Vim & Vigor - Fall 2021 - 56

56
UVA Clinical
Trial: Looking
for the Best
Way to Prevent
a Second Stroke
this meeting.' I was a little off . Th ere were
these blank spots in my notes. I didn't know
what was going on. But the city clerk knew
something was wrong with me and suggested
I go to the hospital. " Police offi cers serving at
the meeting quickly got her to the
nearest hospital. Th e doctors there
consulted via telehealth with stroke
experts at a Jacksonville hospital.
She was fl own to Jacksonville by
helicopter. " I was extremely lucky
when I came to, " she says. " I was the
same person and I could speak. "
Shaver was given a drug to break
up a blood clot that had probably
traveled upstream from her heart
and lodged in the part of her brain
that controls thinking and vision,
which is why she didn't have more
typical stroke symptoms such as
paralysis and loss of speaking.
Shaver used to enjoy time on a racetrack
but gave up driving due to impaired vision.
She bought a condo within walking distance
to a drugstore, Rivanna Trail and Downtown
Mall. " When you can't drive, I can't imagine
a better place to be, " she says.
She was also thrilled to fi nd
Mohan
Nadkarni, MD,
UVA Health
primary care
doctor
high-quality care close to home.
Her UVA Health primary care
doctor, Mohan Nadkarni, MD,
has helped her get her high blood
pressure and high cholesterol
under control. She also takes a
daily low-dose aspirin to help
prevent another blood clot from
forming. Her rehabilitation team
of therapists were exceptional, she
says. Th ough she describes her
therapy in Florida as one-size-fi tsall,
in Charlottesville she found
" If you're going to have a stroke, that location
is better than most, " Dr. Southerland
explains. " It doesn't involve paralysis, so
it's not as disabling. But for someone as
high-functioning as Nancy, it is disruptive. "
SLOWER-PACED LIFE
Aſt er her stroke, Shaver gave up her political
career and moved to Charlottesville
so she could be close to her two children
and grandchildren.
" My family has been an amazing support,
and they got me to UVA. My daughter, Jenn
[who's a marine biologist and massage therapist],
and her husband, Daniel, live in Boston,
Virginia. My son, Sean [who's a doctor, chief
medical offi cer and immunologist], and his
wife, Heidi, moved here from California, and
now I can lead my two grandchildren astray, "
she says with a grin.
FALL 2021 VIM & VIGOR
occupational, speech, vision and physical therapy
very much tailored to her. " People don't
realize how good the care is here because they
have nothing else to compare it to, " she says.
Two years aſt er her stroke, her sight remains
impaired and she struggles to fi nd the right
proper noun. What hasn't been impaired is her
entrepreneurial vision to use her " strategic way
of thinking and data-driven analysis to make
life better for people. " Her experience with
stroke has inspired her latest venture idea: With
stroke on the rise, ensure patients get immediate,
high-level care by better connecting-via
telehealth and medevac crews-small-town
hospitals to stroke centers in larger cities.
" I love change, " she says. " I was a teacher,
then an entrepreneur, and then I got into politics.
I'm sort of fearless. " Always ready for a
new adventure, Shaver looks forward to a trip
to Italy as soon as the pandemic ends and the
world reopens. *
Ever since a blood clot got
lodged in her brain, Nancy
Shaver has been taking a daily
baby (81 milligram) aspirin
to keep another clot from
forming. At UVA Health, stroke
experts are conducting a
clinical trial to see whether a
certain type of blood-thinner
medication is better than
aspirin at preventing a second
stroke. UVA Health is the clinical
trial's main center in the
mid-Atlantic region and part
of a nationwide network of
trial sites that hope to enroll
1,100 participants who are age
45 and older and have had a
stroke of unknown cause but
believed to be related to a
blood vessel blockage linked
to an abnormal atrial heart
chamber. Learn more at
uvahealth.com/stroke-trial.
Telehealth
Brings
UVA Stroke
Expertise Close
to Home
As a designated
Comprehensive Stroke Center,
UVA offers 24/7 access to
neurologists and other experts
who specialize in stroke care.
UVA has a long history of
using telehealth to bring this
expertise to residents across
Virginia. Learn more at
uvahealth.com/stroke.
PHOTOS BY GETTY IMAGES AND UVA HEALTH
http://www.uvahealth.com/stroke-trial http://www.uvahealth.com/stroke
Vim & Vigor - Fall 2021

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