It was a stroke of luck that Beatrice Daughtery started feeling numb in an emergency room.
The retired private-duty nurse had come to Bon Secours Richmond Community Hospital in Church Hill because she had felt lousy the previous night. Her blood pressure was alarmingly high — 255/120. (Normal is 120/80 or lower.)
The nationally certified stroke response team there “whooshed me in the back and did all these tests,” Daughtery said. “All of a sudden I felt heavy on one side. I went to raise my left leg and I couldn’t. I tried to move my left arm, and it just flopped.”
The team quickly deduced that Daughtery was having an ischemic stroke, one caused by a clot that blocked blood flow to her brain.
TIME LOST IS BRAIN LOST
Time lost is brain lost: Clot-busters work only if given within a few hours after a clot-induced stroke starts.
Within minutes, Daughtery’s test results were sent via the Internet and fax to a neurologist in Florida. Using real-time video, the neurologist can take a history, watch an examination, ask questions — and even view the patient’s pupils.
This helps make sure it’s safe to administer clot-dissolving TPA (tissue plasminogen activator) during the three-hour window for the treatment after the start of an ischemic stroke. Eighty percent of strokes are caused by clots. TPA isn't used for strokes caused by bleeding, called hemorrhagic strokes.
“This special medicine goes to the clot and dissolves it. It can totally reverse a severe stroke. It’s pretty amazing. But they have to come in quick,” said Daughtery’s physician, Dr. Stacy Jo Williams, medical director of Richmond Community’s emergency room.
‘ONLY MY LEFT FOOT DRAGGED’
When Daughtery was discharged a week later, “only my left foot dragged,” she said. After several months of physical therapy and nutritional counseling, she no longer needed a walker or cane.
The difference between last summer’s stroke and the two that preceded it is remarkable, Daughtery says.
Her left side was paralyzed after her first stroke at age 57. She had to give up nursing for social services office work. A second stroke three years later left her unable to work. The third stroke was last July 16. She was 63.
“I did snap back quicker than I did the other times because of the drug,” she said.
“Even when I was in the hospital last summer, I told myself, ‘I’ve got to hurry up and get this over with. I’ve got to get up and do. I just knew I was going to come back like I was. I live by myself. I couldn’t sit there and feel sorry for myself.”
‘I WAITED … I WON’T DO THAT AGAIN’
In hindsight, Daughtery said, “I hesitated before going to the hospital. I was having pains in my chest, so I waited four or five hours, thinking it was indigestion or a heart attack. But I started having pain in my left shoulder, and it radiated all the way down to my left hand. That’s what made me go.
“I waited because I thought maybe it will go away. I won’t do that again.”
Williams says everyone should know the signs of stroke. These include sudden numbness, tingling or weakness on one side of the body; confusion; drooping face; speaking, vision, balance or walking difficulties; or sudden severe headache.
“Unfortunately, most people wait to call 911 and go to the ER,” she said. “They think it’s going to go away. It’s a very weird phenomenon.”
Also, Williams cautioned, be wary of transient ischemic attacks, or TIAs, that occur and then seemingly resolve on their own. These are warning signs that you have a 90 percent chance of having an ischemic stroke within 12 months. They should be studied by a doctor so their causes can be dealt with.
Most people who have had one stroke have more, she added, probably because of not receiving treatment for underlying causes, such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, obesity and smoking.
“If you have symptoms and you don’t come get help, and you get sick, you’re not going to be working very much longer. Don’t be afraid of coming in. We don’t care if you have insurance or not — we’re going to take care of you.”
Betty Booker is a retired Richmond Times-Dispatch columnist and reporter.
Stroke Awareness Month
May is National Stroke Awareness Month. For more, visit www.stroke.org.
