Zinta Aistars - WKTV Journal

Photo by Chris Clark, Spectrum Health Beat

By Zinta Aistars, Spectrum Health Beat

Photos by Chris Clark

It happened the day after Christmas 2018.

Not a creature was stirring—except for Myra Moritz, 61, a Hudsonville, Michigan, business supervisor who had no plans of missing work.

But something felt a little odd that day. A sluggish left arm. And a heavy hip.

“It got worse over the day,” Moritz remembers. “I told my husband the next morning that I was having a stroke.”

Her husband, Dennis Moritz, took her to Spectrum Health Butterworth Hospital, where doctors soon confirmed what she suspected: She had suffered a stroke.

Lifestyle change

Not all strokes move quickly.

While minutes and seconds certainly matter when treating the victims, the type that hit Moritz had been slow-moving.

“I was too late for that magic pill that turns a stroke around,” she said. “But the staff immediately started tests and treatment and they found I had 95 percent blockage in my right artery and 75 percent in my left.”

In the years leading up to the stroke, Moritz underwent treatment for high blood pressure and high cholesterol. She also had five successful bypasses eight years prior, with surgery performed at Spectrum Health Fred and Lena Meijer Heart Center.

She knew enough about stroke to recognize her condition, even though she didn’t experience the more classic FAST symptoms associated with stroke:

F—Facial drooping
A—Arm weakness
S—Speech difficulties
T—Time to call emergency services

“I did not have any facial drooping or slurred speech,” Moritz said. “But as the day went on, I felt more weakness in my arm. And my brain was getting foggy. I was having trouble comprehending.”

Justin Singer, MD, Spectrum Health Medical Group neurosurgeon, served on the stroke team that treated Moritz.

“Myra had severe bilateral carotid stenosis, or carotid artery disease,” Dr. Singer said. “Lifestyle habits that contribute to this are high blood pressure, cholesterol, smoking, but also genetics. She had these high risk factors.”

To reduce Moritz’s chances of having another stroke, Dr. Singer performed carotid endarterectomy on her right artery. This surgical procedure removes blockages in the carotid arteries of the neck.

Carotid endarterectomy is not a cure, Dr. Singer said. Arteries can become blocked again if conditions such as high blood pressure and cholesterol are not controlled. This causes new plaque buildup.

“So I quit smoking,” Moritz said. “That was the last day I smoked.”

Hallucinations

On Dec. 30, 2018, doctors sent Moritz to stroke rehabilitation at Spectrum Health Blodgett Hospital. She worked with Christa Rector, MD, a Spectrum Health physical medicine and rehabilitation doctor.

Moritz immediately began to exhibit mild seizures during rehab.

“That’s not uncommon after a stroke,” Dr. Rector said.

But the seizures were enough to set Moritz back in her recovery.

“After the seizures, my memory seemed to be more affected,” Moritz said. “I was very tired. And about six days later I started to have hallucinations—probably a side effect from some of the meds I was taking to control the seizures.”

Moritz remembers seeing pirate ships sailing across the lake outside her window at Blodgett Hospital. Dogs she had owned in the past, now dead, suddenly trotted into the room to greet her. When she reached out to pet them, there was nothing there.

“I learned to check with my husband before trusting anything I was seeing,” she said. “And then I also realized that if I blinked, if it was a vision, it would go away.”

The good news: Moritz wasn’t bedridden during recovery.

Under Dr. Rector’s guidance, the rehab team gave her a proper workout to strengthen her left leg and left arm.

She practiced ascending and descending the stairs. She’d get in and out of a pretend car, use the bathroom independently and improve her balance with a walker.

“All the things I needed to be able to do when I go home,” Moritz said.

A return to normal

Before the stroke, Moritz would swim 60 laps twice a week at an indoor pool.

It may be a while before she achieves that level again, but her prognosis is excellent.

On leaving the hospital a little more than a month after her stroke, she felt optimistic and strong.

“A physical therapist comes out to the house three times a week to work with me,” she said. “That will go down to twice a week soon. My brain doesn’t feel foggy anymore and my appetite is better.

“Although, maybe that’s not so great,” she laughed.

Her doctors have recommended a Mediterranean diet, heavy on fruits and vegetables. She expects to drive again in about six months, when the risk of seizure has passed.

“Myra has made a remarkable recovery,” Dr. Rector said. “By the time she was discharged, we scored her 4 out of 5. We expect her to eventually return to normal or near normal.”

The directive from her doctors: control blood pressure, screen for hypothyroidism, stay active, maintain a healthy diet and keep watch on any reoccurring stroke symptoms.

And don’t smoke.

“An amazing group of doctors and nurses and rehab people have worked with me,” Moritz said. “Everyone has been so kind and supportive throughout every step of my recovery. My rehab people always ask me during my exercises: ‘Can you do one more?’”

Moritz nods. She can always do one more.

Reprinted with permission from Spectrum Health Beat.

By Zinta Aistars, Spectrum Health Beat

Photos by Katy Batdorff

For the past two years, Jorge Gonzalez, 46, had done all kinds of things to improve his health.

He lost 60 pounds. He trained to run a 5K race. He focused on his health in matters big and small.

So imagine his bafflement when, one day at work, he suddenly began to feel particularly unwell. Even his colleague noticed it.

Gonzalez himself had to admit—the pounding in his chest couldn’t be ignored.

His new fitness watch noticed a problem, too. Gonzalez had bought the smart watch to help him monitor his vital signs. On that day, it showed alarming blood pressure numbers: 241/118.

“I didn’t think I was having a heart attack,” Gonzalez said. “But I did feel, well, out of tune.”

A short walk

Gonzalez is a director at Start Garden, a Grand Rapids, Michigan, company that helps entrepreneurs start new businesses. He always enjoyed helping others in his community, but when it came to helping himself he’d been reluctant to pick up the phone and call his doctor.

When he finally did—not in small part because a colleague nudged him into action—he learned he’d have to wait two months for the next available appointment.

But his blood pressure showed no signs of dropping. And two months was a long time.

Then, his colleague reminded him of something.

“Hey, Jorge,” his coworker had said. “Do you remember that presentation we had here a while ago by someone from Spectrum Health? It was about that new medical clinic down the street, STR!VE.”

Gonzalez remembered. The presentation showcased a new type of medical office aimed at developing a whole-body, preventive approach to long-term wellness.

For Gonzalez, it would require just a short walk down the street, onto Ottawa Avenue in downtown Grand Rapids.

He decided to take a short stroll.

Whisked to surgery

The STR!VE office has an inviting and comfortable ambiance, unlike many medical clinics. People can visit for same-day or next-day appointments.

Gonzalez arrived and met with family nurse practitioner Melissa Wilson, MSN, BS, FNP-C, who checked his vital signs. On gauging his blood pressure, Wilson grew alarmed.

“I waited a moment, thinking it might be a false read, then took his blood pressure again,” Wilson said. “It was not going down. I put in a call to the emergency department at Spectrum Health Butterworth Hospital.”

Gonzalez saw the nurse practitioner’s concern and realized he may be in trouble.

“I told her she couldn’t play poker,” he said. “She didn’t have a poker face. I could tell by looking at her that this wasn’t good.”

Gonzalez was rushed to Butterworth Hospital. Doctors and nurses at the emergency department waited for his arrival.

“They immediately did an EKG,” Gonzalez said. “A young guy read the report. I could see his face turn red.”

Things happened very quickly after that, Gonzalez said. It’s something of a blur in his memory, but he recalls a physician calling out to his staff: “All hands on board!”

Then someone shaved his chest in preparation for surgery. A second EKG confirmed Gonzalez had suffered a heart attack. His artery had become 100 percent blocked.

Doctors placed a stent in his artery to restore blood flow to his heart.

Walking man

Three months later, Gonzalez feels like a new man. He is grateful for the quick actions of STR!VE medical staff and the medical team that met him at the emergency department at Butterworth Hospital.

“I wouldn’t be alive today if it wasn’t for STR!VE,” he said.

Gonzalez now repeats that walk down the street from his office to STR!VE on a weekly basis. He can take care of his follow-up appointments and meet with a dietitian to monitor his diet.

“Two years ago, I weighed 240 pounds,” he said. “Today, I weigh 182. I lost the weight because there was a day I tried to put on my shoes and couldn’t.

“I learned, though, that it’s not just about calorie reduction,” he said. “It’s what you eat. My cardiologist told me the blockage in my artery was probably because of years of a bad diet, and he recommended the Mediterranean diet. Now I eat whole foods, less processed, and a lot more fruits and vegetables.”

Wilson believes Gonzalez has recovered so quickly because he changed his sedentary habits and his diet.

STR!VE continues to help him work not just on nutrition, but his health maintenance overall.

“Many people come here for our weight management program, but we are also a full-service, primary care medical office,” Wilson said. “Some of the people who come here keep their primary care physician but come to STR!VE to treat illnesses, when they need to see a doctor same day or next day. Others use us as their primary care.”

Wilson smiles when she sees Gonzalez visit. She encourages him to keep up his appointments.

“I tell him it’s all about the follow-up,” she said. “He tells me I sound like his wife.”

Reprinted with permission from Spectrum Health Beat.