Graduating Ursuline Academy senior Christine Phan had a stroke when she was a sophomore, but fought her way back to health and academic achievement.

Graduating Ursuline senior suffered stroke – and learned to really live

By Jeanne Houck • Community Press • May 26, 2010 

 Graduating Ursuline Academy senior Christine Phan was just a sophomore when a knife-like pain sliced through her brain, nearly knocking her out.

 It was Nov. 17, 2007, and Phan had just suffered a stroke. 

Rushed to the hospital, Phan remembers being hooked up to six beeping machines, surrounded by her parents and sister and thinking, “This is how I am going to die.”

 Phan wasn’t exaggerating the seriousness of the situation

“The doctor informed my family that I had a massive bleeding in my brain,” Phan said. “He said that I had only a 1 percent chance of survival and that I would most likely die within the next few hours.

“However, my mom would not give up on me so easily and argued with the doctor to have a helicopter take me to University Hospital for surgery. After four hours of surgery, I was alive. Nevertheless, the doctors at University Hospital could not reverse the stroke, and when I woke up in the neuro-ICU, my right side was paralyzed.”

Phan was 15.

“The months following my aneurysm were the most trying period of my life,” Phan said. “I couldn’t walk, eat or go to the bathroom on my own. Taking a shower required two extra people. I was like a baby again. I also had trouble finding words and communicating. I could feel people getting frustrated with me and I imagined them thinking, ‘Spit it out already!’

“Many days I felt defeated. I wondered why this happened to me,” Phan said. “Trapped in the confines of my wheelchair, I realized I had a decision to make. I could run away from what had happened to me, or I could start rebuilding my life.

“Today, after countless hours of therapy and hard work, I am living proof that I can conquer my 1 percent chance at life,” said Phan, now 17 and planning to major in international business and minor in psychology at Rollins College in Winter Park, Fla. She is the daughter of Dean Phan and Angie Trandai and lives in West Chester Township.

“From not being able to walk, I can once again sprint across the tennis court and gracefully hit a backhand,” Christine Phan said. “From struggling to find the simplest words, I have become confident, humorous and trusted enough to be elected by my peers to serve as their senior class co-president.

“Simple rites of passage for normal teenagers, such as getting my driver’s license or having my first boyfriend, are miracles and treasured experiences for me.”

Phan said suffering a stroke was in some ways both the worst and the best thing that has happened to her.

“Before, I was robotic in my academic work, producing the same product over and over,” she said. “My brain injury brought me the gift of being human. Now, I can truly appreciate emotions and moments. I am grateful to simply be alive, because I cannot know when my last minute on earth will be. I have a crooked smile and a scar on my head to remind me of that night, but I also have the knowledge that I can overcome anything I set my mind to.”

Phan credits the Ursuline Academy in Blue Ash community and her relatives, friends and psychologists with refusing to allow her to give up.

“I can’t even begin to thank them,” Phan said.

“Determination, perseverance and laughter at oneself is the advice I would give to kids going through some difficulty like this.” 

Physicians:

Dr. Encarnacion (Air Care)

Dr. Shutter (neurocritical care)

Dr. Choutka (neurosurgery)

Dr. Zuccarello (neurosurgery)

Brendan Wiese

By looking at Brendan Wiese, now 32-years-old, you would never know that in 2004 he had been air lifted to University Hospital by Air Care.  It was November 29, and the Cincinnati Bengals had just finished a regular season home game.  Wiese, an avid Bengal’s fan, decided to walk across the bridge and go to a local bar district, where his close friends and he celebrated the game. 

“When you are young you feel like you have no inhibitions,” said Wiese.  “I was just a kid out having a great time I never thought that the events of that evening would happen to me.” 

Wiese made the choice to get into his car at the end of the evening to drive home.  While heading across the Clay-Wade Bailey Bridge his car hit a retaining wall, flipped and slid over 50 feet.  He narrowly missed flipping over the wall and down 20 feet to the streets below. 

“My accident started my 28-day ‘nap,’” Wiese said half-heartedly. “I don’t remember anything but was told I was air lifted to University.”

Upon his arrival, Wiese had broken his entire left side of his face—from his jaw to his occipital lobe.  His left hand was what doctors called “de-gloved” meaning his skin was entirely peeled away from the bone and, most importantly, he was in a coma with very little brain function. 

“I truly believe that I would have never made it through had it not been for my family and my team of caregivers,” said Wiese.  “I have four sisters and they are all brilliant, they told me that my doctors and nurses treated them with the utmost respect and were very forthright and honest about my condition.”

At one point, Wiese’s physicians started to prepare his family for a lifetime of their son and brother living in a vegetative state.  However, after 28 days, Wiese was coming around, his vitals were picking up and the other injuries he sustained were healing.  For the next two years, Wiese spent his time going through extensive rehabilitation from his accident. He would go back and forth between assisted nursing care at the Manor Care Center to the Drake Center. 

“I spent so much time going through rehab,” explained Wiese. “I had to literally re-learn everything cognitive wise.  I couldn’t hear out of my left side and since I was left-handed and my left hand was injured so badly, I had to learn to write again.” 

Wiese still struggles with reading, his short term memory and his vision.  Every day is an opportunity for rehabilitation.

To see Wiese now, however, is like seeing an entirely new man.  No longer is he someone without direction or purpose, but now he is someone who has graduated from the University of Cincinnati. He has worked in the financial field and is now a personal trainer who is working on another degree in physical therapy. 

“I have been told that I have recovered 300%!” exclaimed Wiese. “I have direction, goals, and aspirations—I am not that crazy kid anymore.” 

Today Wiese works on building his own mind, body and soul while helping other work on their mind, body and soul.  Every first Friday of the month, he visits patients who were in similar situations as he was in and teaches brain teasers and activities. 

“It is so important to work out not only your body, but your mind,” said Wiese. “I still struggle with my memory and speech everyday, but by reading books and doing crosswords puzzles and any other mind stimulating activities; I only get better and stronger over time.”

    With only a 40% chance that the procedure would hold me the five more weeks until I was ‘full-term’ at 24 weeks pregnant, I was admitted to University Hospital, recommended because my water had broke and I was ’slowly’ going into labor.

    Upon arrival, precious care and medications were immediately given and because of that ongoing caring, my body held out until I was 27 weeks pregnant. On Sunday Aug. 23 at 2:30 am, I delivered a 2 lbs 15 oz baby boy – but even with the bed rest and excellent care provided, he was 12 weeks early.

   

Ma'Kiah at 7-months

    With his chance of survival only at 40%, the doctors always advise to “prepare for the worse and pray for the best.” Today my son is 9 months old and is doing better than ever! After spending 43 days in the NeoNatal ICU at University Hospital, he came home to me a healthy baby boy with minor issues – he needed no oxygen and no feeding tube.

    Because of the great staff in the NICU, the amazing residents, doctors and nurses, my son Ma’Kiah Thomas-Golomeke is most definitely LIVING PROOF that the professionals at University Hospital are THE BEST at what they do!”

~ Erica Thomas, Hamilton

Recognizing: University Hospital- NNICU staff (especially nurse Karen) and the staff that took care of me while I was on forced bed rest.

. ]]> http://www.livingproof.net/erica-thomas/feed/ 3 http://www.livingproof.net/joanne-george/ http://www.livingproof.net/joanne-george/#comments Tue, 18 May 2010 12:17:55 +0000 uhadmin http://www.livingproof.net/?p=516

Joanne George finishes her first half-marathon since her surgery.

     “On March 28th, 2006, Dr. Philip V. Theodosopoulos, MD, performed Chiari Decompression Surgery on me. He gave me my life back. From Feb 2006 through the fall of 2007, I trained for and ran 1 half and 2 full marathons. In Oct 2007, I started with a pressure headache that never went away. From Oct until March, my symptoms multiplied to the point where I had no quality of life. I was in constant pain, uncomfortable losing the use of my left hand and experiencing problems with my mind wandering uncontrollably. I was unable to safely drive and I was unable to care for my two children. I was definitely not able to run.
   

     I was diagnosed by MRI as having Arnold Chiari Malformation Type 1. After more tests and more MRIs, Dr. Theo agreed that I needed surgery to reduce the CS Fluid pressure in my skull.
   

     It has been over 2 years since my surgery and I am training for my 2nd half-marathon since my life has begun again. I still have headaches and discomfort in my spine and lower back, but only about 5% of the symptoms I had before surgery.
   

     I am living proof thanks to Dr. Theo and his staff.

    Thank you!”

~ Joanne George, Dayton

Tom Thie

“Without the trauma team at UC Health University Hospital, I might not be writing this letter.

It was Labor Day, 2005. I was trimming a large tree in the front yard, when a branch knocked the ladder from underneath me. The fall resulted in a shattered vertebrae and two severely fractured heels and ankles. This is when University Hospital and their fine doctors began to put Humpty together again. The prognosis was not good – probable paralysis from the waist down with severe loss of mobility and a possible amputation of the right foot.

I'm Tom Thie and I'm Living Proof.

Well here it is 2010. After many surgeries and a lot of work, I’m walking with both feet still attached. Granted, it’s not perfect, but it’s a whole lot better than what was expected. I will never be able to fully express my gratitude to University Hospital and their excellent staff.

It’s been almost five years, so it’s impossible to remember everybody, but my two primary doctors were Drs. Archdeacon and Asghar. Thanks to everyone at Iniversity Hospital and especially those involved in my care.”

~ Tom Thie, Cincinnati

Physicians:

Dr. Archdeacon

Dr. Asghar

Brian Homan

“In May of 2004, I was diagnosed with Hepatitis C and cirrhosis of the liver. Four and a half years later, in November of 2008, after many complications and delays, I was put on the transplant list. The phone call came on Tuesday, January 13, 2009. I went into surgery at 10:00 P.M. Wednesday, January 14^th. I awoke feeling better than I had felt in years.

It is a little more than a year since my transplant. I am currently taking the treatment for Hepatitis C and doing well. 

I am grateful for the experiences I have had with the Liver Transplant Team. I feel more like they are family than a group of strangers just doing a job. Their concern for the “all-around” person attached to a diseased liver is sincere and evident. Thank you for the opportunity to share my story and perhaps inspire others to ‘Give the Gift of Life’.”

~ Brian E. Homan, Middletown

Physicians/Surgeons:

Dr. G.W. Neff
Dr. N. Kemmer
Dr. Mike Alonzo
Dr. S. Rudich
Dr. A. Tevar
Dr. D.S. Kim
Dr. Jung

Nurses:

Roseann Geisting, RN, CNS
Sally Osborne, RN
DyLinn Russell, RN
Karen Paulding, RN
Stephanie Brown, RN 

Charles Askren

“This story is about my father Charles Askren. My father was admitted to the VA Hospital in Cincinnati on February 11, 2010 with chest pains. He had been informed several weeks prior that he needed heart bypass surgery, he was very sick. The VA Hospitals in Cincinnati and Cleveland refused to do the surgery because he was such a high risk. He had had a paracardectomy in 1981 and because of this his heart and lungs had fused together with scar tissue and calcium. Dr. Patel was able to successfully separate his heart and lungs and perform the bypass.

Dr. Patel and the other surgeons saved his life. If they had not agreed to do his surgery, my father may not be here today. He was on a respirator for 5-1/2 days and needed a lot of care.

The nursing staff was absolutely wonderful. My father was having some discomfort and complained about something moving in his chest that was out of the ordinary. The nurses took him for a CT scan and discovered that his sternum had separated. He went in for another surgery on March 1, 2010. His entire sternum was open; the wires used to close had pulled through the bone. Dr. Okum was able to close his sternum with 5 Titanium plates. Again, we could have lost my father, because this is very dangerous.

We are so grateful to the doctors and nurses at UC Health University Hospital; my father could not have gotten any better care. The nurses in CVICU even gave my father the nickname of Papa Smurf. My dad is a very strong man and seeing him on the respirator was very hard, but the nurses understood this and were very kind to all of our needs and us as well. They didn’t even get upset when I would call to check on him at 3:00 in the morning on my way to work.

My dad is living proof the University Hospital saves peoples lives.”

~ Deborah E., Amelia

Physicians/Surgeons:

Dr. Smith, Dr. Guitron, Dr. Patel, Dr. Stevenson, Dr. Heubl, Dr. Booth, Dr. Okum and Bob Osterday(physicians assist).

Nurses:
Carla Blue, Jen Popil, Jen Pettibone, Colin Quigley, Amy Plapp, Bethany Schemmel, Erin Eisenbrei, Kerri Santos, Mieta Koob, Julie Nieman, Rachael Derenski, Tiffany Hemphill, Lisa Winston, Deb Morris, Tia Nicely, Racael Callvin, Lotta Hedberg, Bobbie Metz, Ricky Jones and Colleen Schmidt

Robin survived her blocked artery thanks to the quick thinking of her husband, the EMS crews, and the medical teams at University Hospital.

“It was a regular Saturday night. I started feeling ill. After I got sick, I started to feel pressure in my chest. I told my husband, Rick, I was not feeling well. When I started having trouble breathing, he called 911.

Within five minutes, the EMS crew rushed me to the Trauma/Emergency Department at University Hospital. The Emergency Department was already prepped when I got there and before I knew it, rushing me up to the “cath lab”. There, they immediately X-ray’d my heart and determined I needed an angioplasty and a drug-eluding stent put in. Within minutes they were placing the stent in my heart. Afterwards, I was told my artery was 100% blocked when I arrived. In all, it was just seventeen minutes from the time I arrived at the hospital to the placement of the stent. If not for the quick action of my husband, the EMS and firefighters, and the expertise of the University Hospital Emergency and Cardiovascular teams, I would not be here to tell the story. I AM LIVING PROOF.” ~ Robin G., Cincinnati

Alisha, Addison and Cory

Alisha Loudon calls her daughter a miracle. But what is most extraordinary is Loudon’s medical journey to having her daughter. Based on the medical literature, women with her condition only have a 50 percent chance of surviving labor and delivery.

In July 2006, Loudon, now 30, of Clermont County, was diagnosed with a rare vascular condition that caused her to experience spontaneous blood clots in the deep veins in the abdomen and pelvis. The condition was a medical anomaly—she was a young, nonsmoker with no family history of vascular disease and no discernable blood disorders that would lead to blood clots.

She ended up in a community hospital after mild back pain that led to unexplained abdominal pains and swelling in both her legs. The pain was so intense, she could barely walk. After 17 days without answers, she was referred to a UC Health hematologist Carl Siegrist, MD, whom immediately admitted Loudon to the emergency room at UC Health-University Hospital. It was there that Loudon met vascular surgeon Amy Reed, MD, and began a barrage of medical treatment in an attempt to save her life.

Loudon was rushed to the angiography suite where the main vein in the abdomen was opened up with clot-busting medicine, a small suction tubing (catheter) to remove clots and ultimately balloons and stents—all done through small needle punctures in her legs in an attempt to prevent fatal blood clot from breaking away and traveling to her lungs.

“Ms. Loudon has May-Thurner syndrome, an unusual disorder where the constant pulsation of the iliac artery over the top of a large vein in the hip area can cause scarring inside the vein much like a spider’s web,” explains Reed, who is also an associate professor of surgery at the UC College of Medicine and program director of the vascular surgery fellowship and integrated residency. “At some point, flow through the vein will get sluggish enough that the entire system, including the largest vein in the body, can clot off.”

Four surgeries, five permanent stents and a blood transfusion later, Loudon was stable despite the odds.

Loudon was told at the time she had the stents put in that it would be too risky from a medical perspective to have children because of the high likelihood that the stents would be crushed and possibly lead to a life-threatening blood clot for her and possible demise of her fetus. She was put on blood thinners and, fortunately, experienced no further complications.

Although the doctors had cautioned against it, in July 2008 Loudon and her husband decided they wanted to have children and started trying to conceive. She made an appointment to see Arthur Evans, MD, a UC Health maternal-fetal medicine obstetrician and chair of the obstetrics and gynecology department at UC. Evans and his team manage high-risk pregnancies through the University Hospital Perinatal Treatment Center and serve as part of the Fetal Care Center of Cincinnati, a collaboration between UC Health, University Hospital and Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center.

“Both Dr. Evans and Dr. Reed felt very strongly that I should not get pregnant and carry a child, so after much discussion we went to see a surrogacy doctor to determine alternative options,” recalls Loudon.

Four and half weeks later, the couple found out they were expecting.

“Even though my doctors advised against it, I felt like my pregnancy happened for a reason and I wanted to have the baby.”

Under the combined monitoring and care of Evans, his maternal-fetal medicine fellow Ryan Loftin, MD, and Reed, Loudon progressed through her pregnancy without any major problems or complications. She was placed on and the blood thinner Lovenox to prevent life-threatening blood clots and monitored progressively—first monthly, then weekly and eventually twice a week—by Evans and Loftin for signs of distress in her or the baby.

On July 6, 2009, Loudon and her husband Cory welcomed their daughter, Addison, who was delivered by Evans and Loftin at UC Health University Hospital via scheduled cesarean section two weeks early.

“Everything went perfectly and my doctors took such amazing care of me,” says Loudon. “Addison is our one and only little miracle baby. We are so thankful for her.”

After the birth, Loudon underwent tubal ligation to prevent future pregnancies because her body physically wouldn’t be able to take the stress of another pregnancy. A follow-up ultrasound of her venous stents miraculously found that they had not been crushed and remained wide-open.

“Very few patients in the world have been reported to come through a successful pregnancy without crushing these stents,” says Reed. “Alisha and Addison are true miracles. I am so happy they proved us and the odds wrong.”

“I had 100 percent faith in Dr. Evans the moment I met him and I was referred to him by four different people, so this gave me comfort. I feel as if Dr. Reed has been my guardian angel from the very start of my medical treatment in 2006. My daughter and I are both living proof that University Hospital makes miracles happen!”

Dr. Reed- vascular surgeon
Dr. Evans- chairman of high risk OB
Dr. Loftin- high risk OB
Dr. Seigrist- hematologist

Robert Brown, Cincinnati

“It’s a beautiful day near the end of the summer and I am laying on the walk in front of my house bleeding to death.  I hear sirens approaching from the distance. At the beginning of the summer, I elected to have an endovascular AAA repair. After a series of misadventures and six procedures later, I was delivered by EMS squad to University Hospital ER. The first time my femoral artery pseudo aneurysm ruptured I was actually in the hospital. When, about a month later, home alone, I felt the horrifying warmth and gush again, I called 911, identifying myself, my location and condition. Declining to stay on the phone, I decided to lay on my front walk to “wait for the boys”.

When the squad arrived, I waved, as if the guys couldn’t figure out their patient was the guy laying on the walk in a pool of blood. Wavering on the edge of consciousness, I was transported to the ER. I did not regain full awareness until several minutes later in the ER. Before going to emergency surgery to address the immediate emergency, I met Dr. Giglia.

Over the next couple of days we talked. I recall telling him I couldn’t endure another rupture. He gave me an article discussing the procedure he proposed. We agreed to proceed.

 Now, just over a year since, I am still recovering. I have retained my life and my leg. I am grateful for all the people who participated in this adventure. I am especially grateful to Dr. Giglia and have an enduring admiration for his competence, imagination and confidence. ”

- Robert Brown, Cincinnati

Doctors perform surgery on a ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm

 Physicians noted: Joe Giglia, Carlos Rosales, Hosam El-Sayed, Michael Ward, et al.

For months after quadruple bypass surgery, James Duke was plagued by frequent, severe chest pain. His coronary artery disease continuously worsened, leaving his heart lacking in the ability to circulate blood. A stent helped facilitate blood flow in hopes of easing his pain, but the results were disappointing. James finally found relief at University Hospital, in the form of angiogenesis. This innovative new procedure allows surgeons to inject growth protein directly into the heart, creating new coronary artery branches to increase blood flow.

Physicians at University were the first in the country to use this protein with this technique, and James became the third person to receive this procedure. He’s now pain free, healthy, and living proof of the value of research.

Jack Hunt had a difficult 14 years. It started in 1992 when he was diagnosed with severe heart disease and told he only had a few months to live. He persevered until his condition finally became so bad that he couldn’t leave his home. In 2005, he got a pacemaker that his body rejected. He then had six cardiac arrests in one month and was in dire need of a heart transplant. Dr. Shahab Akhtar at University Hospital was ready when Jack’s donor match was found.

Within 12 hours of the surgery Jack was sitting up having lunch. Only months removed from barely being able to walk, Jack went out and started a mini-marathon team in honor of his donor, Kyle Hunlock. Jack thanks Kyle and his family for giving him a second chance, and he thanks University Hospital for making him living proof.

Last summer, Mark Johnson approached a coworker and asked for a ride home. He also asked the friend to drive his truck – and no one drives Mark’s truck but Mark. Obviously, something wasn’t right. Shortly after they left the job site, Mark slumped over in the passenger seat – the result of a massive heart attack. The first hospital the paramedics took him to didn’t perform angioplasties, so he was immediately Air Cared to Dr. Saeb Khoury at University Hospital. Upon arrival, Mark wasn’t even breathing on his own.

When his wife Cindy found out, she rushed over to find him in the care of his “Team of Angels” – the cardiac cath team and critical care nurses at University. After six weeks in their care, Mark recovered to the point that he was completely free of lingering effects.

It’s tough being 16 years old. It’s even tougher being 16 when your pancreas is ravaged by disease. For Timothy Jordan, pancreatitis forced him to spend the vast majority of his early teens painfully bed-ridden and confined to his home in Macon, GA. After watching her son struggle for years and finding no relief from various treatments, Timothy’s mother sought out the physicians at University Hospital where an autologus islet cell procedure was pioneered. Initially, Tammy feared the pancreatectomy performed on her son would be fruitless like the many treatments before it. But ten days after his procedure, Timothy was running around with the other neighborhood kids.

Today you’ll find Timothy practicing guitar, living proof that treatment at University is about more than science.

Robert McFarland was finishing breakfast when the right side of his body froze. “My right hand was numb. I couldn’t raise it. I couldn’t talk.” The  next moments were a blur. Paramedics. University Hospital. The clot-busting drug TPA, given an hour and 47 minutes after his stroke. Robert benefited from the team approach University Hospital uses to treat stroke. An angiogram indicated his carotid artery was closed off, and quick action by Dr. Mario Zuccarello and Dr. David White kept him alive.

Though he arrived completely paralyzed, Four days later he was walking, talking, and giving his doctor a hug. When it comes to the power of teamwork, Robert is living proof.

After college student Courtney Pearce flipped her car and hit a tree, paramedics rushed her where she could receive the treatment she needed. When she arrived at University Hospital, Courtney had two skull fractures, five broken vertebrae, and fluid rapidly filling her brain. Orthopedic surgeon Dr. Ferhan Asgar performed emergency spinal surgery on Courtney knowing that time was a factor in whether this 19-year-old girl had a chance to live.

Courtney woke up five days after she was admitted to University Hospital and was discharged after seven. She had to wear a neck brace for four weeks but has since returned to college where she is studying to be a school-teacher. Courtney is happy to be back in school, and even happier to be living proof.

On Christmas Eve 1956, amid a backdrop of explosions and splintered wood, Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth recited Scripture. His house lay in ruins – the result of a bombing. Yet, he quoted the 27th Psalm: “The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?” Rev. Shuttlesworth was a constant target for this type of persecution because of his prominent role as a civil rights activist. But, through it all, he never backed down. So when he was diagnosed with a brain tumor last year, he was put in an ironic position.

He needed a team to fight for him like he’d fought for so many. And he found them at The Neuroscience Institute at University Hospital. There, using image-guided technology, neurosurgeon Dr. John M. Tew removed the brain tumor and the Reverend made a complete recovery.

Ronald Stang was in the basement when a ruptured aortic aneurysm very nearly ended his life. As his abdomen began to fill with blood, Ronald miraculously located a phone and dialed 9-1-1, even as sharp pains began to signal massive internal bleeding. The ambulance arrived, rushing a fading Ronald to the closest community hospital. Doctors there realized the severity of his condition and phoned vascular surgeon, Dr. Joseph Giglia of University Hospital. Immediately, Dr. Giglia arranged to have Ronald sent to University Hospital via Air Care, University’s emergency helicopter.

Once there, he received the appropriate care, and within four months, had recovered enough to mow the yard. It seems everyone has their own route to becoming living proof.