May is Stroke Month

The human body may endure decades of obesity, heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, or smoking and drinking - all major risk factors for strokes. Then, suddenly, with little warning, everything changes.

Quick action by MONOC Emergency Medical Technicians Scott Markowitz and Joseph Giberson led to the most effective stroke treatment for Plumsted's Eve Fleming.

Like many women, Eve Fleming takes an anticoagulant drug to manage her cardiovascular disease. "I was having nosebleeds so I stopped my Coumadin," the Plumsted resident recalls. "That was a big mistake." Fleming's arterial fibrillation (irregular heartbeat)—a condition that makes her five times more likely to experience stroke—eventually caused three consecutive strokes. "All of a sudden I felt dizzy. My left side was droopy and I called my husband Joe for help," she recalls.

A few months earlier, her husband read about stroke in the Times of Trenton and the lifesaving drug called tissue plasminogen activator (t-PA); this drug breaks up clots blocking blood flow in the brain and allows oxygen and essential nutrients to return to the affected area. To be effective, t-PA must be administered through an IV within three hours of the stroke.

"I knew I had to call 9-1-1," he said. "When the ambulance arrived I asked them to come to RWJ because she needed the best. It was a little further than they're used to but they did it." EMTs Scott Markowitz and Joseph Giberson soon arrived and assessed Fleming's condition.

EMTs know that time is critical—and rushing a patient to a certified stroke center such as Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Hamilton can make the difference. Time lost is brain lost.

When Fleming arrived at the hospital she was weak and unable to swallow. Her condition was worsening. Her speech was slurred and her body more lethargic.

Testing indicated Fleming was a candidate for t-PA. Rao Pasupuleti, MD immediately administered the drug. "Twenty minutes later our daughter arrived in the ER and she didn't see any of the signs I saw. It was an amazing turnaround," says Joe Fleming.

"As in Mrs. Fleming's case, successful treatment with t-PA depends on two factors: prompt recognition of stroke and treatment at a stroke center," says Pasupuleti. Now, the mother, grandmother and wife of fifty years to her beloved Joe, resumes her life. Joe beams. "I like to tell her it was our daughter that made her better."

WOMEN AND STROKE

• Cardiovascular disease, which includes heart disease and stroke, is the number one killer of women.
• More women than men die from strokes.
• African American women have a significantly higher risk of stroke.

• Your risk doubles if an immediate family member has suffered a stroke.
• High blood pressure.
• Birth control pills and pregnancy increase risk.
• Using hormone replacement therapy to relieve menopausal symptoms.
• A large waist and high body fat level.
• Migraines raise your risk 3 to 6 times.

• hiccups
• nausea
• chest pain
• shortness of breath
• palpitations

More About RWJ Hamilton
Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Hamilton (RWJ Hamilton) is the only New Jersey hospital to receive the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. Located in Hamilton Township, NJ, the hospital is part of the RWJ Health System and Network and is affiliated with the University of Medicine and Dentistry New Jersey-RWJ Medical School and the Cancer Institute of New Jersey.

The RWJ Hamilton Health Care Corporation serves communities within a five-county area and includes an acute care hospital, the Cancer Institute of New Jersey Hamilton, three affiliated medical groups, seven Lakeview Child Centers, and the RWJ Hamilton Center for Health & Wellness, home of a medically-based fitness center and the hospital's extensive community education program. Over 1,900 hospital employees and 650 medical staff physicians share RWJ Hamilton's passion for Excellence Through Service. For more information, visit www.rwjhamilton.org.