Dave Polensky’s Stroke Journey:

My husband, Dave, had a major stroke on 12/2/25.

I awoke at 3:30 am to Dave struggling to get out of bed. It was obvious that something was very wrong. Dave was taken by ambulance to the hospital where the doctors decided not to give the clot-busting drug, TPA. Because his stroke happened in the middle of the night, they said there was no way of knowing what time it happened.

The US will use TPA up to 3 hours after stroke symptoms begin, though many other countries find benefits of the drug for up to 24 hours. Needless to say, I was very disappointed he would not receive this medication.

Dave currently has severe left arm and leg weakness as well as facial droop. He is unable to move his left hand in any way and has developed something called Homonymous Hemianopia, which greatly affects his vision. Dave is currently requiring hospital care.

The next step is for him to be transferred to MHealth Fairview acute rehabilitation so he can receive intensive rehab for 3+ hours a day.

Unfortunately, Dave has not been employed since May, so the insurance that he currently has was found online. It's a discount private insurance that covers 46% (strange amount) of his inpatient care.

Dave had 5 weeks left of unemployment, but I ruined that by calling the state of MN to see if extensions were given to hospitalized people, and instead, they took away the final weeks of payment.

During my benefits open enrollment, I added Dave to my insurance for next year. This was done as a ‘just in case’ he was unable to find work quickly. The idea was to pull Dave off of my insurance as soon as he had his own at a new job. We signed up for my highest deductible plan, and now we have a 10k deductible for next year before any benefits will kick in.

Dave was the main source of income in our household and now we have a small fraction coming in. When my mind wanders to how much this will cost, I feel sick and anxious. I would like to focus my energy on Dave’s healing and coming home.

thank you for visiting and if you cannot donate, please say a prayer for strength and healing