{"id":12383,"date":"2017-10-09T09:43:48","date_gmt":"2017-10-09T15:43:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/?p=12383"},"modified":"2021-09-07T19:32:28","modified_gmt":"2021-09-08T01:32:28","slug":"from-crippling-stroke-to-14000-foot-summit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/from-crippling-stroke-to-14000-foot-summit\/","title":{"rendered":"From crippling stroke to 14,000-foot summit"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>
\"Don
Photo courtesy of Don and Kris Soltis.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It was 4:24 a.m. when Kris Soltis heard her husband struggling to get out of bed.<\/p>\n

She had turned on the radio a little earlier as they began to wake up. And through the dim early light, she noticed a veil of fog outside, rare for an April morning in Timnath, east of Fort Collins.<\/p>\n

Something else was off.<\/p>\n

Don Soltis was talking like he had a mouthful of gauze from an oral surgery. And Don hadn\u2019t had surgery. He was a healthy 55-year-old engineer who designed high-performance central processing units for Intel.<\/p>\n

\u201cRa-room,\u201d Kris heard her husband say as he rocked to try to stand up.<\/p>\n

\u201cAre you having a bad dream?\u201d Kris asked him.<\/p>\n

Then she looked over and saw that his left hand and leg were curled. She figured out he was trying to say bathroom. But his speech was garbled. He wasn\u2019t making sense.<\/p>\n

\u201cAre you having a heart attack?\u201d Kris asked.<\/p>\n

Then she turned on a light and saw that the left side of his face was drooping and his left eye was bulging out.<\/p>\n

Suddenly, she was wide awake.<\/p>\n

\u201cOh my God. You\u2019re having a stroke.\u201d<\/p>\n

Don tried to stand up. As he began to fall, Kris grabbed him and instinctively knew to protect his head from hitting the floor. Once Don was on the floor, she grabbed the phone beside her bed and dialed 911.<\/p>\n

The countdown had begun to save Don\u2019s brain.<\/p>\n

On standby, poised for an emergency just like this, a doctor in Aurora was ready. Years earlier, he, too, had been a computer engineer. But, then, David Case\u2019s father, a World War II veteran, had suffered a stroke that left him severely disabled for the rest of his life. So the son gave up engineering and went to medical school. He then specialized in complex brain procedures that could save stroke victims from the kind of damage his dad had suffered. On April 14, the Friday before Easter, Dr. Case and his team were ready to hunt down and grab a clot that had lodged in Don Soltis\u2019 brain. As each minute passed, however, the clot threatened to destroy critical brain tissue.<\/p>\n

Every second counts<\/strong><\/p>\n

As Kris spoke with the 911 dispatcher, Don was eerily calm. He struggled to stand up and wondered why such a simple thing had become so hard.<\/p>\n

He tried to tell Kris that calling 911 for no reason was a felony. She ignored him and described Don\u2019s symptoms. Her only exposure to strokes was what she\u2019d seen on TV.<\/p>\n

\u201cSee if he can say, \u2018The early bird catches the worm,\u2019\u201d the dispatcher said.<\/p>\n

Don said \u201cthe early bird,\u201d then paused as his brain struggled to help him say this familiar word. Instead, he spelled out \u201cc-a-t-c-h-e-s.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re en route,\u201d the dispatcher said. \u201cHe\u2019s having a stroke.\u201d<\/p>\n

In tears, Kris raced to open the front door and turn on lights for the paramedics. Terrible thoughts raced through her head. She worried Don would be permanently disabled or worse, that she was losing him forever.<\/p>\n

But she didn\u2019t want Don to see her fall apart, so she forced herself to stay calm<\/p>\n

\n

Suspect a stroke?<\/p>\n

Act\u00a0FAST \u2013 Facial drooping, Arm weakness, Speech difficulties and Time to call emergency services<\/p>\n<\/div>\nUCHealth\u2019s Poudre Valley Hospital <\/a>(PVH) was only about 8 miles away, but the ambulance crew had to be careful in the fog as they navigated around a pond with an inauspicious name: Deadman Lake.<\/p>\n

As Don lay on the floor, he wondered what all the commotion was about. The clot in his brain had shifted all his experiences to slow motion.<\/p>\n

He simply had to go to the bathroom and wondered why he couldn\u2019t stand up. Usually, this was all so easy.<\/p>\n

Then, a young woman was introducing herself.<\/p>\n

\u201cHi, my name is Julie,\u201d the paramedic said.<\/p>\n

Don thought to himself, \u201cNo, you\u2019re not.\u201d He was thinking of Julie, his sister-in-law.<\/p>\n

Outside, strapped into the gurney in the ambulance, he noticed the flashes of headlights bouncing off neighbor\u2019s homes, then before he knew it, he was at Poudre Valley.<\/p>\n

Nearby, he heard a doctor\u2019s voice: \u201cIt\u2019s confirmed. It\u2019s a stroke.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s when Don worried for the first time.<\/p>\n

\u201cUh. Oh. This is bad,\u201d he thought to himself.<\/p>\n

Even in his compromised state, he knew that people who had strokes could become permanently disabled. Don had been a skier since 1971. He loved skiing, cycling, hiking and traveling. He loved using his brain to untangle complex challenges at work. And, he loved Kris, his wife of 7 years. Together, they had three sons and a daughter.<\/p>\n

Doctors at PVH did a brain scan and knew immediately that they needed to get Don to a Comprehensive Stroke Center, a hospital rated to provide the highest level of care to stroke patients. There are only three Comprehensive Stroke Centers in the Rocky Mountain region and just over 100 in the nation.<\/p>\n

\u2018Hold your head really still\u2019<\/h3>\n

On a normal morning, PVH doctors would have flown Don to UCHealth\u2019s University of Colorado Hospital, the nearest Comprehensive Center<\/a>. But the fog had grounded all\u00a0UCHealth LifeLine\u00a0helicopters.<\/p>\n

They\u2019d have to race to Aurora by ambulance.<\/p>\n

Kris had driven herself to Poudre Valley. This time, she jumped into the front seat of the ambulance. When the sirens started blaring, the weight of her new reality hit her and she began sobbing.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt seemed so real. He could die. I didn\u2019t even know if he would make it to Anschutz.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now, they were fighting rush hour traffic and drivers seemed oblivious to the sirens.<\/p>\n

As the paramedics discussed the fastest way to get to University of Colorado Hospital, Kris begged drivers who couldn\u2019t hear her to move over and let them pass. She knew every second counted.<\/p>\n

Reality was hitting Don, too. As he lay in the ambulance, he thought about his left arm, lying limp by his side. Even with a fog filling his brain, he thought to himself, \u201cI better not try to move that arm because if I can\u2019t move it, that means I\u2019m in trouble.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dr. David Case<\/a> and his team at the University of Colorado Hospital Stroke and Brain Aneurysm Center<\/a> were ready the moment Don arrived.<\/p>\n

Kris grabbed Don\u2019s hand as nurses wheeled him down the hallway to his room.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe whole time, he knew who I was. It was almost like he was trying to reassure me as I was trying to reassure him,\u201d Kris said.<\/p>\n

The doctors introduced themselves. Dr. Case explained that he would be doing a procedure to try to remove the clot. If he couldn\u2019t get it the first time, he might have to go in a second time and break up the clot.<\/p>\n

Dr. Daniel Vela Duarte focused his attention on Kris.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou look a little shook up. How are you feeling?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cI remember that being very comforting,\u201d Kris said.<\/p>\n

The doctors told Kris they were going to take great care of Don.<\/p>\n

By then, her son, Josh, had arrived. Coincidentally, he worked for the company that had built the hospital, Haselden Construction. To distract his mom, he started giving her a tour of the hospital and showing her his favorite features.<\/p>\n

Inside the procedure room, Don heard Dr. Case say he was ready.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have to hold your head really still,\u201d he told Don.<\/p>\n

One of the attending physicians asked if Don would like to hear some music.<\/p>\n

Don couldn\u2019t say yes, but the young man said, \u201cYou look like a classic rock guy.\u201d<\/p>\n

With his right hand, Don gave a thumbs up and the thrumming sound of ZZ Top\u2019s La Grange begin to fill the room.<\/p>\n

Don remembers the procedure. He could tell that there were scans of his brain up on a giant screen over his head. He had a bad headache and he was tired of being strapped down. So he was squirming a bit.<\/p>\n

Case kept reminding him to hold his head still. Then, in what seemed like just a few minutes, the procedure was over. That\u2019s all Don remembered until two days later on Easter morning.<\/p>\n

World-class care<\/h3>\n

David Case was only 23 when his dad had his stroke in 2002.<\/p>\n

Case had been working as an electrical and computer engineer at the time, but as he spent time with his dad at a rehabilitation facility, he had his epiphany.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is what I want to do. I want to be in a profession where I\u2019m helping people directly,\u201d Case said.<\/p>\n

\"Dr.
Dr. David Case with his father. Case became a doctor and specialized in stroke care after his dad suffered a debilitating stroke. Photo courtesy of Dr. David Case.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

His dad, who was in his 70s at the time, had suffered a stroke very similar to Don\u2019s. But unfortunately the types of treatments available now weren\u2019t available then.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf he would have gotten to a hospital like ours today, he would have gotten treatment,\u201d Case said.<\/p>\n

Instead, his dad lived his final years with major disabilities. Case\u2019s mom cared for him until he passed away. By then, Case was in his fourth year of medical school. And he was on a mission to learn the newest and best treatments for strokes.<\/p>\n

Case learned that speed is everything when it comes to the brain.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can lose neurons very, very quickly,\u201d Case said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you\u2019re able to treat people fast enough, you can help them survive,\u201d Case said.<\/p>\n

In Don\u2019s case, Kris\u2019 quick actions and those of the paramedics and medical team in Fort Collins made all the difference.<\/p>\n

\u201cEarly recognition allowed him to survive,\u201d Case said.<\/p>\n

Don was due to head out of town for a work conference the following week. Had he been alone in a hotel room, unable to call for help, he might not have made it.<\/p>\n

But Don was fortunate. He was in the hospital now. And Case was poised to perform an intricate and highly specialized procedure called a thrombectomy.<\/p>\n

The blockage had taken place in the carotid artery on the right side of Don\u2019s brain. It had halted blood flow to the right side of Don\u2019s brain and, if left untreated, would kill more and more brain cells.<\/p>\n

Using a CT scan for real-time visual guidance, Case threaded a catheter through an artery in Don\u2019s leg. Little by little, he guided it up into the aorta and into the artery that supplies the neck with blood. He then navigated up through the carotid artery on the right side of the brain where he could see the offending clot. Slowly and carefully, Case fed a tiny grabbing tool called a stent retriever past the clot, then captured it. The tool has a tiny cage.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou capture the clot and carefully pull it out. In Don\u2019s case, it took about 20 minutes from the time I got into the artery. The faster we can remove the clot, the better the patient will do,\u201d Case said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a very profound treatment. You can have a huge impact,\u201d Case said. \u201cIt\u2019s changed the way we\u2019re treating stroke, not only in our country, but also around the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

Case is a neurologist who also has specialized training in neuro-critical care and what\u2019s called neuro-interventional and neuro-endovascular care. That means he\u2019s able to perform the newest life-saving procedures, like the one Don received.<\/p>\n

An independent non-profit agency called the Joint Commission certifies and rates hospitals that provide stroke treatment. The University of Colorado Hospital was one of just a handful of hospitals in the country to receive the highest rating in 2012 and in July, was recertified for the third time.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey think we\u2019re one of the best stroke centers in the country,\u201d said Meredith Snyder, UCHealth\u2019s stroke program manager. \u201cWe have the capability 24\/7 to help patients.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stroke experts frequently use the phrase \u201ctime is brain.\u201d By that, they mean the quicker a patient gets help, the more brain function doctors are likely to preserve.<\/p>\n

Hospitals certified as Comprehensive Stroke Centers must offer:<\/p>\n