A stroke at 34 rocked her family's world

丽莎 Anderson shook her husband, Jacob, awake.

"I just got off the phone with the nurse," she told him. "She said I could have a stroke."

Jacob bolted out of bed, trying to make sense of the news. 大约是凌晨1:30.m. 在复活节.

丽莎 had had a terrible headache the previous day. She'd gotten a deep tissue massage in the afternoon, hoping it would help. But nothing alleviated the pain. 最后，当她睡不着的时候，她打电话给保险公司的24小时护士服务.

The nurse asked if 丽莎 could take her own blood pressure. She could, and the numbers were alarmingly high. They needed to get to the hospital.

起初，一切似乎都很顺利. 雅各布甚至开了10分钟的车回到他们在西雅图郊外的家，这样他妈妈就可以照顾他们4岁的女儿, 弗利. He also arranged for the care of Ivy, the family's small dog.

Doctors diagnosed 丽莎 with bilateral vertebral artery dissection. 她颈部的两根椎动脉内膜都被撕裂或损坏, causing clots that stifled blood flow to the brain. While it is rare in the general population, it's one of the more common causes of stroke in people younger than 45. 丽莎34岁.

Doctors wanted to observe her further, just to be safe.

小时 later, 丽莎 began throwing up. 她无法吞咽. 她又中风了.

Doctors rushed her into the catheterization lab. They patched the damage by inserting two stents in her arteries.

第二天开了个好头. 丽莎 moved fine, but had some problems speaking. 然后她的大脑开始肿胀，医生需要做手术切除她的部分头骨.

她还失去了一块控制运动技能和平衡的小脑. 这改变了一切. 丽莎不能自己移动、吞咽或呼吸，艰难的康复工作开始了.

From the stroke in April 2017 until July 2018, 丽莎住在一系列的设施里，在那里她接受了物理和职业治疗. Once her ventilator was removed, she began speech therapy, too.

雅各布每天都来拜访. 在工作日，他继续在一家人寿保险公司担任精算师. Then, he would pick up 弗利 and drive to see 丽莎. Some facilities were more than an hour away. Sometimes they brought Ivy, too.

"Even though I got mostly conservative, 医生们的前景黯淡, I always thought she would survive,雅各布说。.

To prepare for 丽莎 to come home, Jacob learned how to dress her, give her medicine and use the relevant medical equipment. He also got their house ready for her.

He hired a contractor to create an accessible bathroom, 扩建了入口通道，把他们之前独立的车库变成了一个毗邻的房间，丽莎可以在那里度过她的日子. 他还和叔叔一起在房子后面修了一个轮椅坡道. 丽莎 was part of the process, too. Jacob brought her samples of materials and colors to choose. Sometimes, the contractor came to her.

中风15个多月后，丽莎回到了他们重新装修的家.

“当我们从后门进来时，正在帮忙收拾东西的朋友们从前门冲了出去,雅各布说。. "We wanted to be alone because it was pretty overwhelming."

现在，中风四年后，丽莎的右侧肩膀以下仍然瘫痪. Her speech is impaired, and swallowing remains a challenge. Though she began taking pureed food by mouth for the taste, nourishment still came through a feeding tube.

“我喜欢食物，”丽莎说. “我错过了。."

丽莎在3月份接种了冠状病毒疫苗，这增加了恢复治疗的希望. 然后，她遇到了一个挫折，不得不插入气管造口管来帮助她呼吸. 她现在在一个长期急症护理机构，试图恢复到足够健康的状态，以便拔掉管子.

雅各布说:“她正在努力工作，我们希望她能很快回家。.

雅各布能给她找到的最好的医疗机构在爱达荷州，车程超过4个小时. So, again, he and 弗利 are making road trips on many weekends. 他们也给她打电话发短信. Speaking is a challenge because of the trach but it's doable. 她之前学会了如何用左手发短信，尽管速度很慢.

丽莎, who was interviewed prior to the setback, 她说，最让她沮丧的是“无法进行正常的交谈”."

Jacob is learning to cope, too.

在工作中，他帮助成立了一个残疾人、心理健康和护理员工资源小组.

“能和更能理解你所面临挑战的人交谈是件好事,他说.

He also tries to educate others about stroke, 他明确表示，“中风不仅仅发生在老年人身上."

然后是埃弗莉.

Before the stroke, the family enjoyed spontaneous outings. “你希望你的孩子有这样的经历，‘我们今天去湖边吧，’”雅各布说. “但你不能这么做."

仍然, 这家人希望很快就能回到其他的娱乐方式上——玩棋盘游戏和看电影——在丽莎遭遇挫折之前，他们就开始喜欢上这些事情了.

回到那些没有改变的事情，比如雅各布和丽莎一起做饭.

"She likes to boss me around in the kitchen."

发自内心的故事 记录心脏病和中风幸存者、护理人员和倡导者的鼓舞人心的旅程.

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