Real Miracles, Healing Stories
Sarah Hitch—Stroke Survivor
PARMA'S TEACHER OF THE YEAR ATTRIBUTES RECOVERY TO MEDICAL TEAM, COMMUNITY SUPPORT
Sarah
Hitch had plenty of reasons to live. The 45-year-old English teacher had just
been named teacher of the year at Parma High School. She was a beloved and
respected member of the community. She was involved
in the Lion's Club and devoted to working with youth community services groups
such as the Leo's Club.
But one morning last May, all of those reasons to live flashed before Hitch's eyes as she lay under her desk in her classroom at Parma High after being felled by a life-threatening stroke.
LIKE A DREAM
On the morning of May 18, Hitch was running late. "I left my house
later than usual. If everything would have happened 15 minutes earlier, I would
have been alone here at my house," Hitch says.
But she wasn't alone when the stroke took place paralyzing the left side of her body.
"I was just starting my English class, and I fell under my desk and thought that I had hit my head," Hitch recalls. "Then all of a sudden, my students raced for help, called 911 and got the principal. They were great." While a couple of students held her hand, a teacher from a nearby classroom rushed to her side.
"Ironically, I had told that same teacher earlier that I had a dream the night before that I had had a stroke," she says.
THE RIGHT CHOICE
After Hitch was placed in an ambulance, one of the paramedics told her they
were taking her to Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center.
"I remember him saying, 'You are teacher of the year, and we are going to take you right to Saint Al's,'" Hitch says. "I remember telling him to just stop at the closest hospital. But he said, 'If you are having a stroke or anything of the brain, we are taking you right straight to Saint Al's.'"
The paramedic happened to be the very one who had visited Hitch's classroom recently to talk about the career of being an emergency medical technician (EMT).
A LEADER IN THE FIELD
Speed is crucial in treating a stroke. If the stroke patient is treated quickly
enough, a drug called TPA (tissue plasminogen activator) can be administered
in the brain to break up the blood clot that caused the stroke.
At Saint Alphonsus, a hospital well known for its expertise in the area of stroke treatment, Hitch was first evaluated in the Emergency Department by Idaho Emergency Physician James Davidson, M.D. Dr. Davidson suspected a stroke and quickly contacted Anthony Giauque, M.D., a neuroradiologist with Gem State Radiology.
"I looked at the CT and could see a clot in one of the main branches of the right side of the brain that fit with her symptoms," Dr. Giauque says. "We made the decision that it would be the best choice to try to go after it aggressively to try to break up the clot."
Within two hours of having the stroke, Hitch entered Saint Alphonsus's new biplane angiography suite—a state-of-the-art piece of radiology technology that takes pictures from two directions simultaneously to create an incredibly detailed, 3-D image of the brain.
Assisted by a colleague, neuroradiologist Neil Davey, M.D., Dr. Giauque performed an angiogram on Hitch to precisely locate the clot. He then administered TPA and successfully dissolved the clot. One hour after the procedure, Hitch was talking and moving. Two days later, she was discharged from the hospital.
"Using a biplane unit like the one available at Saint Alphonsus is the national standard when performing aggressive procedures in the brain like we did on Sarah," Dr. Giauque says. "It is the only biplane in Idaho."
NOTHING BUT SUPPORT
Hitch still can't feel her left arm, and the left side of her face feels a
little rubbery. But otherwise, she has made a remarkable recovery.
Hitch is grateful for the incredible support and assistance she received from her co-workers, students and the community of Parma.
"People were just coming out of nowhere. People you would never suspect," Hitch says. "Parma is truly an amazing community."
She also has nothing but praise for the doctors, nurses and staff at Saint Alphonsus and their decision to act quickly. "I can't really thank the people who cared for me enough," she says. "They not only saved my life, but even more importantly they saved the quality of my life."