Alma
Talk about being in the right place at the right time. For Alma, an irregular heartbeat may actually have saved her life.
The 66-year-old homemaker from Tucson was experiencing some minor chest pain and thought it may have been a heart condition. Her family encouraged her to go to Carondelet St. Mary’s Hospital to get checked out. Doctors confirmed Alma had an irregular heartbeat and treated her accordingly.
After one day of rest and observation, Alma was set to be released when something didn’t seem right. “I was scared. I couldn’t talk and didn’t recognize anybody,” Alma explained through a Spanish translator about those tense moments.
One of her nurses noticed something different about Alma. Kim Bartkus, a registered nurse at St. Mary’s Telemetry, said Alma seemed confused, disoriented and agitated. After observing her for a few moments, she detected a slur in Alma’s speech. All of these signs pointed to stroke, also referred to as a “brain attack.”
Alma’s nurse called David Gates, MD, an internal medicine physician, who saw her right away. He determined that Alma was having a stroke and alerted Francisco Valdivia, MD, a neurologist at Carondelet St. Mary’s. Dr. Valdivia called in the stroke team. They quickly went to work, ordering a brain scan, checking Alma’s vital signs and providing the clot-stopping drug, tPA, or Tissue Plasminogen Activator. This drug can dissolve blood clots and is most effective if given within a few hours after symptoms begin. Time is critical, and every moment counts during a brain attack.
A couple of days later, Alma was on the road to recovery. She is thankful she was at St. Mary’s Hospital that day. She says nobody likes a hospital visit, but this time she couldn’t think of a place she’d rather have been.
Of course, the staff and doctors were looking out for her. But Alma suspects something – or someone -- even bigger was looking down on her that day.