‘I have never prayed so often.’ Wife’s stroke changed life for SLO meteorologist, family

Our family’s life changed in a moment when my wife, Trish, suffered a stroke at home on a Saturday afternoon in early February.

That afternoon, she complained of a headache. So she lay down for a rest, but started to become nauseated and threw up.

I became concerned and decided to drive her to the emergency room at Sierra Vista Regional Medical Center in San Luis Obispo.

As we walked down our outside staircase to the car, she sat down on one of the steps and wanted to rest. That’s when I called 911.

I didn’t know how serious my wife’s condition was. I thought it may have been a bad case of the stomach flu.

Paramedics from Cal Fire’s Station 15-South Bay in Los Osos and San Luis Ambulance arrived at our house at about the same time.

They took Trish’s vitals and they were normal. But she was now becoming disoriented, and they transported her by ambulance to Sierra Vista, with me following in my car.

The knowledgeable medical staff at Sierra Vista recognized the symptoms of a stroke, rushed my wife in for a CT scan and saw an embolism in her brain. They started treatment and immediately contacted the stroke center at Cottage Hospital in Santa Barbara, then arranged for a helicopter to fly her there.

The ER doctor who helped to save Trish’s life recognized her as his child’s preschool teacher at Village Children’s Center in Los Osos.

According to the American Stroke Association, there are two main types of stroke: ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and hemorrhagic, due to bleeding.

Trish had a kind of hemorrhagic stroke. In most cases, that tends to be more life-threatening than an ischemic stroke but patients have a better chance of recovery.

About half the victims with the type and location of the hemorrhage that Trisha experienced don’t survive, the neurologist at Cottage Hospital told me.

The medical team at Cottage Hospital put Trish in a medically induced coma. They were able to repair the arteriovenous malformation (AVM) in her brain by going through an artery in her leg.

AVMs affect less than 1% of the population, and it’s believed that most people are born with them. Some neurologists described AVMs as ticking time bombs because you don’t know when they will rupture.

To allow Trish’s brain to heal, they keep her in a coma for about 12 days.

Those were the longest and most difficult days of my family’s life. I have never prayed so often. The medical team told me that they would not know her condition until she woke up. At that point, you live one day at a time.

Over this period, I was holding Trisha’s iPhone. I would frequently see calendar reminders pop up reminding me to pick up our son, Sean, at school, noting that it would take about seven minutes because the traffic was light.

That’s my wife, so well organized. I love her so much.

A few days later, one of the respiratory technicians noticed that when I spoke to Trish, sometimes — but not always — her eyelids twitched.

Her nurses worked day and night tirelessly to help Trisha heal. Her medical team kept telling me that it’s a marathon and not a sprint.

Later in the week, Trisha opened her beautiful and bright blue eyes and squeezed my hand, but she was in and out of consciousness as the sedatives she was given began to wear off.

By Thursday, Feb. 20, her medical team removed her respirator tube, a significant milestone on her path of recovery.

The next day, as her vocal cords began to heal, and for one moment, I thought I heard her say, as soft as snow falling, “I love you.” By Sunday, Trish was speaking.

Last week, Trish moved from Cottage Hospital to the nearby Cottage Rehabilitation Hospital. Her therapist, with all the initials (O.T., S.T., R.T. and P.T.), works her relentlessly. They are driven to see Trish make tremendous strides, and she is!

More importantly, Trish has the heart of a lion and is determined to make her way home sooner than later.

I can’t thank our medical professionals enough for saving Trish’s life and helping her to recover. The outpouring of love, prayers, and support from our Central Coast community is remarkable, to say the least, and it’s helping.

How to tell if a person is having a stroke

Looking back, I wish I knew more about stroke symptoms. According to the American Stroke Association, by learning and sharing the F.A.S.T. warning signs, you might save a life from stroke.

F: Face drooping

Does one side of the face droop, or is it numb? Ask the person to smile. Is the person’s smile uneven or lopsided?

A: Arm weakness

Is one arm weak or numb? Ask the person to raise both arms. Does one arm drift downward?

S: Speech

Is speech slurred? Is the person unable to speak or hard to understand? Ask the person to repeat a simple sentence.

T: Time to call 911

If the person shows any of these symptoms, even if the symptoms go away, call 911 and get them to the hospital immediately.

Other symptoms may include vertigo, like the room, is spinning; imbalance, such as one-sided arm or leg weakness; slurred speech or dysarthria; double vision or other vision problems; a sudden severe headache with no known cause, and nausea and/or vomiting. To learn more, please visit www.stroke.org.