Pulse

Fall 2017

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3 4 | PULSE Fa l l 2 0 1 7 X X X X X X X THINK FAST! 3 4 | PULSE Fa l l 2 0 1 7 THE 411 ON STROKE WRITTEN BY LAURA ROE STEVENS D elonna Hood, a 54-year-old woman in good health, was decorating a room with friends at 10:30 p.m. on a Friday last year. ey were assisting a high school buddy to set up for her 50th birthday party, which was to take place the next evening. She had driven to Los Angeles from Victorville to help her friends get ready. As she was hanging ribbons, she began to "not feel well." Tired and thinking perhaps she was coming down with the flu, she pushed aside her symptoms and continued to decorate. A friend noticed her fatigue and then asked their mutual friend, a nurse practitioner, to check Delonna out. At first, Tina Neu, RN, DNP, FNP, NE-BC, CNOR, Advanced Clinical Educator, Division of Perioperative Services at Torrance Memorial, thought her sluggishness signaled Delonna was just tired and under the weather. en something made her stop and take note. "I made her smile, and nope. en I made her put her hand on my arm and it dropped. She had facial droop and slurred speech and the le side of her body did not respond," explains Neu. It was then she gave her friend three baby aspirin and demanded the group send Delonna to Torrance Memorial Medical Center immediately, as time is of the essence when treating and recovering from stroke. "As soon as we called, within three minutes we heard the ambulance coming down the street, and it showed up within seven minutes. ey whisked her away. Her husband let us know she was getting treated. Within two hours of the onset, she got the CPA (cerebral proliferative angiopathy) treatment for acute stroke and all of her symptoms dissipated before going to ICU," says Neu. CPA must be given within four hours of symptom onset, or the symptoms might remain for much longer. Remarkably, Delonna was able to drive home to Victorville by herself Sunday evening. She was lucky to have "gotten to the correct facility," Neu adds. Many stroke victims don't fare so well due to a failure to recognize what is happening and get diagnosed and treated STROKES ARE SNEAKY AND HARD TO IDENTIFY, AS THEY DON'T HAVE A ONE-SIZE-FITS-ALL SET OF SYMPTOMS AT THE SAME LEVEL OF SEVERITY. Delonna Hood

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