When you are a 28 year old wife and mother, the last thing on your mind is that you will soon have to deal with a debilitating medical emergency and face some of the hardest obstacles of your life. That was the case for one Tarkio woman who in December of 2015, suffered a severe stroke that left her with odds most people don’t overcome.
Jessica Lindsay was a newspaper reporter, living in Tarkio with her husband, Tommy, and daughter, Savanna. She began suffering from excrutiating migraines, and then the unthinkable happened. Jessica suffered a severe stroke that caused a blockage to her brainstem and locked-in syndrome. Locked-in syndrome is a condition in which a patient is aware, but cannot move or communicate verbally due to complete paralysis of nearly all voluntary muscles. Jessica could not breathe on her own and her prognosis was bleak. Doctors told her husband that she would probably never wake up.
But thanks to a procedure by doctors at Nebraska Medicine, Jessica was given a chance and her spirit started a journey that can be described as no less than a miracle. Jessica was transferred to Madonna Specialty Hospital where she began her recovery and rehabilitation. It was an excrutiating process for her as she fought her body’s ailments and emotions that at first could not be expressed by talk. Thankfully, Jessica had a great group of physicians, nurses, and therapists devoted to helping her. She was first weaned off her vent and once again was able to breathe on her own. She then began to work on eye-gaze technology for communication, but gradually found her voice again. Nurses were amazed at the speed at which Jessica was surpassing these obstacles. With extreme determination and strength and a passion to overcome, Jessica learned to eat, drink, and talk again. She was even able to post her first Facebook message since the stroke. It stated, “I’m back!!!” Her family never left her side and took part in her recovery and helped her to communicate.
Jessica beat the odds and was able to celebrate her 29th birthday (she’ll soon be turning 30). She eventually came home to Tarkio where her family continues to help her improve. She was also recently awarded the Madonna Chairman’s GOAL Award. The award was established in 1994 to honor patients for their outstanding courage and determination as they completed their rehabilitation, returned to their communities, and gave back to others. Four people are selected out of 6,000 patients each year.
Jessica continues to show her community that miracles do happen, especially with strong support from family and friends. Jessica and her family are also proponents of everyone learning the signs of strokes and getting stroke victims medical attention as soon as possible. Obviously not all stroke causes are the same. Jessica’s brainstem stroke caused a blockage that lasted eight and a half hours before the doctors determined the best course of action. It’s also important to remember that strokes can happen at any age.
May is American Stroke Month and the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association encourages Missourians to join together to end the #2 cause of death in the world and a leading cause of disability. Awareness is key when it comes to stroke treatment. For many strokes, the right treatment right away can save lives and improve recovery so it’s important to get help immediately. The American Stroke Association’s Together to End Stroke™ initiative, sponsored nationally by Medtronic, teaches the acronym F.A.S.T. to help people recognize the most common stroke warning signs and what to do if one occurs:
F – Face Drooping: Does one side of the face droop or is it numb? Ask the person to smile.
A – Arm Weakness: Is one arm weak or numb? Ask the person to raise both arms. Does one arm drift downward?
S – Speech Difficulty: Is speech slurred, are they unable to speak, or are they hard to understand? Ask the person to repeat a simple sentence like, “The sky is blue.” Is the sentence repeated correctly?
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.