Maryland's Health Matters - UMMS - Summer 2014 - (Page 1)

SPOTLIGHT: Support Full-Fledged University of Maryland Rehabilitation Network helps Marcus Thrower recuperate after a serious stroke M ay 31, 2013, started off like any other day for Mar- Rehabilitation & Orthopaedic Institute. "The brain is like real cus Thrower: He woke up in his Baltimore home, estate-location is everything." grabbed the shower gel and headed upstairs to Thrower's stroke caused serious damage. And while it made get ready. But after only a few steps, he dropped recovery a challenge, it was one that he and teams from the the bottle. He quickly picked it up ... only to drop it University of Maryland Rehabilitation Network were willing to again. "I couldn't ﬁgure out why," says Thrower, 42. face-and conquer-together. Once in the bathroom, he couldn't keep his balance and grabbed the shower wall to prevent himself from falling. THE ROAD TO RECOVERY That's when he realized he was having a stroke. He shouted Basal ganglia are like messengers in the middle of the for help, and his visiting mother called 911. "The next thing brain, sorting information for the cerebellum and the spinal I knew, I heard the paramedics telling me to relax and that cord. When a hemorrhagic stroke occurs here, it can affect everything was going to be OK," he said. body movement and sensation, vision, judgment, personality Emergency medical technicians took Thrower to the emergency room at University of Maryland St. Joseph Medi- and speech. Thrower's stroke paralyzed his left side from head to foot; he cal Center in Towson. Because his case was complex he was couldn't stand or walk without falling. It also caused aphasia, a transferred to University of Maryland Medical Center, where communication disorder that impairs a person's ability to talk he was diagnosed with a right basal ganglia hemorrhage. and understand words. After a month of specialized treatment This severe kind of stroke can cause left-sided weakness, downtown at UMMC, Thrower was transferred to UM Rehab & and speech and memory impairment. Ortho Institute, where he continued his recovery as an inpatient. "It's a pretty nasty diagnosis to have," says Richard Peters, The institute is the largest inpatient rehabilitation hospi- MD, assistant professor in the Department of Neurology tal and provider of rehabilitation services in Maryland. It has at the University of Maryland School of Medicine and co- diagnostic-speciﬁc rehabilitation units dedicated to patients director of the Brain Injury Unit at University of Maryland who have suffered a stroke, a traumatic brain injury or a

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Maryland's Health Matters - UMMS - Summer 2014

Maryland's Health Matters - UMMS - Summer 2014