Focusing on You: Stroke Division Helps Patients Reclaim Their Lives
Stroke awareness and innovative therapies save lives. Here’s how.
Jose G. Romano, M.D., professor of Neurology and the Chief of the Stroke Division at the University of Miami Health System, describes the symptoms of stroke, and how a team of specialists at UHealth’s Stroke Division is helping patients recover from stroke, get back on their feet, and enjoy their lives. Cipora Auslander is one of those patients.
TRANSCRIPTION
Narrator:
Cipora Auslander woke up one January morning unable to text on her cell phone.
Cipora Auslander:
I realized that my fingers were not going to the right icons on my phone.
Narrator:
She didn’t realize she was having a stroke until she fell hours later.
Dr. Jose Romano:
A stroke is caused by an alteration in blood flow to the brain. It is a sudden event.
Narrator:
Dr. Jose Romano, chief of the stroke division at UHealth, says it’s critical to recognize the symptoms, so you seek help immediately.
Dr. Jose Romano:
The most common ones are the sudden inability to speak, either slurred speech or the inability to bring out words, sudden asymmetry of the face or droopiness on one side of the face, sudden weakness of the arm or the leg.
Narrator:
More patients are now benefiting from clot dissolving treatments within 24 hours after the onset of symptoms.
Dr. Jose Romano:
There are two main interventions that can be administered right away. The first one is thrombolytic therapy. This is a medication that is administered by vein and it dissolves clots. The second intervention, which is very effective, is thrombectomy. That involves placing a catheter inside the artery, going to the brain and pulling the clots out. We have a multi-disciplinary group of experts committed to improving the outcomes of our patients, providing state-of-the-art acute interventions, stroke prevention, and stroke recovery.
Narrator:
After weeks of physical therapy, Cipora is walking again, with a little help from her dog Bo.
Cipora Auslander:
Up to about a little less than a mile now with the dog in the stroller. I feel wonderful. I’m very hopeful.
Tags: Dr. Jose Romano, focusing on you, rehabilitation, stroke, thrombectomy, thrombolytic therapy, UHealth’s Stroke Division
