Transcription:
A Stroke Can Strike At Any Age

Bill Klaproth (Host): Every 40 seconds someone in the United States has a stroke. It can strike even younger individuals. That’s what happened to Nathan Banks. Nathan is an executive assistant at a consulting and marketing firm, and this is his survivor’s story. Nathan, thanks for your time today.

Nathan Banks (Guest): Thanks Bill for having me.

Host: So how old were you when you had your stroke, Nathan?

Nathan: Bill, I was actually 22 years old. Strangely enough this happened the night before my 23rd birthday.

Host: So, Nathan, 22 years old that is like unheard of. So how was your health at the time?

Nathan: My health, I thought, was excellent. It was sudden. It came out of nowhere.

Host: 22 years old. Feeling good. So, tell us the story. What happened?

Nathan: So, a little bit about what happened was, I was wrapping up a day at the office. I was going to head out to dinner with friends to celebrate my birthday a day early. On my way out the door, it hit. I had a terrible migraine. A migraine like never before. I knew something was different about this. As I was driving, every headlight, every stoplight made it worse. I was able to make it home. Luckily, there was someone there who was able to call the ambulance because I passed out. I was not able to do anything.

Host: So, you walk in. You’ve got a terrible migraine. You pass out. Thank god somebody was there to call 911.

Nathan: Right. Exactly. Thank god someone was there. So, the paramedics come. From my understanding at this point I was told that they didn’t even believe I was having a stroke. It was just so unheard of at my age they thought it was unbelievable themselves. I wake up two weeks later and I’m told the story of what actually happened.

Host: So, as it turns out, at the age of 22 you had a stroke?

Nathan: Exactly right.

Host: So, Nathan, what type of a stroke did you have?

Nathan: I had a hemorrhagic stroke.

Host: So, what did they have to do to fix it?

Nathan: So, they had to remove the right side of my bone slab. They had to clear the blood that was bleeding into my brain, and they had to patch up the blood vessel that had burst and remove the blood clot.

Host: So, because someone was home and able to call 911; time was on your side. Why is time so important?

Nathan: Timing is very important. Because I was able to get home into the house and someone was there to call the ambulance, which in thirty minutes from the ambulance arriving to my house to me getting to the emergency room, they were able to diagnose my stroke. Because of that, I had minimal damage. Time is very important because I learned that the longer it takes for them to diagnose and perform the procedure, the more brain damage that happens every minute that it’s not diagnosed or taken care of.

Host: So, what your saying is then time is very crucial when it comes to stroke?

Nathan: Time is very crucial. I urge everyone, if you just don’t feel right, something doesn’t feel right, go to the doctor.

Host: Well, that is always good advice. So, tell us about your recovery after the surgery?

Nathan: So, the recovery went well. After I was discharged from the hospital, I was sent to a stroke rehabilitation center where I worked on my different speech, and occupational, and physical therapy. Which was a great help to get right into it, but then they found that there was an infection in the cranial incision area. So, they had to go in and reperform the craniectomy to clean out the infection that had happened.

Host: So, you had to undergo another surgery?

Nathan: Absolutely. Yes.

Host: And then that ultimately was successful. Any surgery since then?

Nathan: So, after that, they did have to go in about three months later and replace the bone slab after all the swelling was completely gone.

Host: And then all of your surgeries were done at that point?

Nathan: All of my surgeries were done at that point.

Host: So, you’re 22 years old. It’s the day before your birthday. You’re going out with a night of fun with your friends and all of a sudden, bam, you come down with this massive migraine. Turns out to be a stroke. So, Nathan, through this did you discover what caused your stroke or the contributing factors leading up to your stroke?

Nathan: Absolutely Bill. The doctors did sit and discuss with me that I had had undiagnosed hypertension. They weren’t sure for how long. As well as severe stress is what caused this.

Host: Wow. So, as a 22-year-old. So, hypertension, for our listeners, that’s high blood pressure. So, you had undiagnosed high blood pressure and then you were under a tremendous amount of stress. And those were the two main factors that caused this?

Nathan: Absolutely. They were.

Host: Well, at such a young age, young people like you generally don’t go to the doctor on a regular basis ‘cause you’re so young. So, I guess what you’re saying is it’s really important even as a young person to understand your numbers, such as what your blood pressure is. That’s what you were talking about with hypertension. So obviously you had high blood pressure but didn’t even know it. You might have had this for years. Is that right?

Nathan: Right. That’s correct. So, Bill, so knowing your numbers is very important. Another thing that I want to stress is that not only knowing your numbers and knowing your family history as well, but also knowing your demographic history. Because as an African American male, in my demographic, it is known for high blood pressure to be one of the biggest leading causes for death.

Host: So, Nathan, how are you feeling now?

Nathan: How do I feel now? I feel great. My recovery is going very well, and the doctors and the surgeons are very excited about the full recovery. I mean, I’m about 90% now, but it’ll be great to be back at a 100% as long as I keep up the therapy and things like that.

Host: So, this is very good news. No lasting impact from the stroke.

Nathan: No lasting impact.

Host: So, tell us about any lifestyle changes that you’ve made?

Nathan: Some of the changes I’ve made is a healthier lifestyle. I try to make it to the gym three to four times a week. Even if its just doing cardio because cardio helps with the heart. I’ve now switched jobs and I am no longer under high pressure, high stress. I am living life and keeping calm, taking care of myself, getting in the gym when I can. Having healthier choices for lunch, dinner. Even if its small things, you know a salad here and there won’t hurt us.

Host: Nathan, what else do you want everyone to know about your experience with stroke?

Nathan: One of the things that I learned throughout this entire experience, I mean being on life support for one of the two weeks that I was in a coma, is that life goes on. You can get through this. You can make a comeback. Bill, I think that’s a very good takeaway here and I hope that this message gets out to someone.

Host: Well, Nathan that message will get out and we’re glad you’re here to share it with us. Thank you so much for your time. For more information about stroke, please visit dignityhealth.org. That’s dignityhealth.org. Please be sure to subscribe to Hello Healthy in Apple podcasts, Google Play, or wherever you listen to your podcasts. This is Hello Healthy, a Dignity Health podcast. I’m Bill Klaproth. Thanks for listening.