Ava’s Stroke Recovery

Ongoing updates can be found here: https://www.caringbridge.org/visit/avabrooks

On Thursday, Jan. 4, 2024, at ~6 a.m., Ava, had a stroke caused by a ruptured aneurysm on the left side of her brain. She was rushed to the hospital via ambulance and was sent to surgery for an emergency craniotomy to relieve the pressure on her brain from the swelling. Once that surgery was completed, the neurology team reviewed her scans for the source of the bleed in her brain and found she had an arteriovenous malformation (AVM) that developed the aneurysm. Their next step was to plug up the aneurysm to keep it from rupturing again, which was done through a catheter in her arteries. (We had very skilled surgeons/doctors willing to be aggressive with their treatments because she was so young.)

She survived both surgeries and was admitted to the neuro ICU on life support.

In the weeks since the event, Ava has started breathing on her own and the doctors say she is progressing as expected and even a little better than expected, but it’s going to be a long road until she’s able to communicate and move on her own. Right now everything is involuntary.

She’ll stay in the ICU until she is ready to be transferred to a high level rehabilitation center where she will relearn how to move her body, speak and perform daily activities for living. The rehabilitation center is likely to be outside the state of Oregon and the length of her stay is expected to be up to several months. We’ve chosen Craig Hospital in Denver, Colorado.

What we’re learning is that we’re lucky she’s alive, that we lived in a town with a neuro trauma center, that her initial surgery to relieve pressure on her brain worked and that the procedure to seal her aneurysm was successful.

Ava is 19 years old and was home for winter break from University of Oregon where she was majoring in neuroscience. She was set to move back into the dorms two days later and resume classes the following Monday. I had to file a leave of absence for her and two of her friends moved her stuff out of the dorms. No one can say for sure what her future brings and how much of her previous self she’ll be able to recover. What I do know is Ava has youth on her side as well as her absolute talent for manifesting whatever she wants. She’s always been a determined person, and I can’t see any way that she won’t use that determination now.

This is definitely harrowing, and I think we’re all still in shock. But we’re not taking this lying down. Our girl needs us, and we’re doing everything we can for her.

When I was sitting in the surgery lobby waiting to find out if she would survive, I grabbed my phone and went through my text messages and texted everyone at hand who knew and loved Ava. We had so many people praying for her, sending good thoughts and holding her up. Those people sent messages to their people, and I am so incredibly beyond grateful for that response - words aren't enough to express my appreciation. (You know who you are ❤️)

Thank you for any support you want to provide to our family and especially to Ava.