeding around the brain known as a subarachnoid hemorrhage, which is a life-threatening medical emergency.

The organization says a sudden, severe headache that many patients describe as the “worst headache of your life” is one of the hallmark warning signs of a ruptured brain aneurysm. Other symptoms can include nausea, vomiting, sensitivity to light, confusion, weakness, and loss of consciousness. Immediate emergency treatment is critical.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) advises calling 911 immediately for sudden severe headaches or other possible stroke symptoms because rapid treatment can reduce brain damage and improve outcomes.