Stories of Hope

Vicki Groves

Vicki Groves never slows down. For years, she’s been taking care of others — raising a family, nursing thousands of patients back to health, even watching her own children explore the joys of parenthood. So the day she felt overwhelmed and knocked out by headaches and nausea, she knew something was really wrong.

Not long after heading to her bedroom to take a shower and lay down, Vicki’s husband said he heard her call for him. By the time he found her in the bathroom, she was unresponsive. As she slowly regained consciousness, Vicki told her husband she hardly had the strength to lift her left arm and leg. Having suffered a stroke himself, he knew just what to do.

"He called 9-1-1 immediately!" Vicki explains. The ambulance arrived four minutes later and took Vicki to St. Joseph Hospital, centrally located in downtown Fort Wayne. When she arrived, the attending physicians immediately recognized Vicki’s symptoms as those of a potential stroke and activated the StrokeCareNow Network. Six and a half miles away at Lutheran Hospital, FWNC Neurologist Dr. James Stevens was able to perform a telemedicine exam on Vicki using a robotic camera, and based on that consult, authorized the use of the clot-busting drug tPA, before having her transferred to Lutheran for more diagnostic testing and treatment. "That was the key to my recovery—fast-acting physicians."

Before Vicki’s stroke, neither she nor her husband had heard of the StrokeCareNow Network or the clot-busting drug used with her treatment. "The ambulance driver explained that they were taking me to the closest hospital, St. Joe," Vicki remembers. "He told us they’d be able to work directly with my doctors at Lutheran, coordinating my care. It was very reassuring to know that I was receiving the best care so close to home."

As part of the StrokeCareNow Network, Lutheran’s Stroke Center is able to extend its care to emergency departments throughout the region. Through telemedicine, physicians are able to provide remote neurological consults and assess the level of impairment a patient is experiencing, reducing the time from stroke to treatment and maximizing the chance for a full recovery.

According to FWNC Neurologist, Dr. Thomas Banas, "Having a cohesive team in place is paramount when minutes can make a major difference in a patient's outcome. We have been blessed with exceptional components required to treat strokes and are able to provide acute stroke care at a level comparable to the finest programs in the country."

Vicki encourages others to know the warning signs and act FAST. "It’s important to respond fast when you recognize the symptoms of a stroke," she says. "Every second counts. Thanks to the StokeCareNow Network, I was able to get to the closest hospital, start a consultation with my doctor and get the critical clot-busting drug way faster than if I had tried to drive all the way to my doctor at Lutheran Medical Park."

"We’re always looking for ways to reduce the time it takes radiologists to analyze and interpret CT scans so we can get stroke patients the treatment they need, faster," explains Dr. Banas. "After all, each minute a blood supply is cut off to the brain, a patient loses 1.8 million brain cells. Through continuous process improvements, our average is 12 minutes from the moment the CT is performed to the second the neurologist gets the report from the radiologist."

For Vicki, having access to the StrokeCareNow Network, a unique collaborative effort of the Fort Wayne Neurological Center, Lutheran Health Network and Parkview Health System, has helped her bounce back to a normal way of life. "I was in intensive care for a couple days and home within a week. I’ve had a 100 percent recovery and am so grateful for everyone. Thanks to everyone from the 911 dispatcher and paramedics to the physicians and staff at both St. Joe and Lutheran hospitals, I was able to take my grandkids camping this summer!"

Vicki's story is just beginning.

Jolene

Jolene was a typical 22 year old college student, enjoying a lazy Sunday afternoon with her Mom and sister in November of 2008, when she suddenly developed difficulty speaking and weakness in her left arm and leg. Fortunately, despite her young age, her mother immediately realized the urgency, "My daughter may be having a stroke!"

They immediately called 911, and Jolene was taken to her nearby community hospital, Parkview Noble Hospital in Kendallville, Indiana. There the Emergency Department Physician recognized Jolene's symptoms as those of a potential stroke and activated the acute stroke protocol. As a part of this protocol, even though he was actually 30 miles away, the FWNC Neurologist in Fort Wayne, was able to examine Jolene through a "robot camera" within minutes of the "stroke activate." After performing the telemedicine exam, the Neurologist advised the Parkview Noble Emergency Department Physician to start a clot busting medication called tPA which was given through the intravenous catheter in the vein in Jolene's arm. She was then emergently transferred to Parkview Hospital in Fort Wayne for more advanced diagnostic testing and treatment.

Because of the severity of her stroke and the large clot, the IV medication was not powerful enough to open the artery in Jolene's brain –threatening to permanently rob her of any movement in the left side of her body. After arriving at Parkview Hospital, a specialized brain scan showed the exact location of the clot which was still blocking the artery and also revealed that most of her brain tissue could still be saved.

Jolene was immediately taken from the ER to the Neuroangiography Suite where the FWNC NeuroInterventionalist was able to rapidly thread a catheter from an artery in Jolene's leg into her brain. Using a "cork screw" device and a flexible suction catheter as well as a concentrated clot busting medication right at site of the clot, the artery was opened before permanent brain damage had occurred.

Just nine days later, Jolene was able to walk out of the hospital without assistance. Today, she notes that her left arm is slightly weaker and clumsier than it was prior to the stroke – but this is not noticeable to others. Jolene graduated from Indiana-Purdue University in Fort Wayne in May of 2010 with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Criminal Justice. She wants to be a Probation Officer and also plans to pursue a Master's Degree in her field.

Since the time of Jolene's stroke, Lutheran Health Network, Parkview Health System and Fort Wayne Neurological Center have formed the StrokeCareNow Network. Now many patients throughout Northern Indiana and Northwestern Ohio have access to the same telemedicine diagnosis, rapid transfer and catheter treatment that allowed Jolene to walk out of the hospital with bright hopes for her future and the ability to pursue her dreams.