Christine Newins

I Will Forever Be Grateful for Dr. Bekelis and his team!!!
It happened Monday morning, October 9, 2017. I woke up feeling normal and went downstairs to start my coffee. I made it to the kitchen fine, but I just started feeling odd. I had a weird feeling come over me that I HAD to go to the bathroom, and Right Now. But I found myself having difficulty walking to the bathroom. I barely made it and started feeling more “odd” and now started feeling really weak on my right side. I’m a lefty so I didn’t get freaked out by it. Then I couldn’t get up from the toilet. I was still recovering from knee surgery and usually had some difficulty getting up. But this was very different. My right side was useless. I had no idea what was wrong with me. I never thought I was having a stroke. I didn’t think I was old enough to be having one. I was always physically fit and athletic and didn’t have any reason to think I was in serious trouble. Thankfully one of my kids was home. Brian had the day off from college and was still sleeping. I screamed for him.
When he came down, I made him get the phone so I could call my husband at work. I couldn’t dial, let alone think straight. My symptoms were progressing. I didn’t know at that time I was having a stroke, but my son did. He is a certified First Responder and he wanted to call the fire department but I told him to just dial Dad. I was only 52, I couldn’t be having a stroke now. I had been recovering well from a horrific accident that happened in January. What was happening to me? Then I couldn’t talk right on the phone, my speech was slurred. My husband knew something was wrong and came home immediately. I didn’t realize that I had all the stroke signs – I was very slow to speak and it was becoming slurred, couldn’t smile the right way, could not move my right arm and leg the right way and my right hand was closing.
My husband was met in the driveway by my son who told him I was having a stroke. My husband called the Wantagh Fire Department and within 5 minutes a medic arrived. The ambulance and a paramedic came shortly after him and they brought me to St. Joseph’s Hospital in Bethpage. By the time I got to St. Joseph’s my right hand was flexed into a fist. A CT scan revealed a blockage in my brain – I had an ischemic stroke on the left side. They started me on the clot-dissolving drug, TPA. Was immediately put into another ambulance and was now on my way, lights and sirens, to Good Samaritan Hospital.
As soon as I got to Good Sam, they brought me to the brand new Stroke and Brain Aneurysm Center. They used their CT scanner and saw that the left side of my brain was completely blocked from blood flow. Dr. Bekelis and his team, Jason RT, Maddie RNP, and Sharon RN and a few others, immediately started my surgery. From the moment I was wheeled into the Center, I knew I would be ok. There was a very organized “calm” in the O.R. that kept me calm and not worried. I felt like I was being well taken care of. I still didn’t know exactly what was going on with me. I had no idea about the seriousness of my condition. I’ve had enough “trauma” in my life that year. Really now…, a stroke at my age? What seemed like just a couple of minutes after arrival, Dr. Bekelis started the procedure. He threaded a catheter through the femoral artery in my groin up to the blocked artery in my brain. I remember saying “ouch that hurts” twice during the procedure when the catheter was in my brain. He then used a stent retriever and grabbed the blood clot that had lodged into my brain and took it out. The blood started flowing back into the left side of my brain and Dr. Bekelis was done. Dr. Bekelis saved my life performing this procedure that had only been around a few years! The procedure was very quick and gentle. Dr. Bekelis kept my family well informed and even showed them what my brain looked like before and after the surgery. Without this surgical procedure, I would have died. I would not have survived with half a brain! I will be forever grateful for Dr. Bekelis!
After the procedure, still on the table, I broke down into hysterics. Jason kept telling me I was ok and the procedure was done. I was still crying in recovery after my husband and parents had left after a quick visit. Jason again reassured me that I would be ok. I finally stopped crying. Little did “The Team” know, I was now on my 5th life. In January I was hit by a car while I was walking in California. I was taking a “power” walk on the west coast highway and was hit by a car going 50 m.p.h. and survived. I coded twice on the table during my initial surgery to repair my internal organs. I had been in a coma for almost 2 weeks, had a traumatic brain injury, had my left kidney and my spleen removed, several other organs repaired, had my left knee and right shoulder repaired, had 25 broken bones (8 of which are held together with rods, plates, screws and a wire) and had over 100 staples closing many wounds. And now I just survived a massive stroke. Of course I’m going to cry.
I was wheeled off to the SICU – surgical intensive care unit. A few days later I was wheeled into the beautiful, newly opened NICU – neuro intensive care unit. Wow, what a great experience I had under horrible circumstances. I can’t say enough good things about my experience with Dr. Bekelis and his team, all the other doctors and nurses at Good Samaritan Hospital Medical Center. They were amazing! I was well taken care of the 5 days I was there! Everyone that spoke to me was super nice and very caring.
This started back a few weeks prior when, unbeknown to me, I developed a fairly large blood clot in my left leg. I had terrible pain. At times, I could barely walk on my leg. I thought it was just a muscle issue. I should have gone to my doctor. The blood clot became pretty big and a piece broke off. The blood clot went through my heart and lodged into my brain. I found out I have a PFO in my heart which allowed the blood clot to go up to my brain. I am, again, a living miracle.
In hindsight, I should have just let my son call the fire department for an ambulance as soon as he saw me in the condition I was. Maybe if I had gotten to the hospital sooner I would not still be trying to recover from my stroke. Even though I was only 52, I did have all of the “signs” of having a stroke. Scary to think how disabled I could be if the procedure Dr. Bekelis performed was done a half hour later. Time is of the essence with strokes. I am very blessed I am as good as I am. I had balance issues and weakness for a short time. My right leg, arm and hand were all weak. I had been going to physical therapy since my accident, but now I had to also go for occupational therapy and speech therapy. The biggest issue I have today is my “dizziness”. I still get dizzy every day, some days worse than others. I do wonder if I had gotten to the hospital sooner, maybe I would not have as much “brain damage” as I have and would not have this dizziness any longer. But I am positive and hopeful the dizziness will eventually go away. I am only 9 months out from my stroke and I am still recovering.
I will be forever grateful to Dr. Bekelis and his team for their quick action and precision. Thank you! You saved my life! I hope more people, any age, become aware of the signs and symptoms of strokes and get to the hospital right away.

Thank You Again for Saving My Life!