Holly's Stroke Recovery
Donation protected
Hello...For those who don't know me, my name is Brandon Gayhart.
My wife is Holly Gayhart and I've created this GoFundMe account because we've received several requests on assisting in Holly's recovery from her stroke.
We want to emphasize that the outgoing support & well wishes from everyone has made us recognize how blessed we are to have so many that care about my wife, myself & our family. And for that, we are truly grateful for you being in our lives in some way.
Again, I created this GoFundMe for those who wanted to assist financially but please do not feel obligated. If you do assist, we do truly appreciate any assistance that you have provided and it will be helpful towards medical & living expenses while going through the recovery, especially with the next month being the most crucial.
*** *** *** *** ***
For those who might not have seen my Facebook post, I'm posting the original entry here.
Last Thursday evening, Holly had a stroke. One of the arteries in her neck developed a clot. Thankfully, due to the quick reaction of my son, Gavin, to recognize the situation, she was taken to the ER and was given a TNK injection that broke up the clot. He saved her life.
During the stroke, she lost movement in her extremities and speech function. She also had a difficult time processing what was spoken to her.
Within thirty minutes of the TNK injection, she was able to gain movement in her arms & legs. She was also able to understand verbal communication but her speech was still limited.
An MRI was also performed early Friday morning and they found another clot in the brain, and she was put on medication to dissolve that clot as well.
From my understanding, this caused a second stroke but was able to resolve quickly. Normally, with a stroke, recovery is a difficult and long process to regain even the most basic of functions. But within twenty-four hours, Holly was able to move on her own, and recognize & process verbal and other communications.
Her speech was still limited. She knew what words she wanted to say but getting her mouth to say it was something else. She & I have been working together to pronounce words by using giant flashcards to help say different words and to trigger the brain to do what it does.
It has worked wonders for her and she's able to speak full sentences and carry on a conversation with you. She's still not fully there and there is some memory association that will take time for it to return but the doctors were impressed enough that they discharged her from the hospital this evening. So she's home now.
What caused the stroke, you are probably wondering. Well, the doctors were wondering the same thing. Her lab results and every other test that she had came back without answers.
Her health was great and they ruled out genetics. But after she describes the situation of what she was doing before the stroke, the doctors are sure that is the most simplistic explanation.
What was she doing? She was laying in bed watching television while she waited for Gavin to help him with a Christmas gift that he was getting ready for.
She decided that she wanted to lay on the foot-end of the bed to be more comfortable watching television. So she swung her body around and, as crazy as it sounds when she spun around like that, it caused hyper-extension on the neck and stressed the artery in her neck, causing a micro tear and leading to the blood clot.
It is, without a doubt, a bizarre event that is rare and almost unheard of but it does happen.
She's going to be on medication for the next six months to keep her blood thin so that no clots develop while the artery heals. For the next month or so, she's going to be limited in being able to do certain things but the doctors say she'll make a full recovery.
So...That's basically it. We didn't want to post anything until now as, for a couple of days, we didn't have a good understanding of what was going on and didn't want to cause any undue stress or misinformation.
Organizer
Brandon Gayhart
Organizer
San Antonio, TX