Karen Dionne

Stroke Survivor at Age 37

By Karen Dionne

 

 

             At age 37, I envisioned my whole life ahead of me.  I was planning my wedding

to the man of my dreams.  I was successful at my job as a sales representative at a

golf resort.  I was physically active playing co-ed softball, golf, and tennis. 

I had no idea how my life would quickly change in an instant until the morning

of March 2, 2007.  On that day, I would leave my old life as I knew it and begin a new journey in life as a stroke survivor.

 

             It’s now four months prior to my wedding day and I had a hemorrhagic stroke (caused by an AVM) causing paralysis on my left side.  As of today, I can now move and use my left side (hand, fingers, arm, and leg) but I cannot feel touch although I do feel pain.  I have gross motor skills but not fine motor skills.

             I had no known stroke risk factors.  Blood pressure was normal, not high, good cholesterol, didn’t do drugs, wasn’t on any medication to cause this, and was not overweight.  I was as they said a medical mystery until they determined it was in layman terms an AVM, an Arterial Vascular Malformation.

             I was living with my Mom, in CA at the time of my stroke and planning my wedding to Michael Dionne on the lucky day 07-07-07.  At the time of my stroke, I was working at a golf resort in Southern California.  I learned to play golf (very well I might add) and tennis.  Happily, I played co-ed softball for almost 15 years. 

             Michael and I had a long distance relationship.  We had been spending the previous few years traveling back and forth to see each other.  He lived in the Seattle, WA and I lived in Los Angeles, CA area.  I had planned a business trip in March 2007 to Seattle to visit some customers.  I arrived on a Thursday night, March 1st and planned to stay with him for the weekend.  Little did I know when I arrived, I would never leave.  Washington became my new home.  

             On Friday morning, March 2, 2007, standing next to him in the kitchen making breakfast I started to become dizzy.  A strange feeling came over me as if I could pass out.  Moments before, it felt as if my ears needed to pop.  I mentioned this to Michael who said I should plug my nose and blow like as if to equalize in scuba diving.  So I did.  Well, that did not help.    

             I said to him, I want to go sit on the couch.  So I did.  As I was walking from the kitchen to the family room, I was having a total out-of-body experience.  I was walking and looking down at my left foot, but I could not feel a thing.  I could not feel my foot, but I walking.  Then there was numbness in my leg.  It quickly traveled up the left side of my body.  I could not feel it.  It was like it went to sleep without the pins and needles feeling.  I said this to Michael who didn’t understand.  I said, that may be so, but something is terribly wrong.  “Help me!” I said.  He said to me, “Karen, everything you’re telling me says you’re having a stroke!”   In my mind, I knew it too but I could not believe it.  So I tried to walk down the hallway to the bedroom to put shoes on and grab my purse as a lady always does.  Michael convinced me that I didn’t need my purse.  So I grabbed my insurance card and photo id from my wallet.  Meanwhile, the phone rang.  It was Mom.  “Is everything alright?  I haven’t heard from Karen.”   Michael answered the phone as we were in a panic.  He didn’t want to tell her what was going on.  He said to Mom, “Everything’s fine, she’s in the shower”.   Mom never forgave him for lying to her. 

 

             Turns out, everything was not fine.  Michael had to carry me out of the bedroom, down the hallway, outside the house and put me into the car.  He drove me to the nearest emergency room about 25 minutes away.  We could have called 911, but the time it would have taken them to dispatch an ambulance and find us; we could have already been at the hospital.  We pulled into the ER at Good Samaritan Hospital in Puyallup, WA.  Michael ran inside to get me a wheelchair.  I was wheeled inside and immediately we told them that we suspected I was having a stroke.  Front of the line for me.  It is now around 10:00am.  I was taken inside without hesitation and given a CAT scan.  The results showed I was bleeding in my brain.  A hemorrhagic stroke.  The CAT scan took only a few minutes, maybe between 5-10 minutes?  I remember an ER doctor hovering over me telling me that I was having a stroke.  I said, “How could I have had a stroke!?”  He said, “No not past tense, you’re having a stroke.  I’ve ordered a helicopter and you are being air-lifted to Harborview Medical, a trauma teaching hospital in downtown Seattle.  It’s a trauma hospital.  You are one sick puppy.”  I was scared and asked if Michael could come with me in the helicopter.  They told me no.  So Michael waited until I was wheeled to the helipad, gave me a kiss, told me he loved me, and then drove an hour from Puyallup to Seattle in Thursday morning traffic in a panic.  Luckily, he was not alone.  My friend and co-worker Rita was with me on this trip.  We had planned our business trip around this whole weekend.  We were to do sales calls that day in the Seattle area, sightsee over the weekend, then drive down to Portland, OR on Monday for a tradeshow.  So Rita had to ride with Michael in the car from Good Samaritan Hospital in Puyallup, to Harborview Medical in downtown Seattle.

             I remember the helicopter ride.  I was afraid because I thought it would be like M.A.S.H. where they strap you to the outside of the chopper.  I was pleased to learn I got to ride inside.  There were two female air-medics with me.  One was sitting behind me, the other to my paralyzed left side.  As I lay there, my hands were clasped together on my stomach.  I remember thanking the medic sitting on my left for holding my hand.  She looked at me and politely smiled and said, “I’m not holding your hand, you are.”   I looked at my hands that were clasped and realized I was in big trouble.  I could not feel my left hand and I could swear it was the person sitting next to me.  It felt like the right side of my body was sewn to the left side of someone else’s body.  I remember wanting to take a nap, but was fearful of taking a nap – like when you get a concussion.  It was like I was coming in and out of consciousness.  But I never lost consciousness.  I then remember looking to my right.  There was a small window I could see out of.  The weather was gray and a little rainy.  Typical Seattle.  We landed at Harborview and I remember them opening the helicopter door to wheel me out.  Since I was lying on a stretcher, to protect me from the rain they decided to cover my face with a towel.  I had no idea where Michael was so I jokingly said to them, “You can’t cover my face with a towel!  What will Michael think when you wheel me off of this thing with a towel covering my face!?”    I never lost my sense of humor.

             Once at Harborview, I don’t remember the timeline in detail of too many things to follow.  The stroke had set in and I was hooked up to IVs with lots of doctors and nurses around.  I do know Michael had called my brother Curtis in CA from Puyallup, WA to break the news to my family.  There were many tears and fears.  Tension was up in my family as Mom had just been diagnosed with breast cancer the day before.  Michael had told Curtis not to break the news to Mom over the phone.  He was to go over there in person. 

             The next ten days I spent in ICU Harborview.  Michael never left my side.  He slept there at the hospital with me in the chair by my bed.  It was a county teaching hospital so I was not seen by one doctor, but many. 

 

             At the time, I didn’t want to be associated with people with head traumas.  I didn’t see myself as being this sick and didn’t want others to either.  What was I doing there?

             Many visitors came from WA and CA with lots of cards, flowers, care packages and prayers showing their support.

             While at Harborview, they immediately started me on physical therapy (PT).   By day two, a therapist was at my bedside telling me to get up and walk.  Ugh!  She would sit on a rolling stool in front of me, with a strap around my waist holding me up and steady.  I had to trust I had a left foot, leg and muscles in order to believe I could walk again.  I had no balance, equilibrium was off and everything was weird in my head.  My brain was swollen from the excess blood causing vision problems.  I lost my peripheral vision particularly in my lower left quadrant. 

             I remember in bed asking the doctors, nurses and therapists if I’d be able to walk down the aisle in four months for my wedding.  They all said that I could with hard work, determination and motivation.  Walking down the aisle was no longer a cliché; I needed to walk down the aisle.  That was my carrot.  My goal was not to give anything less than 100% everyday so I could achieve that.  But I kept a smile in my face and a good attitude which helped me stay focused.   That goal seemed so far off in the condition I was in.  The only way I could get around for three weeks was in a wheelchair.

             After 10 days at Harborview, I was transferred back to Good Samaritan in Puyallup, WA much closer to home for more rehab therapy.  I stayed for the rest of March for intensive in-patient therapy. 

             Many more visitors came from WA and CA to support me at Good Samaritan.  I always enjoyed it when others would come to my therapy sessions.  It gave them a chance to see how hard I was working during the struggle to get better.  They were now sharing my journey and inspiring me with love and support.

             The first 30 days after a stroke are critical I learned.  Anything could still happen.  So I was not out of the woods. 

             I spent three weeks there as an in-patient for therapy for three hours per day, five days a week.  I could talk and swallow which most with strokes are affected and cannot.   But I had to have physical and occupational therapy to learn how to deal with living after a stroke and do day-to-day things.

             My days in rehab started at 7:00am.  I had a therapist come to my room to wake me up to start my day.  I had to learn how to dress myself.  In the beginning I had no use of my left hand, arm or left side.  My balance was not good because my brain was still swollen and my equilibrium was off.  I was in a wheelchair for three weeks before I was ready for a cane.  It took me one hour to get dressed, get into my wheelchair, go to the sink and brush my hair and teeth, all to get ready for breakfast.  All meals were held in a dining room I dubbed Club Med.  This is where meals and medications were distributed.  It was like no Club Med I’d ever been to or ever wanted to go again.

             Everything I did at first was with my right hand.  With all dignity gone and a therapist in the room, I had to learn how to take off my shirt, put on a bra, change my underwear, put on a shirt, put on my pants, put on my socks, put on my shoes and tie them.  I had to wear a brace on my left foot which was a challenge getting my tennis shoe on with that.  I had to learn how to transfer out of bed into my wheelchair to go to the bathroom.  I learned how to push myself in my wheelchair using my right hand and right foot.  I learned to steer the wheelchair too.  I got pretty good because I didn’t want to wait for the nurses.

             Four months had passed since my stroke.  I was still adapting to my new way of life but it was all about to change again.  My wedding day had come and it was time to walk down the aisle.  No longer the cliché’ but it was time to put it into action.  My other brother Randy escorted me down the aisle as everyone watched me walk.  It was a beautiful summer day full of flowers, friends and family.  Honestly, it was not how I had imagined my wedding day to be.  It was better because I was still alive and able to walk.  But better yet, my Mom was still alive and able to share it with me too.  All of those fine details of a wedding were put into perspective for me.  None of it mattered.  If it was just Michael, the minister, God and me then it was fine.  The rest was just icing on the cake.  My Mom sat in the front row beaming with joy as she watched me, her youngest child marry.  She passed away the following month which proves how precious life can be.  It can be gone in an instant.

             I continued to work on my therapy at home since insurance had run out.  I walk, jog a little and hope to run some day.  My stroke left me with spasticity in my left hand and severe pronation in my left foot causing pain in my foot/ankle.  But I don’t want my stroke to beat me so I keep fighting back, everyday.

             It’s been over three years now since my stroke.  Looking back at my journey, I know God had a plan for me.  I touched many people along the way.  My goal is to continue touching as many lives as I can in a positive way.  I know my stroke happened for a reason although it was not clear at the time.  That reason is to help others on the same journey and to encourage them to find their strength from within and keep fighting. 

             To this day, I’ll never comprehend how difficult it is to be a caregiver.  My Mom always said, “Until you’ve walked in the moccasins of someone else, you’ll never know…”  Their lives change in an instant also and a new journey begins for them.  Everything they do, everything they think, everything they feel revolves around their loved one.  Homes are adapted to accommodate the needs of the survivor.  Equipment needed such as wheelchairs, walkers, bar handles, shower chairs, are just to name a few.  I have complete compassion for the caregiver because I feel at times; they have it harder than the survivor. 

             In my journey, a support group for young adult stroke survivors serving South Pierce County called “Reclaiming Ourselves” was born February 4, 2010.  The goal is to provide peer support for young adult stroke survivors and their families.  Our motto: Our Journey On The Road To Recovery. 

             Reclaiming Ourselves gave back to the community in May 2010 by hosting a Hope After Stroke 3K Walk in Tacoma, WA and raising awareness that strokes do not discriminate and that they do happen to young adults.  Our fundraiser successfully raised over $7000 for National Stroke Association.

             Recently, Reclaiming Ourselves gained national exposure from an article printed in the summer 2010 issue of National Stroke Association publication StrokeSmart.  Survivors all around the world are being reached by our www.ReclaimingOurselves.com website and Facebook page. 

             God is good.  When one door closes, God provides another.  I believe you just need the courage, strength and trust to turn the doorknob and walk through.  The Lord will provide. 

             In August 2010, I proudly became a Go Red For Women Ambassador for the American Heart Association.  Along with other powerful women in Pierce County, WA, we share our stories of survival.  With education, we can make a difference by providing information about heart disease and strokes.  Sadly, these two are the #1 and #4 leading causes of death for women in America.       

             I participated in a 4-mile route of the American Heart Association’s Heart Walk in Tacoma, WA on October 4, 2010 walking side-by-side with my husband Michael and friends Dyann and Wild.

             I completed for first time ever, 10K (6.2 miles) walk/run on November 14, 2010 supporting my lovely cousin Cherilyn as she helped organize the Mission Inn Run in Riverside, California.  My friend Heather and nephew Sam were with me every step of the way helping to encourage me through the event.

             My second 10K walk/run was April 2011 in Redlands, California with my cousin Dave, his wife Cherilyn, my brother Curtis who was with me every step of the way, and friends Terry, Dennis and his Mom Beverly.

 

My journey on the road to recovery is still unfolding. 

I hope to touch the lives of many survivors and caregivers along the way by inspiring and encouraging them on their journey.

 

             What’s next?  My husband Michael and I will be travelling to Washington D.C. in June 2011 along with fellow Advocacy Network Committee members as we meet with our local legislators on Capitol Hill to discuss stroke related issues on behalf of the six million stroke survivors in the country.

             Upon returning from Washington D.C., I’ll be competing in my first half marathon (13.1 miles) along with my cousin Cherilyn.  My husband Michael who is my biggest supporter will be cheering me on!  Oh did I mention it will be in Seattle the day after I return? 

 

             My plate is full and my cup runneth over (Psalms 23:5).  I’ve been truly blessed by God.  I can do all things through Him who strengthens me. (Philippians 4:13)