Daily Inter Lake
WHITEFISH, Mont. — Leslie Leroux was in her Whitefish home when she felt a headache coming on. She’s had habitual migraines since she was 16, so Leroux began her typical headache routine: she drank hot drinks — especially caffeine — bundled up and went to bed.
But this time, she was there for five days.
“I normally could suffer through, but this didn’t feel like a migraine,” Leroux said. “It almost felt like a bodily breakdown. I got to the point where I couldn’t move, so I called 911 from bed.”
Leroux was having a stroke, she actually had eight strokes by the time she arrived at Kalispell Regional Health Center.
She can remember the blurred ambulance ride and the faces of EMTs working around her. In the emergency room, everything felt confusing and all she wanted was sleep. Her face began to droop and she lost the ability to walk or talk — all signs of stroke.
Leroux had a condition called bacterial endocarditis. In less than two hours Leroux was in open-heart surgery and on massive antibiotics for the bacterial infection.
“When I finally woke up days later, I thought there was no way this could be me. I was young and healthy to the point that I hiked almost every day and ate all vegan,” Leroux said. “But I was too independent. If I had waited one more day to call for help, I would have died.”
Dr. Kurt Lindsay, a vascular neurologist and the medical director for the stroke program at Kalispell Regional, said the bacterial infection Leroux had starts in the bloodstream and causes a “vegetation” called emboli to form on a valve of a heart. In Leroux’s case, that led to small pieces of emboli to come loose and “shower” her brain’s circulation — causing Leroux’s eight strokes.
“Cardiac disorders represent one of the most common causes of stroke,” Lindsay said. “And all stroke patients — especially young patients — need to have a thorough cardiac evaluation to rule out any abnormal heart rhythm or structural abnormality.”
On Oct. 3 and 4, Leroux will share her story alongside Lindsay and several other health care professionals in a presentation called Faces of Stroke. Monday night, the event will take place in Kalispell at Homewood Suites in the East Glacier Room from 6 to 7 p.m. Tuesday, it will be at the Hampton Inn in Whitefish at the same time.
The hour-long free event will cover how to prevent, treat and survive a stroke. The presentation stresses that strokes can happen in a moment, and patients often only have a few hours to get treatment before long-term effects kick in. And in Montana, where treatment is often hours away, calling for help quickly is vital.
In recent years Kalispell Regional has worked to expand its stroke program, both by increasing stroke awareness outreach and diversifying its services.
In 2009, the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services began the Telestroke Project to connect rural hospitals with a neurologist within minutes. The system works through a two-way video connection and allows a real-time physical examination for doctors to consult on scanned images of the brain.
At the time, Kalispell Regional had three programs established with clinics across the state. Today, the health system partners with seven clinics and is working to begin in two more.
But this effort only works if people call for help, Leroux said.
Four years after her strokes, Leroux still looks young and healthy. But it took almost a year after the illness to feel a sense of normal.
When she first woke up in the hospital days after her surgery, Leroux couldn’t speak clearly, couldn’t walk and words in a book looked like scattered puzzle pieces.
“I had lost the thing that was the most important to me, my brain,” she said.
Leroux spent 13 days in the hospital. Physical therapy, occupational therapy and speech therapy became a part of her everyday rehabilitation routine.
When she returned home, she practiced walking around her house before she began walking down her driveway and eventually across the street. Her days began and ended with sudoku puzzles.
“As I relearned how to function, connections in my mind were rebuilt. I’ll never be the exact same, but I finally feel strong again,” Leroux said. “I’ve also changed in good ways — I’m not hesitant to talk with someone, or love someone, because that feels so clear and easy now.”
Leroux said she’s also quick to tell people they should ask for help if something feels wrong.
“You may think you’re young and invincible, but things happen. You need to be OK with calling for help, and please don’t wait five days to do it,” she said.
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