A stroke of luck and life-saving care

Learn more about Stroke Care     Are you at risk for a stroke? 

Sean Cory drove to work on a snowy February morning expecting a normal day at the office. The Des Moines executive turned his head as he backed into his parking space and heard a small pop.  

That pop quickly became a medical emergency – a stroke -- that Sean survived with help from Michael Jacoby, M.D., at MercyOne Ruan Neurology Care and the physicians and staff at MercyOne.

“Right away, I had an immense headache centered over my left eye, and I lost the vision in that eye for just a moment,” recalled Sean, who was 41 at the time. His vision quickly returned, and he thought, “That was weird” as he continued into the office, climbing two flights of stairs and dialing into a conference call.  

An hour into the call, his headache worsened, and his mouth felt dry. He texted his wife, Teri, that he might head to a walk-in clinic sometime later in the day, then checked in with his cousin who happened to be a MercyOne stroke coordinator –a real stroke of luck for Sean.

“My cousin said, ‘Get to the ER NOW—I’ll meet you there,’” he recalled. Meanwhile, his co-workers noticed he was stumbling and leaning to one side while walking. With a friend driving, he made it to MercyOne in about six minutes.

Not too young for a stroke  

“By the time we got there, I was starting to lose my speech, experiencing vertigo and feeling very sick to my stomach,” Sean said. Results from initial CT scans, a spinal tap and other tests didn’t show a blood clot, so doctors concluded it was unsafe to administer tissue plasminogen activator, t-PA, a drug used to dissolve blood clots that cause strokes.

“The initial tests didn’t show a clot and had my stroke been caused by a brain bleed instead of a clot, the t-PA would have killed me,” he said matter-of-factly.  

Further tests revealed Sean did indeed have a blood clot that had formed on an interior wall in a blood vessel in his neck, where there was a small flap from a minor, previously unknown injury to the vessel. When he turned his head while parking his car, the motion caused the clot to break free, causing a stroke.  

Sean spent a week in the hospital followed by a week in inpatient therapy and four months of outpatient rehabilitation, relearning how to swallow, talk, walk and ride a bike. Throughout his recovery, he saw Dr. Jacoby multiple times.

“I can honestly say Dr. Jacoby and the whole team were just fantastic,” he said. “Dr. Jacoby was very good about not sugar-coating anything and being upfront – this is what we know, this is what we don’t know, this is what we’re going to do right now. The communication was exceptional.”

Know the risks

Since his experience, Sean has made an effort to help educate people about the risk of stroke.

“My main point is you’re never too young to have a stroke. I didn’t have any family history and thought it was something that only happened to older people, but it could be anyone. I’m very lucky the people I worked with noticed something wasn’t right and that my cousin told me to get to MercyOne right away.”

Sean says the experience helped him gain a new perspective.

“I always had everything revolve around work, but now family is my first priority,” he concluded. “The whole experience really brought my wife and I even closer together, and I’m so grateful for everything she did to take care of me through this. I always knew life was short, but until something like this happens to you, it’s hard to really realize that.”