Lenexa mom grateful for recovery after hemorrhagic stroke
LENEXA, Kan. – A Johnson County, Kansas mom lives and is recovering well after having a hemorrhagic stroke while pregnant.
Working for you, FOX4 talked with the neurosurgeon and the now 36-year-old who is grateful to be alive.
Kelsey Kellenberger was 24 weeks pregnant when she suffered a massive and rare brain bleed.
Now, she’s recovering well and is living with “joy” at home.
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“Her middle name is Joy, which is the same as my wife and my mother,” husband Kent Kellenberger said. “She’s brought us a lot of joy.”
Juliana Joy is the name of the newest addition to their family of four, born in October of last year.
It’ll be one year ago in July when mom, Kelsey, said she had the worst headache of her life in her living room.
She vomited, walking into a wall and called on her brave 8-year-old daughter to get dad.
The then 35-year-old had facial droop, but her blood pressure was normal. The next day, they went to the emergency room – learning she was having a hemorrhagic stroke, or brain bleed.
Dr. Yifei Duan said there are two main types of strokes: the more common, ischemic and hemorrhagic.
He said the symptoms are the same. If you see face drooping, arm weakness, difficulty speaking, then it’s time to call 911.
“With stroke, time is everything,” Duan said, “and that’s especially true with ischemic stroke, where there’s not enough blood in the brain, but also hemorrhagic stroke, where there bleeding in the brain.”
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Kellenberger was transferred to St. Luke’s and Duan discovered a large arteriovenous malformation, also known as AVM. He said it’s found in less than 1% of the population.
She could die, be permanently disabled, or cause it could cause her baby to have health issues.
“If there was a large amount of pressure,” Kent said. “There will be a very small chance that she’ll live.”
The surgery was a success.
“That was the happiest moment of my life, well second happiest after marrying you,” Kent said to Kelsey. “Relief and gratitude.”
“So much gratitude. God has, We’re so thankful to God,” Kelsey said. “
“So is she, so is this little one,” Kent said. “She’s glad to have her mommy who she adores and I’m glad to have my wife whom I adore.’
Scans show the blood vessels in Kellenberger’s brain.
“The picture on the right, you can see this big cluster, that’s the AVM,” Duan explains, “and after surgery you can see that that area no longer has that abnormal bundle.”
Kellenberger went home five weeks after her stroke and gave birth to a healthy baby girl.
She’s grateful to God, the medical team and her support system.
“I told him, you are my hero,” Kelsey said. “So, his love, and the love of my friends, my family and my church family. That was just encouraging and it helping me emotionally and mentally just get through this.”
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Through several types of therapy, Kellenberger has regained the majority of her vision, speech, full function in her left arm and is again walking 4 miles.
She encourages people to be patient with stroke survivors.
“With the power of love, faith and God you really can get through anything,” Kent said.
