“That freaked me out,” she said. A visit to Urgent Care down the hall resulted in advice to head to the Munson Medical Center Emergency Department across town.
“One of my coworkers drove me to Munson Medical Center and once I got there I received a CT scan. That’s when they found out I had bleeding on my brain,” she said. Specifically they found bleeding on the brain as the result of an AVM or arteriovenous malformation where arteries and veins are abnormally connected. A general symptom is headache and seizure.
Once the issue was identified, North Flight Aero Med was called and she was in a helicopter on the way to Spectrum Health and a waiting team. Munson Medical Center does not have the capabilities to treat an AVM in the brain.
In Grand Rapids, the team was ready and waiting in Spectrum Health’s Butterworth Campus Emergency Department.
“Elena had brain hemorrhage related to a brain arteriovenous malformation in a very deep and important area of her brain,” said Justin Singer, M.D., a neurosurgeon and Vascular and Neurosurgery Director at Spectrum Health. “Care of her complex problem required a highly skilled team of physicians, advanced practitioners, nurses and technologists at a high volume cerebrovascular center. Quick diagnosis and prompt treatment of her brain AVM at the region’s only comprehensive stroke center was paramount for her having a good outcome, recovery, and cure to get her back home and back to her normal life.”
Elena spent 12 days at the hospital in intensive care before returning to Munson Medical Center for inpatient rehabilitation and two weeks of physical, occupational, and speech therapy. The AVM took away left peripheral vision in both eyes. She continued with outpatient therapy before being cleared to return to work in late April. She appreciates the care and collaboration at both hospitals that has allowed her to resume her life.
“I had no indication that something of this magnitude could happen to me,” she said. “The care that I received was extraordinary. When I was diagnosed at Munson the doctor was in there immediately and told us that this is what needed to happen. It was extremely fast, within an hour I was headed for Spectrum.”
During the ordeal, the 29-year-old learned that her condition is rare. She is thankful to be back on the job helping others as a pharmacist.
“In the grand scheme of things, I am pretty lucky,” she said.
As a certified Primary Stroke Center, Munson Medical Center offers dedicated stroke care led by hospital-based neurologists. Munson’s Stroke Program Medical Director Kersti Bruining, M.D., said when certain types of strokes and vascular conditions are diagnosed that are outside the hospital’s scope of care, the collaboration provides patients with the right expertise and technology for a good outcome.
“We begin the stroke care here at Munson, and our Spectrum Health colleagues continue the care at Spectrum Health, with the goal of offering the highest level of care possible," she said.
Learn more about Munson Medical Center's hospital’s stroke program.