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Stroke Survivor Walks the Walk To Recovery
By MARY HERMAN-CAPPOLI
No stranger to adversity - having coped with the unexpected loss of her father in a logging accident and her mother's recent struggle with a brain tumor - stroke survivor Tammy Jardine is now involved in her own crusade to raise $4,000 through the Train to End Stroke Program. | Six months ago, Tammy Jardine couldn't speak a word or walk a step. Today, the 36-year-old Hardwick resident is training to complete a half marathon. And she's doing it for one reason - so that what happened to her won't happen to others.
On March 14th, Jardine, a computer systems administrator, felt dizzy upon awakening to go to work. A few moments later, she collapsed on the bathroom floor. Home with only her dogs, Jardine managed to crawl to a telephone but could not remember any numbers - not even 911. Then, noticing her sister's number on caller ID, she tried three times before successfully dialing the digits. Upon hearing the garbeled speech on the other end of the receiver, her sister immediately called an ambulance.
At UMass Medical Center in Worcester, Jardine learned that the left side of her brain was encompassed by a blood clot. She had suffered a stroke.
During her 10-day stay at UMass, Jardine also learned that her stroke had been caused by an undetected congenital heart defect.
On March 24th, medically stable but still unable to move her right side or say anything more than yes and no, Jardine was transferred to Fairlawn Rehabilitation Hospital in Worcester. There, she underwent four weeks of intensive physical, occupational, and speech therapy.
"At first Tammy couldn't even stand to transfer from her bed to a wheelchair," said Lori Peltola, a physical therapist at Fairlawn. "But she was so motivated and worked so hard. And she made great gains."
Upon discharge from Fairlawn, those gains included being able to walk with a four-prong cane and move her left arm and hand. She had also made significant improvements in her speech but still needed continued therapy.
Ability To Communicate
Not missing a beat, Jardine immediately began outpatient treatment at HealthSouth Rehabilitation Hospital in Ludlow. There, along with working to further improve her mobility and the fine motor control in her right hand, she intently focused on regaining her ability to communicate.
"Tammy's language was not gone - she couldn't access it. She knew what she wanted to say but could not find the words," explained Margot Greenwald, a speech-language pathologist at HealthSouth. "She also had trouble putting the words together to form sentences and had significant difficulties with writing."
Tears come quickly when Jardine, who now speaks clearly and confidently, talks about her struggle to regain her use of language. "I could handle the problems with my walking and my hand, but not being able to speak really took its toll on me," she said, occasionally pausing to find the words needed to express her thoughts. "It was the worst thing to go through - understanding what people were saying and knowing what I wanted to say but not being able to talk."
These days Tammy Jardine is not only talking and even writing about her stroke, she is also participating in the American Stroke Association's Train to End Stroke Program. Come January 7th, Jardine will walk a half marathon in Orlando, Florida. Funds raised through the event will go to support stroke research and education.
Greenwald, who says "Tammy pushed herself very hard with the goal of resuming her life just as it had been before her stroke," is thrilled but not shocked by her former patient's efforts. Nor is Peltola, who said, "Given Tammy's motivation and personality, I am not at all surprised that she is participating in the marathon event."
Having just recently returned to work part-time, Jardine trains four times a week with a team of coaches and other local program participants, some of whom will walk or run a full marathon. "I want to help people realize that if they can do things to avoid a stroke, they should do it now rather than later. I also want to raise awareness and money for research to prevent strokes like mine," said Jardine, who recently underwent surgery at Mass General to correct her heart defect. "If you've had a stroke, you don't ever want to do it again."
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