Stroke can strike suddenly and most people don’t know what is happening. For JoAnn Berkley of Cookeville, TN, she was lucky to have a friend that was a former nurse recognize the symptoms which allowed her to get to a hospital immediately.
As soon as she arrived at the hospital, the medical team started exams and found that a stroke was occurring in the brain stem, a pontine stroke. JoAnn was put on bedrest and a medication regime before starting therapy. Initially, she did not want to participate in a therapy program, but is glad that she did. “I wanted to go home, but my doctor insisted I go through therapy,” she said. “I’m glad he did. I would not have done as well as I am doing now if I didn’t go through this.”
According to Tresia Boykin, program director of Cookeville Regional Medical Center’s inpatient rehab program, “JoAnn had all the symptoms and a lot was affected, she needed all three areas of therapy — occupational, physical and speech. She has come a long way.” Strokes can happen to anyone at any age. It is important that stroke patients receive specific therapy for a better outcome. You can read the full article on JoAnn’s story here.
Thank you to all therapists who work with stroke patients! Let us know here or on Facebook if you would like thank a therapist for their work with stroke patients.