|
|
Stitching together a life following stroke.
|
|
When the cup of ice slipped through her hand, Mary Margaret Owen knew instinctively that something was not right. When she could not will her fingers to operate the computer keyboard and one side of her body started going numb, she recognized that she was having a stroke. By the time she slipped off her chair, her co-workers at Nyack Hospital were rushing her to the Emergency Room.
A New York State Department of Health Designated Stroke Center, the staff at Nyack immediately went to work to assess Owen’s condition and mange the stroke’s effects. Once she was medically ready, Owen was transferred to Helen Hayes Hospital for stroke rehabilitation.
“I’ve been working harder at this than at anything I’ve ever done in my life,” she says. Owen’s physical, occupational and speech therapists have been encouraging her every step of the way. “They motivate me to do my facial exercises, which have almost eliminated the droop on one side of my mouth. And when they told me I really could get up out of the wheelchair, and I took my first step, I was elated. I called everyone I knew.”
Along with the intensive therapy, Owen credits her recovery to the caring medical and nursing staff, the soothing Hudson River views from her room and the tremendous support she has received from her family. “When I first arrived, many of the other patients offered encouragement,” she recalls, “and now I try to return that help. We motivate each other and celebrate our progress together.”
Owen’s remaining challenge is to regain full use of her left arm and hand. When that happens, this determined stroke survivor is looking forward to sewing once again.
“When I first arrived at Helen Hayes, I was like a droopy Raggedy Ann doll,” she says. “But slowly, my life is taking form again.” With a little time, Mary Margaret Owen may be stitching together a rag doll herself. |
|
|
|
|
|
 |
