Beacon’s advanced stroke care prevented devastating brain damage for patient

Mike Riggins

Mike Riggins loves to golf. But one afternoon while working on his mom’s driveway, he wondered if he’d ever play again. “Something felt kind of weird” as tools inexplicably slipped from his hand.

He felt a bit unsteady but managed to get home. On the way, his right hand wouldn’t cooperate. “It just wasn’t following instructions at all,” he says.

Once home, Mike told his wife, Marti, he thought he was having a stroke. A nurse, she immediately recognized the warning signs and told him to stick his tongue out. It went off to the side, and his smile was lopsided. She told him to get back in the car so they could head to the closest hospital in Michigan.

Once there, a CT scan promptly confirmed the couple’s suspicions, and he received a clot-busting drug. But his symptoms lingered. “I was a little better and then a little worse. There was some waxing and waning of my symptoms,” he says.

The power of determination

Mike and his wife knew he needed the specialized care of a comprehensive stroke hospital, but his “stroke score” – a way of assessing the severity of a stroke – was too low for an immediate transfer. They were determined, however. He told his physician, “I really want my best chance of recovering with the best use of my limbs, so I want to be transferred to South Bend now.”

A bed was waiting for him at Memorial Hospital, known for its specially trained staff, advanced stroke treatments, and comprehensive rehabilitation services.

Upon arrival, his symptoms were still fluctuating, and the care team checked his condition every 15 minutes around the clock.

At about 3 a.m., Mike’s condition worsened. Another CT scan revealed that he had not one, but two blood clots in his brain. “They had to get those out or my brain would have died. I couldn’t move my right hand, leg, arm or talk,” he recalls. “If that doesn’t scare you, I don’t know what will.”

The care team rushed Mike straight from the CT scan to the procedure room, where Dr. Howard Wiarda, a vascular interventional radiologist, performed a thrombectomy to remove the life-threatening clots.

The team’s rapid response underscores the importance of advanced care available at a certified stroke center. “The benefits of coming to a embolectomy-certified stroke center such as Beacon Memorial is that we have specialty training to provide the most advanced care for stroke patients in the area,” Dr. Wiarda explains. “Due to advances in technology, we are now able to successfully treat many stroke patients that even in the recent past had no options.”

Dr. Howard Wiarda

A promising recovery

By early morning, Mike could move his hand, arm and leg again, and his speech returned. He was lucky, he says. “The neurologist showed me I had a small area that had some damage, but recovery looked likely,” a testament to the brain’s amazing ability to re-route nerve signals around damaged areas.

The immediate danger had passed. But having a stroke puts you at high risk for having another. If he could get past 90 days without problems, that risk would drop considerably.

To protect his brain, Mike started physical and occupational therapy as soon as he was discharged, focusing on balance. “If I closed my eyes, I felt like I was really wobbling all over,” he says.

This kind of therapy can significantly increase the patient’s ability to regain function. “Even after successful thrombectomy as in this case, we are never quite sure how the brain will respond and recover,” Dr. Wiarda says. “That is why therapy, such as with Mike, is so important to get the best recovery possible.”

Mike has a better understanding of brain injury than most people. He attended nursing school, worked in both an intensive care unit and emergency rooms, later moved into case management, and helped men with brain injuries reintegrate into the community. He even worked for Memorial Hospital at one point.

After a full career, he decided to retire about a month earlier than planned and focus entirely on recovery. Bit by bit, he has been improving, even returning to his favorite pastime: golf.

“I can’t tell you how fortunate I feel that I’ve been,” Mike shares. “It comes down to basic living. Can you fend for yourself or not?”

Now Mike talks to “everybody that cares to listen” about strokes and the importance of acting fast. “You need to know what the symptoms of stroke are and what to do,” he advises. “You either call an ambulance or have somebody take you immediately to an emergency room where they have a stroke team, where you might have a chance of keeping your body and mind together.”

Memorial Hospital provided that chance for Mike, enabling him to regain his independence and get back on the green.

Learn more

Beacon Heart, Vascular and Stroke care leads the way in local cardiovascular care. Beacon’s heart care experts are your partners, helping you monitor your health from the start, for better long-term outcomes. Whether you’re having a screening or test, a minimally invasive procedure, surgery or are going through rehabilitation, our team is here to address your needs.

Both Elkhart General Hospital and Memorial Hospital of South Bend (MHSB) have advanced stroke certifications by The Joint Commission (TJC). MHSB has received a Thrombectomy Capable Stroke Accreditation from TJC. And like Mike, patients can expect the highest quality stroke care possible in an environment that’s uniquely developed to care for the urgent needs of people experiencing a stroke.