Time is Brain

Recognizing stroke symptoms fast is key

When Robin Kenney's husband Jon collapsed on a lacrosse field in Portland a year ago, she wasn't immediately sure what was going on. Jon was taken to Providence Medical Center where experts determined he was having a stroke and sent him to Oregon Health & Sciences University for treatment.

Physicians gave the Bend man clot dissolving medications, and then used a device to pull the large blood clot out of an important artery in his brain in an attempt to reduce the overall amount of damage.

Even with the cutting-edge treatment, Robin Kenney said, her husband has had only partial recovery, and continues to have difficulty speaking. But, he's able to walk and to sign his name with his left hand. He takes horseback riding lessons, goes downhill skiing and is taking driving lessons all through local rehabilitation and support programs.

Strokes like Jon Kenney's are common, although many differenttypes and severities of stroke can occur, said Dr. Michael Bell, Kenney's Bend neurologist. The stroke he suffered was severe, but Bell said the quick treatment he received likely helped with his overall recovery.

"Any sudden neurologic event or the sudden loss of neurologic function could be a stroke," Bell said, explaining typical symptoms include a facial droop, speech difficulties, weakness or numbness on one side of the body, double vision and loss of coordination. "Too many patients wait overnight and hope it will go away. By then, we are unable to give clot-dissolving medications or remove the clots, since the damage is already done."

When stroke patients seek treatment early, they are more likely to qualify for interventions like clot-dissolving medications. John Artley did just that when his right side suddenly stopped working while he was at work driving a taxi cab in early March. He went to the emergency room at St. Charles Bend within the typical three-hour time window needed to use clot-dissolving medications and had a positive outcome.

"The most spectacular therapies for stroke don't apply to the majority of people. However, physicians offer many other treatments and interventions after stroke to improve outcomes," said Dr. Fran McCabe, an emergency physician at St. Charles Bend. "Most people will do quite well."

Still, McCabe agreed that patients who suspect they are having a stroke should seek immediate treatment. She, Bell and Dr. Richard Koller, a Bend neurologist, all said the best treatment for stroke is to prevent having one in the first place.

"Management of risk factors is a really key, key thing," Koller said. "Risk factors include high cholesterol, high blood pressure, heart disease, atrial fibrillation. Tobacco use is a huge risk factor."

Koller, Bell and McCabe are members of St. Charles Bend's stroke committee, along with other physicians representing neurosurgery and rehabilitation services. The team has spent the past two years working to make sure the hospital is meeting national standards for stroke care.

"We want to increase awareness," Bell said, "so people get treated sooner to reduce the impact of this tough disease."

To learn more about recognizing the signs and symptoms of a
stroke, visit www.cascadehealthcare.org/strokesymptoms.