Know the signs: Why every second counts during a stroke

This paid piece is sponsored by Sanford Health.

Ray Schaefer was lucky one winter morning when his wife, May, didn’t go to work at the usual time.

As a nurse at Sanford Health, May typically goes to work at 6:30 a.m. That day, she wasn’t scheduled until two hours later.

“I was making my morning tea and heard a noise, so I went into the bathroom to check on Ray and found him face down on the bathroom floor,” May said. “I knew right away he was having a stroke.”

Critical moments, critical stroke care

As a nurse with 36 years of experience, May noticed several classic stroke symptoms. Ray was experiencing total paralysis on his right side, accompanied by facial drooping, and he couldn’t speak.

“I tried to pull my hand onto the edge of the countertop to get up, and nothing would work,” Ray said. “My mind was talking, but my voice wasn’t coming out.”

May quickly dialed 911. Ray was unresponsive by the time an ambulance got him to the emergency room at the Sanford USD Medical Center, which is now a Comprehensive Stroke Center. The hospital is certified to provide the highest level of care to stroke patients.

Ray’s care team, led by Dr. Divyajot Sandhu, began treatment immediately. A CAT scan helped locate a blood clot in his left middle cerebral artery, and he was given tPA, a clot-buster drug that breaks up blockages.

“Think of a stroke as a blood flow problem,” Sandhu said. “A clot, which may be formed anywhere in the body, keeps traveling in blood vessels that supply the brain until it can travel no more. Once it gets stuck inside a blood vessel, it starves that part of the brain of oxygen.”

Brain cells deprived of oxygen may never recover.

“Every extra minute that a blood vessel is left blocked, 2 million more neurons are permanently damaged. That’s a massive number, and that’s the gist of why time matters during a stroke,” Sandhu said.

Outcome of stroke? Full recovery

Sandhu retrieved the clot out of Ray’s artery during a procedure called a thrombectomy. By that night, Ray was off life support and waking up. May attributes his recovery to the timeliness of his treatment.

“That’s really the key to his progress,” she said. “Ray was in the hospital within the hour of his symptoms starting. Within three hours, everything was done, and he was up in the intensive care unit. That’s what changed his life — and our life.”

Her quick thinking that morning left both May and her husband thankful she knew the signs of stroke and acted quickly.

“If you think that you have something going on, or if you are with someone and they are confused, they talk different, or they’re unable to walk, get in and get checked,” May said. “They have a small window of opportunity where they can help people, so come in as fast as you can.”

Learn more

Know the signs and symptoms of a stroke or aneurysm