8 SPRING 2011 www.mercycare.org

Dr. Brian Meeker& Dr. Tony Myers

There is nothing typical about John Austin.

A Benton County Sheriff’s deputy,John Austin had a serious stroke.

three hours a day of physical, speech andoccupational therapies – on an aggressiveschedule, and also have a good support networkwith family at home to recover. John qualified.

“Our average stay is 12 to 14 days,” Dr.Myers says. “It’s a real challenge, but we haveexcellent therapists. Because of John’s history inplaying sports and being physically active, he wasup to it. He knew he had work to do and waswilling to do it.”

John went home after eight days, havingrecovered his speech and use of his right side. Hestill works out and does physical therapy. That’skey to ongoing recovery, Dr. Myers says.

Dr. Meeker still sees John regularly forcheck-ups. Their local connection was anotheradvantage.

“We had his records and knew his medicalhistory,” Dr. Meeker says. “That really helpedspeed things up.”

Dr. Meeker was impressed when he saw John22 days after his stroke. John had completedMercy’s rehab and was home, following up withtherapy.

“He walked in, shook my hand and talkedwith me,” Dr. Meeker says, adding with a smile,“Before that, we’d been seeing him about once ayear. I told him, ‘that’s going to change!’”

John calls the experience his “stroke ofluck” and credits fortunate circumstances andgreat care at Virginia Gay and Mercy. He’s had tore-learn basic things like getting dressed,regaining balance and rebuilding his strength. Hisfamily rallied around him.

“I hadn’t realized how much this took out ofme,” he says. “But every day somethingimproves.”

John was able to ride his horse again inSeptember and went back to work with thoughtsfor retirement in the near future. He’s grateful tohave had good medical care close to home.

“If you can have a perfect stroke, I had it,”he says. “You can’t put a price on hospitals likethis that are being upgraded and keep up withthings to save people. Everything was done insuch a professional, caring manner that I was ableto survive and come back so quickly. It’s amazingto me. They saved me.”

THE MERCYtouch 9

See page 2 to learn moreabout whether you maybe at an increased risk forstroke or cardiac disease.

He’s played professional football, served inthe Navy, taught elementary school, worked as astate probation officer, been a small-town cop –and became a sheriff’s deputy. He also rides horseswith a cavalry unit in Civil War re-enactments.

Clearly, John thrives on challenges. But evenJohn, 61, shakes his head in disbelief at his near-death experience in June, when a serious strokeknocked him flat.

On June 8, the Benton County Sheriff’s deputy was driving his squad car near

Newhall, headed home to Vinton, “when it hitme,” he says. “I had no idea what was going on.My whole right side went dead. I couldn’t get myfoot off the gas pedal.”

He couldn’t radio the dispatcher – hecouldn’t move his right arm or talk. When Johnreached the Shellsburg-Newhall blacktop, theweakness in his right side left him unable to pushthe brake at the stop sign. Fortunately, there wasno traffic.

“I don’t know how I got through town,” herecalls. “The next thing I remember is when Ipulled into my driveway.”

He kicked his foot off the gas pedal,struggled with his seatbelt and dragged himselfout of the car, where he collapsed. His neighborsaw him fall and called 911.

From there, John was in the hands of a sharpambulance crew and emergency room team atVirginia Gay Hospital, Vinton. Dr. Brian Meeker,the physician on call, had been alerted by theEMTs to John’s symptoms. When they arrived,Dr. Meeker and his team were ready.

“Every minute counts with stroke,” Dr.Meeker notes. “It was all very quick. He livesright in town. The ambulance response was in fiveminutes. We knew we were within that tPA(tissue Plasminogen Activator) window of time,within the first hour after the stroke.”

With stroke, the speed of the emergencyresponse is critical. Administering a strong,clot-dissolving medicine – tPA – within an hour

of a stroke’s onset can alter outcomes. Johncollapsed at 3:05 p.m. and was in the ER at 3:25p.m. A CT scan showed no hemorrhaging. ThetPA was administered within 55 minutes of hisarrival. Meeker alerted Mercy Medical Center’sstroke team that John was en route by helicopterfor acute care and rehabilitation.

When John arrived, he couldn’t speak andhis right side was very weak, recalls Dr. TonyMyers, medical director of Mercy’s acuteinpatient rehabilitation. But the Vinton ER haddone everything right.

“Vinton’s appropriate initiation of the tPAwas incredibly impressive,” Dr. Myers says.“Every minute you can do that sooner, it savesbrain. Knowing what to do initially is reallycritical.”

Still, John needed “significant rehabilitation,”Dr. Myers says. “Two or three days after thestroke, he still couldn’t communicate in anyeffective way.”

Inpatient rehabilitation is tough, Dr. Myersnotes. The patient must be ready to work hard –

Tony Meyers, MDMedical Director,

Mercy AcuteInpatient Rehabilitation

Brian Meeker, DO, FAAFPVirginia Gay HospitalVinton, IA