THESE were her initial signs
A 32 year old freelance ghostwriter's unusual headache was actually a warning sign of a stroke which she learned 5 days later.
After experiencing pain "radiated from the back of her head to the front of her face for five days" one day when she stood up she lost balance and "suddenly experienced double vision", TODAY reported.
(Representational Image)
Her symptoms peaked
As per the media report, she started seeing double of everything and immediately texted her husband for help.
She could not feel anything on her left side. She could not lift her hands, her face drooped and her symptoms worsened when she reached hospital.
She could not speak and found it difficult to breathe properly.
She was given a strong clot buster
A CT scan revealed that her vertebral arteries were blocked and a clot buster was given to break up the clogged arteries.
However, that did not help and she was moved to Cleveland Clinic’s main campus via helicopter, the report says.
"Mentally, I was still completely aware”
“I couldn’t really see straight or sit up, but I was cognizant,” she says. “All of my brain damage was in my cerebral cortex and pons (part of the brain stem) so, physically, it was affecting me. Mentally, I was still completely aware," she told TODAY.
Stents were placed in her vertebral arteries. Only one of the two arteries could be opened. “The left one is completely blocked. It’s permanently damaged. They put three stents into my right vertebral artery," she told the media.
What was the reason?
Doctors said fibromuscular dysplasia was the reason behind her stroke. In this condition, there is unusual cell growth in the artery walls and this affects the way arteries contract or expand.
“(She had) tears on both sides, both on the left and the right. Basically, when we see these tears that occur in people’s blood vessels there’s probably somewhat of an underlying fragility to their blood vessels," the director of the Cerebrovascular Center at the Cleveland Clinic told TODAY.
Doctors suspected that a recent illness worsened her condition. She was sick for three weeks in January and had coughed hard which might have caused the rupture.
FAST: Stroke signs
The US CDC says stroke treatments that work best are available only if the stroke is recognized and diagnosed within 3 hours of the first symptoms.
The symptoms are:
F—Face: Ask the person to smile. Does one side of the face droop?
A—Arms: Ask the person to raise both arms. Does one arm drift downward?
S—Speech: Ask the person to repeat a simple phrase. Is the speech slurred or strange?
T—Time: If you see any of these signs, call 9-1-1 right away.