她在与国会代表进行视频通话时中风

准备与国会成员举行年度会议，为阿尔茨海默病研究寻求更多资金, 安·沃尔特斯·蒂勒里 needed strong Wi-Fi for the video meeting.

那天早些时候，她一直在家工作，但她决定去内布拉斯加大学基金会的办公室. 在一间安静的会议室里，沃尔特斯·蒂勒里(沃尔特斯Tillery)摆好笔记本电脑，开始讲话.

Since losing her mother to Alzheimer's in 2014, she's been a volunteer advocate for the Alzheimer's Impact Movement. She's comfortable with public speaking. 然而，在第三次会面，也就是最后一次推销时，她注意到有些不对劲.

Suddenly, her words started to slur. 在她的屏幕照片中，她注意到她的左脸是下垂的.

"And then, just like that, my left arm went heavy,她说.

沃尔特斯Tillery, 61, was familiar with the acronym FAST, which teaches that if you see someone with facial drooping, arm weakness or speech difficulties, 是时候打911了. 她现在正在目睹自己的中风，知道沙巴足球体育平台等于脑组织.

视频通话结束了，沃尔特斯·蒂勒里抓起手机站了起来, but fell to the floor as her entire left side was already paralyzed. 从发现中风的最初迹象到现在只有五分钟. Luckily, she had her phone in her hand and called 911. Realizing her heart was racing, she tapped into her 12 years of yoga practice and started deep, yogic breathing to calm her body.

医护人员赶到现场，在症状出现25分钟内将沃尔特斯·蒂勒里送到了医院. CT扫描显示她患有出血性中风——脑出血——在她的基底神经节, a part of the brain that controls movement, procedural learning and executive functions. This kind of stroke can be caused by uncontrolled high blood pressure, and her readings were extremely elevated.

Doctors gave her medicine to bring her high blood pressure down, then 沃尔特斯Tillery tried to figure out what caused the spike. 她怀疑她在大流行期间中断的生活方式产生了负面影响.

“我的睡眠质量和沙巴足球体育平台都受到了极大的影响，”她说. “与典型的地中海饮食相比，我的饮食中包含了更多的加工食品. 我的锻炼计划取消了. And, I never worried about my blood pressure, but should have."

沃尔特斯·蒂勒里的女儿希瑟·沃尔夫从堪萨斯城开了四个小时的车, 堪萨斯, 在她母亲身边, as did daughter Kristen Dawson from two hours away in Kearney, 内布拉斯加州.

"She was awake and scared when I saw her, but in relatively decent spirits for what she had just gone through,狼说.

After two days in intensive care, 沃尔特斯Tillery transitioned to acute inpatient stroke rehabilitation. 她花了13天沙巴足球体育平台集中精力恢复力量和协调能力，并学习如何站立, 自己洗澡穿衣. Ten days after her stroke, she walked on her own. When she was strong enough to return home, she continued outpatient occupational, 物理和语言治疗, 锻炼体力, 耐力, fine motor skills of her left 手和手指, and executive functioning skills of the brain.

“你想工作?" an occupational therapist asked her at the beginning of her recovery.

"Throw it at me," she responded. “我想接受尽可能多的治疗，让我重新站起来，重新使用左臂, 手和手指."

她的第一个目标是参加家乡哥伦布市的牧民舞会, 内布拉斯加州, two weeks after starting therapy. She practiced walking on uneven surfaces that mimicked farmland.

"And by the grace of God, they got me to the ball,她说.

她三个月的目标是在埃斯蒂斯公园见到她一生的女朋友, 科罗拉多州, 徒步旅行和玩桨板.

“他们把我带到了那里, 太, and I had a wonderful time laughing and reconnecting with friends,她说.

中风后四个月, 她和女儿沃尔夫和道森以及她们的家人一起去了迪斯尼乐园. She walked more than 100,000 steps that week.

尽管这次旅行很棒，沃尔特斯·蒂勒里也学到了更重要的一课.

That vacation was something they'd talked about doing "someday," but after experiencing a stroke, 他们做到了.

她说:“把‘某一天’这个词从你的词汇表中去掉，因为明天是无法保证的。.

沃尔特斯·蒂勒里认为，她快速拨打911电话和积极的生活方式对康复至关重要. At first, she worried she'd never regain the full use of her left hand. 现在, 15个月后, 她正在做一些瑜伽姿势，比如chaturanga和侧平板支撑，这些都需要上半身的力量. 她还定期在家监测自己的血压，按照建议监测双臂的血压.

Wolf said her mom's attitude was crucial. "She turned everything into a challenge,她说. And when a therapist gave her optional "homework" at night, she did it.

沃尔特斯·蒂勒里(沃尔特斯Tillery)敦促每个人都通过首字母缩略词FAST来学习如何识别中风, 尤其是在虚拟会议中很难判断某人是否处于痛苦之中. 如果你独自一人, 她说, always have your phone on you so you can call 911 if you're in trouble.

"In our new norm of virtual environments, you need to be prepared in case of a medical emergency,她说. “学习如何识别中风. The life you save may be your own."

发自内心的故事 记录心脏病和中风幸存者、护理人员和倡导者的鼓舞人心的旅程.

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