Ruth's Story
As a Physical Therapy Assistant (PTA) who works to rehabilitate stroke patients, Ruth Stein knows a thing or two about the effects of stroke. But at 46 and the mother of a young child, she never thought having a stroke was something that would happen to her.
When Ruth’s husband and five-year-old daughter had a difficult time waking her up one morning last March, they all knew something was strangely wrong. Once they finally succeeded in waking her, she found she had trouble speaking, moving her right arm, and was overcome with a terrible headache.
Because she quickly regained movement and the ability to speak, Ruth decided there was no real cause for alarm—but the persistent headache was enough to convince her to call in sick from work. After the headache worsened and she lost her ability to pay attention, her husband knew it was time to call an ambulance and find out what was wrong.
Ruth, who works full time at TERRIO at Memorial Hospital, knew she would be well taken care of at BMH—but she still asked the EMT for his opinion. Because her symptoms were potentially stroke related, he recommended Memorial. “I work at Memorial and I know everyone there, but I told the EMT to just take me wherever it would be fastest,” Ruth admits. “Right away, he directed us to the Stroke Center at BMH.”
Though she was no longer showing any potential stroke symptoms and her CT scans came back clear, Ruth’s blood pressure was high enough to cause serious concern, and she was admitted to the hospital for overnight observation. It was then that her horrible headache worsened. Ruth called for her ICU nurse, and as she arrived with medication, Ruth was suddenly unable to speak and the inability to use her right arm returned—she was, in fact, suffering from a stroke. Staff specially trained in recognizing stroke symptoms alerted BMH’s Stroke Alert Team. Ruth was rapidly assessed and administered the clot-busting drug tPA.
“I was absolutely in the right place at the right time,” she says.
Ruth was released from the hospital after five days, and now, more than three months later, Ruth’s life is back to normal. “I know how lucky I am,” she says emphatically. “With the exception of a little abnormal sensation in my arm, I’m fine. Life is good. I’m so grateful to Memorial, and so thankful I was there when it happened.”
“People have asked me if it was hard to be treated at the hospital where I work. Absolutely not—I can’t thank everyone enough. It was beyond great to be where you know everyone, and they know you. Memorial has such great doctors and nurses, but for me, they’re also friends. I know it sounds funny, but it was truly the best horrible experience I could have.”
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