Meet Anastasia — Stroke at age 9
October 13, 2010 started as any other day. Busy. With four kids, two in middle school and two in elementary school, it was the typical household where showers, backpacks, breakfasts and lunches where our morning routine. Our youngest, Anastasia, had just turned nine years old, and her well check was that morning. So I picked her up from school, drove to the pediatrician’s office, and gladly heard all about her percentage growth in height (she was born a tiny thing) and all about her good health.
As the day wore on, the afternoon shift began. The boys had football. My eldest daughter had cheerleading. Dinner. Homework. Bedtime routine.
My husband and I were downstairs watching tv, when Anastasia asked for a pot by her bedside – she was feeling queasy. She did not have a fever, so she was settled back in bed. At 1030pm she began to make sounds of distress. My husband and I checked on her, and she was out of bed. But as she had a history of sleepwalking, I believed she was having a night terror. We put her in bed with us to comfort her and called it a night.
The next morning, she was hard to wake. But that was also not uncommon. As I helped her into the shower though, it became increasingly clear something was wrong.
The only reason we did not call an ambulance at that point was because we wished to be at Children’s Hospital, not at the local hospital. It was there that we learned our daughter had a significant stroke in her left hemisphere. They told us the next 48 hours were crucial as Anastasia may not survive. The surrealness of those words cannot be explained.
The next two days were a countdown as we watched monitors click and a constant parade of medical staff. I remember all, and yet little. I do remember at one point putting my hand up and telling a doctor to stop talking – I’d had my limit for the moment. I apologized the next day. After that we were moved to another wing of the hospital, and slowly but surely Anastasia became conscious. At the time it was hard to tell if she knew what was happening. Not only was there no movement on her right side, but she could not move her tongue either. Someone eventually brought in a communication board, and Anastasia would constantly click “hungry”. In no time at all the staff began OT, PT and speech. The first time they made her stand and attempt a walker I thought the therapists were nuts. God bless them for assuming she could do it. Though it was difficult at first, Anastasia surprised us with her perseverance. We have learned to keep pushing the limits.
As a teenager, she’s tired of all the appointments, especially since gains now come at a slower pace. This means it is sometimes hard for her to see the benefits.
Our routine now? The same as before – breakfasts, lunches, homework, etc…. as well as OT, PT, Speech, nighttime splints and acupuncture and doctor visits. Today Anastasia continues to push the limits: moving up to high school, taking grade level foundation classes, snowboarding for the first time last month. I’m not sure any of us have accepted her limitations – maybe someday we will have to. But as long as she’s improving and making headway, we keep pushing!
