HARFORD COUNTY, Md. — Sarah Bochenick, a health insurance specialist in Harford County, was watching TV with her husband a year ago when she suddenly lost the ability to speak and could barely move. Her husband immediately recognized something was wrong and called 911.
"I knew that something was wrong with me, but I wasn't scared at all," Bochenick said. "Like I knew that if I got to the hospital, I wasn't scared like, I had no fear, but I just knew that something was wrong with me and I mean thank God my husband was home at the time cause I was about to go work out like that would have been really bad."
Bochenick was rushed to University of Maryland Upper Chesapeake where doctors began treating her for a stroke right away. While she was in the hospital, doctors discovered a hole in her heart, something that doctors didn't notice 10 years prior.
Sarah Bochenick lost 20% of her brain to a stroke, but her recovery story will inspire you. Learn the warning signs that could save a life.
"I had a stroke before and it was like really minor," Bochenick said. "My right arm went numb for two hours."
The hole in her heart was causing blood to clot in areas of her brain.
Lindsay Goff, primary stroke program coordinator at University of Maryland Upper Chesapeake Health, explained the condition affects patients of all ages.
"And so when we did Sarah's workup, we did find that hole in the heart, and we find this in many patients, many young patients, many elderly patients that are asymptomatic, and you know this hole doesn't close when you're a baby and it stays open," Goff said. "So then that can accumulate blood clots. It can throw clots to your brain and other parts of your body that you don't want it to."
After spending several days in the hospital, Bochenick was able to go home but she had a long road of recovery ahead of her.
"I could barely talk at all," Bochenick said. "I could say my own name after they said it to me. I could say my kids' names after they said it to me. So I went home like that."
She was in therapy for several months to learn how to talk again but she says she will never be the same after losing 20 percent of the left side of her brain.
Goff says if it had not been for Bochenick's husband's quick response, things would have been worse.
"Every minute that your brain is not being perfused, you lose 1.9 million neurons," Goff said.
According to the American Heart Association's latest report, strokes and heart disease numbers are down, but those two still have the highest death rate in the U.S. Heart disease being the leading cause and strokes moving up to the fourth spot behind cancer and accidental deaths.
But Goff says there are other misconceptions around strokes.
"Biggest myth in stroke is that only old people can have strokes, as you know, you can see in Sarah, there are many young patients under the age of 40, so our numbers in devastating, disabling stroke are going down because of treatment," Goff said. "But our patients are getting younger."
Bochenick still has another year of active recovery and encourages anyone who has had a stroke to never give up on their recovery no matter how challenging.
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