LIVES OF VALLEY PATIENTS BEING SAVED THROUGH QUICK ACTION
IN TREATING STROKES

Harlingen –- When William Hobart became dizzy while sitting in a chair at his home in Harlingen recently, his wife thought it might just be anemia and thought about putting him in bed for the night. Instead, she made the life-saving decision to take her husband to the Emergency Dept. at Valley Baptist Medical Center in Harlingen – where he was diagnosed with a stroke.

A team of doctors, nurses and other health care professionals at Valley Baptist acted quickly to treat the 61-year-old man with a clot-busting medication which is used to reverse strokes. The medication only works if it is given within three hours after a stroke begins. Because of the quick action by the Valley Baptist Stroke Team, not only was Mr. Hobart’s life saved, but he didn’t suffer the paralyzing complications endured by many stroke patients.

“This man had a very high risk for death (90 percent) from a sudden blood clot in the brain,” said Dr. Mikael Muratoglu, a neurologist who treated Mr. Hobart. “He was saved as a result of the seamless, coordinated actions and interventions already in place with the Valley Baptist Emergency Room, Neurology Stroke Team, Radiology, Vascular Lab, and Neurosurgery Dept. Now the patient is able to talk, walk and use his arms.”

Dr. Victoria A. Parada, who along with Dr. Terry Fuller, also serves as a neurologist at Valley Baptist, said this integrated team approach is what makes all the difference in saving the lives of patients such as Mr. Hobart; Elizabeth Cunningham of San Benito, who is a stroke survivor after being treated with a stroke-reversing medication (tPA) at Valley Baptist two years ago; and Ricardo DeLeon of Lasara, who was rushed to Valley Baptist by helicopter after suffering a stroke on New Year’s Eve.

Dr. Parada said that nearly 7 out of 10 victims of stroke do not get the proper treatment they need after symptoms of stroke begin. “Seventy percent of the stroke victims don’t reach the hospital within the first three hours after the stroke symptoms begin because they lack awareness of the importance of prompt recognition and treatment of symptoms of stroke,” she said. “Every minute spent without treatment means more brain cells die.”
“Efforts to speed up patients' arrival at the hospital are absolutely crucial,” Dr. Parada added. “We have very effective treatments, and a committed stroke team willing to make every effort to help our patients to restore functioning and prevent disability.”

The Valley Baptist team’s efforts start with community education about the signs and symptoms of stroke. “Our continuum of care for stroke patients includes patient access through Emergency Medical Services and Valley Air Care (air ambulance), Emergency Department treatment, response by our Integrated Stroke Code Team, treatment through our Stroke Unit and Neuro Intensive Care Unit, and inpatient and outpatient rehabilitation services to help in the patient’s recovery,” Dr. Parada said.

Mr. Hobart’s wife, Dianne, called the result of this care “a miracle” in her husband’s case. “I am very glad we made the choice to come to Valley Baptist – it was a life-saving decision,” Mrs. Hobart said.

Mrs. Hobart advises Valley residents to be more aware of the symptoms of stroke. She said her husband had been diagnosed with anemia and a shortage of potassium at another hospital – but said they hadn’t been warned about the possibility of a stroke.

“Thank God I made the decision to come to Valley Baptist … otherwise, my husband would have died in his sleep,” Mrs. Hobart added. “It was only by the grace of God, because I almost didn’t take him to the hospital … I almost told him to go to bed for the night.”

The heroes who helped save Mr. Hobart’s life included Dr. Julia Nathan, the Emergency Physician; Dr. Bruce Berberian, Radiologist, who immediately communicated the results of a CT scan of the brain, which enabled treatment to begin without delay; Joanne Lozano, RN, Mr. Hobart’s nurse in the Emergency Dept.; and members of the Valley Baptist Integrated Stroke Team, who arrived at the Emergency Dept. within five minutes.

Prompt Treatment Essential

The case of Ricardo DeLeon was similar to Mr. Hobart’s in that he was also found by his wife, slumped over in a chair – just looking at the floor at their home in Lasara, near Raymondville. Mr. DeLeon, a 55-year-old oil rigger, said he doesn’t remember any pain – just that he couldn’t move.

“My wife asked me if I was all right; I said yes – and then I fell down to the floor and couldn’t get up anymore. When my son came near me, I got dizzy and then went blank.”

The next thing Mr. DeLeon would remember is a week later, when he was being treated in the Inpatient Rehabilitation Unit at Valley Baptist in Harlingen following his stroke. In the meantime, he had been flown to the hospital by Valley Air Care, treated with tPA in the Emergency Department, and then cared for in Valley Baptist’s Stroke Unit, which was only the second stroke unit in Texas to receive “Recognition” status with the American Stroke Association. (Valley Baptist-Harlingen was also the first Certified Primary Stroke Center in the Valley through the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, a national accrediting organization.)

Mr. DeLeon’s wife Esther credits the treatment at Valley Baptist with preventing her husband from becoming paralyzed. “The shot of tPA helped a lot … without it, he probably wouldn’t have any movement,” Mrs. DeLeon said.

Following physical and speech therapy in Valley Baptist’s Inpatient Rehab Unit and at home through Valley Baptist Home Health, Mr. DeLeon was able to walk again – without a cane. “I was amazed by the improvement he had,” Mrs. DeLeon said. “I thought he would be in a wheelchair – but no.”

Soon after, Mr. DeLeon resumed some of his yard work, cutting the grass and raking the leaves at their Willacy County home.

Surviving -- and Living Well

Elizabeth Cunningham of San Benito, 73, is enjoying life more than two years after her stroke was successfully treated at Valley Baptist-Harlingen. “I’ve had no more problems as far as stroke,” Mrs. Cunningham said recently.

It was on the afternoon of June 2, 2005 that Mrs. Cunningham collapsed on the couch at her San Benito home and was rushed to Valley Baptist -- well within the three-hour time span for the stroke-reversing medication to be effective. Valley Baptist’s Emergency Physicians, in consultation with Dr. Parada, administered the life-saving drug, tPA, to Mrs. Cunningham as she faded in and out of consciousness.

“It was very frustrating right after the stroke,” Mrs. Cunningham recalled. “I could hear them (the doctors and nurses) ask me questions. I knew the answers; I wanted to say the answers, but when I tried to talk, I just made sort of funny sounds … so I just stopped trying to talk.”

Less than 24 hours later, Mrs. Cunningham woke up from a nap, alert – and much to her surprise, was able to talk once again.

Following the successful treatment of her stroke at Valley Baptist, Mrs. Cunningham has been able to resume activities such as cross-stitching (embroidery) which she said she wouldn’t have been possible without quick treatment with the stroke-reversing medication.

“I can’t emphasize enough how important it is to know (the time) when a stroke occurs and to get to the hospital as soon as you can,” Mrs. Cunningham added.

Every Second Counts

Stroke is the third leading cause of death in the United States, but many lives could be saved if patients sought emergency care sooner. TPA, a “tissue plasminogen activator,” dissolves clots that block blood from flowing to the brain. The sooner treatment begins, the better the chances of surviving without disabilities. In addition to Valley Baptist-Harlingen, tPA is also administered at Valley Baptist Medical Center-Brownsville, which earlier this year became the only hospital in Texas in 2007 to receive a “Triple Crown” Award from the American Heart Association for treatment of stroke, coronary artery disease, and heart failure.

Risk factors for stroke include high blood pressure, heart disease, smoking, diabetes, and high cholesterol. Dr. Parada said Hispanics are at high risk for stroke because of high rates of both diabetes and high blood pressure. Controlling these risk factors can decrease the likelihood of stroke.
 
For more information, talk to your physician and visit www.ValleyBaptist.net.