Saved from a stroke

By Felicia Schneiderhan

Ona hot summer day, Ali Durfee brought her husband, Jim, to St. Luke’s for outpatient surgery. Jim had broken his ankle several days before. They figured they would be home with their kids by early afternoon. They soon found out that everything can change in a heargbeat.

The surgery went well. Ali was waiting for Jim in his room when Anesthesiologist Dr. Andrea Benson told her that Jim was not waking up quite the way they would expect. They believed he had a blood clot in his brain and had taken him for a CT scan.

The scan confirmed a blood clot had lodged itself in his brain.

“Then I got worried,” Ali said. “It hit me — oh my goodness — he’s having a stroke.”

Ali and Jim have been married 25 years. They share 11 children, with Jim’s oldest son from a previous marriage. Two of their sons work with Jim at his excavation company, Dirt Works Specialists. Ali runs the home, homeschooling the eight children who still live with them.

Everything hinged on the next few moments.

A stroke’s ripple effects

Signs of a stroke may be obvious: Sudden numbness in one side of the body, confusion or difficulty speaking, or trouble walking. People experiencing or witnessing these symptoms should immediately dial 911.

But for someone coming out of anesthetic from a normal, stable surgery, the signs could be very easy to miss.

“When I woke up,” Jim recalled, “they were asking me questions and I couldn’t answer them. The words weren’t coming out.”

Amber LaValley, the nurse assigned to closely observe Jim’s recovery, recognized that he was not following the expected evolution of recovery. One side of his face was different from the other, drooping and weak.

“That caused her to make the phone call that truly saved this man,” Dr. Benson said. “It could have so easily been missed.”

LaValley alerted Dr. Benson. The symptoms were confirmed. St. Luke’s stroke alert protocol was set in motion.

Award-winning stroke care at St. Luke’s St. Luke’s is nationally recognized for excellent stroke care by both U.S. News & World Report, and the American Heart Association. When the alert sounded for Jim, St. Luke’s team knew just what to do.

Since Jim had just had surgery, he was not eligible for medication that would break up the blood clot. Fortunately, St. Luke’s was the first hospital in the region to offer thrombectomies. This is the most advanced stroke treatment for largevessel ischemic stroke patients. Dr. Naveen Gowda performed the procedure, removing the clot in less than 15 minutes.

Dr. Benson recalls the celebration among the team when the clot was successfully removed and Jim began to wake.

“The joy was obvious,” she said. “Everybody was moved. It’s something I’ll remember the rest of my life.”

Celebrating today

Today, Jim is back to long hours in the excavator and spending time with his growing family (which includes four grandchildren and a couple more on the way).

“I sure am glad I can still talk and think and use my body,” he said. “I like to stay busy.”

Ali is grateful too, aware of how quickly their lives could have gone another route if not for St. Luke’s healthcare team and its stroke care.

“We’re so thankful for the doctors and nurses who recognized and treated the stroke,” she said. “And we especially want to thank the Lord who gave them their abilities.”

Dr. Benson recognizes that the open communication among St. Luke’s team was vital to Jim’s successful outcome.

“When there’s a problem, we can work together as quickly as possible to find a solution. This is one of St. Luke’s greatest strengths.”

To learn more about stroke care at St. Luke’s, visit slhduluth.com/stroke. D

Felicia Schneiderhan is a Duluth-based writer. To read more of her work, visit FeliciaSchneiderhan.com