A Memorial Healthcare brain doctor survived a stroke. Here’s how to know if it could happen to you
Dr. Maike Blaya, a well-known headache specialist in South Florida, couldn’t shake a persistent headache that had come on fast. The pain intensified and traveled down her neck. She considered consulting with a colleague but ultimately pushed through the pain and continued seeing patients.
About a week after the headache began, she suffered a seizure, dropped to the ground in front of her bedroom closet, struggled to speak, and fell into a coma.
“I had all the red flags,” she said. “Thinking my headache was stress-related made me miss the signs.”
In the emergency room, a CAT scan revealed that Blaya had suffered a hemorrhagic stroke, which occurs when a blood vessel in the brain leaks or bursts and causes bleeding in the brain. The bleeding increases pressure on brain cells and damages them.
At Memorial Regional Hospital, Blaya’s colleagues responded quickly, and a specialized team of stroke doctors assembled to treat her. With strokes, delaying treatment, even for a few hours, can lead to permanent symptoms or even death.
“Because of my delay in getting help, I had a very large area of clot,” Blaya said.
Doctors initially treated Blaya with clot-busting medication. When she didn’t respond, they went in through a vein using catheters and wires to remove the clot from her brain. In the weeks after, they needed to do three more surgeries to seal the abnormal connections that had formed between the artery and veins and improve blood flow.
It took months of attending rehabilitation for Blaya to recover enough to get cleared to return to work. She still suffers some fatigue.
“Now (2½ years later) her blood circulation within the brain is back to normal.” said Dr. Norman Ajiboye, a neurointerventional surgeon and medical director of the Stroke Programs at Memorial hospitals in Pembroke Pines and Miramar.
Blaya’s experience highlights the importance of seeking medical attention immediately when experiencing stroke symptoms. Signs can be weakness in a limb or the face, abnormal speech, blurred vision, or a sudden severe headache. Recognizing a stroke quickly can be lifesaving.
“Some of the treatments we offer are time sensitive, like the clot-busting medication we give has to be within a certain window,” Ajiboye said. “The earlier we can get to the clot, the higher the chance the patient will do well. Every minute that passes by while the blood to brain is obstructed, you have about 1.9 million brain cells that are dying and becoming irreversibly damaged.”
Ajiboye said the incidence of strokes is on the rise and the average age of patients has declined. Some strokes stem from lifestyle choices such as smoking, diet, or high blood pressure. Some can be traced to hormones or genetics. “It’s important to let your doctor know your family history,” he said.
Blaya considers herself in good health, focused on her job and children, and had not been a headache sufferer prior to the stroke. She said the exact cause of her stroke remains unclear.
The most common type of stroke is ischemic, occurring when blood clots, plaque, or other particles block blood vessels to the brain.
New tools allow doctors to react faster. When a patient arrives at Memorial and a stroke is suspected, he or she undergoes a CAT scan. Artificial intelligence captures the image, analyzes it, and then sends images to an app for the neurosurgeon to access on a phone or even on an Apple watch. The image also can identify aneurysms and other abnormalities. “That allows early recognition and early activation of our team so we can promptly treat a stroke,” explained Dr. Brijesh P. Mehta, medical director of Memorial’s Comprehensive Stroke Program and Neurointerventional Surgery.
Mehta said advances in the field allow his team to operate within 24 hours and still get a good result using stents and catheters for small and large blockages.
In response to demand, four neurosurgeons at Memorial now are trained to do these types of surgeries.
New treatment for melanoma in South Florida
In a Miami lab, a breakthrough is on the horizon for people with advanced melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer.
The timing couldn’t be better. Florida has the second highest incidence of melanoma in the United States, and more than 600 Floridians die from it annually
Dr. Marianna Blyumin-Karasik, a Davie dermatologist with Precision Skin Institute, says she diagnoses about five cases of melanoma a week, particularly in May which is Melanoma Awareness Month.
Patients at Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine can now enroll in a clinical trial for the first FDA-approved cellular therapy for metastatic melanoma, which tends to be fatal. The therapy, known as tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte therapy, or TIL, uses the patients’ own immune cells to battle their cancer.
Sylvester researchers will be part of an upcoming clinical trial to determine if certain modifications to the therapy can improve its effectiveness
“Cellular therapy represents a major breakthrough in the battle against advanced melanoma,” said Dr. Jose Lutzky, a skin-cancer specialist and director of Cutaneous Oncology Services at Sylvester. “The trial results offer hope to our patients with this potentially deadly disease.”
Lutzky hopes to enroll 10 or more patients in the next year. Eligible participants will be patients with advanced melanoma whose previous treatments failed against the disease.
“Skin cancer rates are going up with our aging population, more sun damage, and with climate change exposing us to more UV radiation,” Blyumin-Karasik said.
She wants Floridians to recognize melanoma and prevent it from advancing. Be aware of moles that grow, darken or bleed as well as pimples or cysts that become painful, she said. In addition, she advises Floridians to wear sunscreen and sunhats, go to a dermatologist immediately if something doesn’t look right, and get regular skin checks.
At an event at her offices on May 6 to raise money for skin cancer research at Miami’s Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, Blyumin-Karasik said she sees advancements in sunscreen products and treatments such as those Sylvester is researching.
Delray Medical Center rolls out a new high-tech pacemaker
Delray Medical Center has become the first hospital in South Florida to offer a dual chamber leadless pacemaker for patients with slow or irregular heart rhythms. The device, known as the AVEIR DR system, is roughly one-tenth the size of a traditional pacemaker and implanted directly into the heart to eliminate the need for cardiac leads. It was created for people who require pacing in two chambers of the heart.
Studies have shown that some patients who are implanted with traditional, wired pacemakers can experience such complications as bleeding or infection in the surgical pockets or blood clots around the wires.
“We believe offering this innovative new treatment will help improve the lives of our patients by reducing their exposure to the kinds of lead and pocket-related complications associated with traditional pacemakers,” Daniel Listi, Delray Medical Center’s CEO, said in a written statement.
Until now, the only available leadless pacing options have been limited to single chamber ventricular devices.
New children’s ‘Grief on the Go’ needs volunteers
Participants in Leadership Broward have piloted a new community project called Grief on the Go. The project aims at helping children better cope with loss, adversity and trauma by bringing equine therapy to them.
Until now, children would visit Tomorrow’s Rainbow in Coconut Creek to participate in emotional support programs.
Grief on the Go takes the therapeutic benefits of interacting with horses offered by Tomorrow’s Rainbow to more than 50 at-risk youth at the Broward County Juvenile Detention Center and Women in Distress who are unable to travel to Coconut Creek.
The children participate in a full-day program each month to gain emotional support, problem-solving and coping skills. “These gentle and
empathetic animals play a crucial role in creating a comforting environment for children to express and process their emotions, fostering healing and resilience,” said Abby Mosher, executive director of Tomorrow’s Rainbow.
The Grief on the Go program is looking for volunteers: Visit www.TomorrowsRainbow.org.
Got a health tip? Sun Sentiel health reporter Cindy Goodman can be reached at cgoodman@sunsentinel.com.
