Rapid Treatment Saves Husband’s Life After Brainstem Stroke

When it comes to stroke, time is of the utmost importance. Minutes, or even seconds, could be the difference between suffering from life-altering deficits and having a successful recovery. Retired airline pilot Terry Rice experienced this firsthand when he suffered a stroke in his home on December 5, 2023.

12:15 p.m. — The clock starts ticking

Terry had spent the morning just like he always did: playing pickleball with his friends and then riding his bike home. He was doing some work around the house when he started to feel unsteady, like he was about to lose his balance and fall over. Not wanting to get hurt while home alone, Terry went to lie down on the couch until he felt better. Less than a minute later, he felt a rush of vertigo and began experiencing a tingling sensation in his hands and feet. Something was very wrong.

Terry called his wife, Jeanne, who was out running errands, and told her what was happening. She immediately dropped everything and rushed home to her husband. As a retired nurse, the first thing she did was check Terry for signs of a stroke. Although he didn’t have all the hallmark stroke symptoms, Jeanne was still extremely worried and called for an ambulance.

“The dispatcher told us that the ambulance could only take me to the hospital near us, but we knew that Barrow was the best place to go if you were having a stroke,” says Terry. “By then, the clock was already ticking, so we decided to drive there ourselves.”

With Jeanne driving and Terry in the backseat with a neighbor to ensure his safety, they headed to Barrow Neurological Institute.

1:00 p.m. — The power of real-time diagnosis

When they arrived at the Emergency Department,  Jeanne went straight to the front desk and told the staff that her husband was having a stroke and needed help urgently.

“The nurses jumped into action right away. They knew exactly what to do. They started stroke protocol, and in what felt like no time at all, I was being taken back to get an MRI scan of my brain,” says Terry.

As he was undergoing the MRI, a Barrow stroke neurologist came to review the images in real time, saving Terry precious minutes. They spotted the clot immediately—it was in Terry’s brainstem. The most lethal place for a stroke, the brainstem controls most vital life functions, including consciousness, breathing, and blood pressure, as well as all motor symptoms. The doctors realized that Terry only had seconds left before suffering catastrophic consequences. They needed to act fast.

1:30 p.m. — Saving lives with rapid treatment

When he heard his prognosis, Terry consented to receiving the clot-busting drug without hesitation.

It saved his life.

“I put my faith in Barrow’s expertise, and I’m glad I did because the doctors told me that if I’d waited any longer, I would have either been extremely impaired or I would have died,” he says.

Because Terry received the clot-busting drug so quickly, he was discharged home after only two nights in the Barrow Neuro-ICU, with no lasting cognitive deficits. A little over a week later, Terry was back to being active and doing all the things he loved again.

“I remember thinking I would never be able to play pickleball with my friends or take walks with my wife again. And I knew it would devastate my family if something really bad happened to me,” says Terry.

“Thanks to Barrow, I’m still here, I’m still me, and I still have a lot to look forward to in life. I could not be more grateful for that opportunity.”

What could have been a catastrophic event for Terry turned into an incredible success story thanks to the stroke team’s expertise in providing rapid treatment.

To help more patients have outcomes like Terry’s, the Petznick Stroke Center has expanded its services outside of the physical clinic. It operates the only Mobile Stroke Unit in Arizona and provides Telestroke services at 17 health care sites across the state.

Join us in saving the lives of stroke patients by supporting research and care at the Petznick Stroke Center at Barrow Neurological Institute!