Meet Nikolas — Stroke at age 17
My son Nikolas, age 17 at the time, was suffering from what we thought were migraines. We went to the ER where they treated him for headaches and sent us home.
Days leading up to his stroke diagnosis, he was acting different. He didn’t seem to be “all there”. He would do strange things: the morning before, he was trying to climb out of his grandmother’s bedroom window wearing nothing but a pair of sunglasses. We thought it was from the medication he was taking for the headaches so we stopped giving them to him. Never would I have imagined what was about to happen. On July 8th 2015 around 5pm, we came home from work and, as soon as I looked at him, I knew something was wrong. We rushed him to the hospital. We were told he had a blood clot on his brain and, as a result, he suffered a massive stroke on the front right of his brain. This was caused by a sinus infection that leaked to his brain. He had no signs of sinus issues other than the headaches. The previous days started playing in my head. The questions started: A stroke? He’s only 17?! Was there something I could have done different? Were there other signs that I didn’t see? Could the ER have done more the night I had him there for headaches?
He was rushed into emergency brain surgery and the doctors gave Nikolas a 20% survival rate. He made it through and, not only did he make it, he was doing amazing! Just days after his surgery, he was giving thumbs up, pulling us in for hugs, and kissing our hands.
On July 15th, when we visited Nik, we gave him hugs and kisses and he played thumb war with his two younger sisters. We left feeling so great about his recovery. Then, at 2am on July 16th, we got a dreaded phone call saying we needed to get to the hospital fast. Nik had suffered another massive stroke. This time on the left side and we were told that he probably won’t make it through the night. He went in for yet another emergency brain surgery. We, his family and friends, were beside ourselves with confusion, grief, and anger. The infection had seeped its way to the left parts of his brain.
When Nik came out of this surgery, the doctors told us that he most likely wouldn’t wake up.
However, he did wake up and he had to have a trach, which the doctors felt he would need for a long time (he only had it for 2 weeks). Nikolas celebrated his 18th birthday on August 7th. It was a day of celebration! We were so very thankful to have him with us.
Nikolas has since had surgery to replace his bone flaps with titanium plates because his own were too risky to put back in from the infection. Today, Nikolas is very dependant. He is nonverbal, but he is very aware of his surroundings and communicates with his eyes. Nikolas has been home for 2 months now and he is laughing and smiling a lot more. While he had very minimal movement on both sides after his stroke, he now has amazing movement on the right side, where he will put his foot on the floor while in his wheelchair and push himself around! He spent nearly 8 months in the hospital and we are very hopeful his recovery will continue to improve now that he is home with his family and friends.
We have had amazing support from all over the world. If it weren’t for all the love and prayers, I am not sure how we would have made it through this life-altering experience.
