Saturday, June 3, 2006 | 7:39 a.m.
Symptoms of a stroke, which occurs when parts of the brain fail to work properly because a vessel in, around or leading to the brain ruptures or becomes blocked
Statistics on strokes as provided by the American Heart Association and the National Center for Health Statistics
There are two stroke centers in the Las Vegas Valley
Ed Shafer was spending a leisurely Saturday afternoon at his home computer two months ago when his mouse fell to the floor.
As Shafer, 75, bent to pick it up, his face and arms felt numb. Try as he might, he could not hold on to the mouse with his weakening grip.
Shafer had a flashback to 1960, when his then-56-year-old father, Hugh, had similar symptoms while suffering a stroke that impaired his speech and other functions for the remaining 27 years of his life.
Shafer managed to get out of his chair and stagger to the bedroom, where he flopped on the bed. He tried to tell his wife, Connie, what was wrong, but he couldn't speak. She called 911.
He was rushed to Sunrise Hospital's Nevada Neurosciences Institute, the area's first nationally accredited stroke center, where he was triaged by nurses, seen by a doctor and received a brain scan - all within 15 minutes of his arrival.
All Shafer could do was give a thumb's up or down as he tried to respond to questions from 10 medical staff members who were involved in his acute treatment.
"It was so frustrating because I understood what the doctor and everyone was saying, but I couldn't communicate," he said, noting that he felt trapped inside his body.
Shafer received the clot-busting drug TPA. An hour later, Dr. Scott Selco, a neurologist who heads the stroke center, raised his hand and asked Shafer to identify a digit. Shafer feebly uttered: "Thumb."
Today, Shafer has no paralysis and speaks without impairment.
"I'm very fortunate this happened at this time (in history) and that I was taken to the stroke center," said Shafer, who has lived in Las Vegas for 21 years. "I definitely was far more fortunate than my father and many other stroke victims."
Two years ago, Las Vegas was among just a few major U.S. cities without a stroke center, said John McNeil, director of stroke programs for the local chapter of the American Heart Association.
Now there are two - Sunrise and Valley Hospital.
Shafer's success story "is exactly what we wanted and expected to see for so long," McNeil said, referring to his efforts since 1999, along with local Heart Association board member Georges Maalouf, to get stroke centers established locally. "Because of our partnership (with the stroke centers) we have been able to reach more people - speaking to seniors, casino workers and others - to raise awareness for stroke prevention."
Selco said that today's sedentary lifestyle has unfortunately given him job security at Sunrise's stroke center.
"We really are piling it on with so much obesity that leads to high blood pressure and heart disease, which lead to stroke," he said. "People do not realize just how serious stroke is. Those who survive a stroke can have greater disability than those with heart disease."
Shafer acknowledges that he was a stroke waiting to happen. He has high blood pressure, diabetes and failing kidneys. He didn't exercise or watch his diet.
Selco said controlling blood pressure is the key, and could prevent nearly half of the nation's 700,000 strokes a year. People also need to reduce cholesterol levels, lose weight, control diabetes, exercise and maintain a heart-healthy diet.
That's why in addition to treatment during the average three- to five-day hospital stays following a stroke, in-patient education focuses on avoiding a subsequent stroke - which, about 10 percent of the time, occurs within a year of the first one, he said.
"There is information about stroke on the TV and brochures by the bed," Selco said. "We have a captive audience - a teachable moment, a chance to tell the patient, 'Look at you and your lifestyle. It has given you a stroke. You have to change!' "
Debbie Estes, nurse coordinator for the Sunrise stroke center, said just over 1,000 people have been treated since the facility opened in 2005. That, she said, does not include transient ischemic attacks, commonly called TIAs or ministrokes.
The center also has two- and five-year clinical trials, which collect data and encourage patients to stick with recovery treatments that include quitting smoking, taking blood thinners and living healthier.
Selco said the future of the stroke center includes discovering even faster treatment methods, providing better education for the public, participating in the use of alternative therapies (such as brain cooling) and using new medicines that will prevent brain cells from dying.
"We also would like to see a statewide stroke initiative to mandate minimal levels of care for stroke in Nevada's hospitals," he said. "If every hospital in the valley properly triages patients for acute treatment of stroke, then we all win."
Local residents can learn more about stroke prevention at the Heart and Stroke Conference at 8 a.m. June 24 at Tuscany Suites. Tickets for the event, sponsored by the American Heart Association and American Stroke Association, are $5 in advance or $10 at the door. Registration information is available at 367-1366.
Shafer says he feels like a winner and wants to keep feeling that way. To that end, he is doing better with his diet, taking blood-thinning medication and getting exercise by walking.
"Without the immediate treatment I got at the stroke center, I probably would be in rehab today learning how to walk again and talk with an impediment like my father," said Shafer, a father of two, grandfather of eight and great-grandfather of two.
"Despite my other health problems, I still have quality of life after my stroke. That is what is most important to me."
archive
