After years spent working with senior citizens and seeing some of his own relatives deal with the aftermath of a stroke, Mark Calvit had a strong suspicion about what was happening to him on Oct. 20, 2023.
“All of a sudden, I felt like I was caught up in a tidal wave,” Calvit says. “My sight became completely blurry. I hunched over and then fell down. At first, I thought I was having a really intense bout of vertigo and I thought it would pass. But, it didn’t go away. I was lying on the ground, and I could feel a really strong tingling sensation in half of my body.”
Calvit couldn’t crawl or even stand up.
“I had seen enough people with strokes to have a pretty good idea of what was happening,” he says.
Quick Response Made the Difference
Calvit was home alone that Friday while his wife Jeannine took their dogs to a nearby park. He was adjusting his sprinkler settings in his front yard when the stroke occurred. Calvit’s phone was in his pocket, but the stroke had so severely impaired his vision and motor skills that he couldn’t use it to call for help. Fortunately, a mailman drove by close enough for Calvit to call out. He and a neighbor rushed to Calvit’s aid and called 911. Shortly after, Jeannine arrived, compelled by a feeling that she should head home sooner than planned.
“Something told me to cut my walk short. I did about half of what I normally do,” Jeannine recalls. “I saw Mark lying in the front yard with people all around him. I just remember this feeling of devastation. We’ve never had any health limitations at all. I feel like we’re still young. I told him that whatever this was, we were going to get through it.”
Life-saving Expertise Close to Home
The Calvits live about four miles from Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center, where its Heart & Vascular Institute has been named a Comprehensive Stroke Center by The Joint Commission. They always knew it was convenient to have high-quality medical care close by but didn’t realize how truly life-saving it could be.
“In the back of my mind, I was thinking that this could be really bad,” Jeannine says. “I had never really thought much about living so close to Our Lady of the Lake and how much of a benefit it would turn out to be in a situation where time is so critical.”
A Rapid Procedure and Remarkable Recovery
When Calvit arrived at the hospital by ambulance, he was immediately taken for a CAT scan. Shortly after, a doctor was performing a thrombectomy to remove the clot from his brain.
“Within 15 seconds of that clot being removed, everything came back,” Calvit says. “Before it was removed, I had zero feeling in my right arm. Afterward, I remember moving my right fingers and being able to feel everything. My vision came back. It all happened so fast. All of my symptoms were gone immediately and I heard the doctor saying that they had gotten the clot. It was an amazing feeling.”
Moving Forward with Gratitude
Over the next few days, Calvit spent time in the ICU, undergoing tests and starting to move around a bit. After discharge, he did not have to participate in rehabilitation, but it took him several weeks to regain the confidence and strength to resume normal physical activities.
“I was emotional when I left the hospital because I know what strokes can do to people,” he says. “The fact that they told me I was going to have a 100 percent recovery was almost unbelievable. Since then, I’ve lost about 18 pounds and I’m trying to exercise more and eat better. It took me about two months to regain the courage to get back on a bicycle. It took about three or four months to feel confident enough to go on a long walk or a long ride. The process was slower than I thought it would be, but I know the outcome could have been much worse.”
In fact, Calvit estimates it was less than two hours between the time he collapsed in his yard to the time he was recovering in the ICU. While he and Jeannine are grateful to have Our Lady of the Lake nearby, they are also heartened to know that others in the region have quick access to care. Their son, a paramedic, has told them that many stroke patients in rural areas receive helicopter transportation to a hospital. In addition, Our Lady of the Lake has a telestroke program in partnership with smaller hospitals in the Baton Rouge region, including locations in Livingston, Ascension and West Feliciana parishes. Through the partnership, doctors at those hospitals can have a video consult with an expert at Our Lady of the Lake any time they receive a patient with stroke symptoms to determine the best next steps.
Recognizing a Stroke
Common stroke symptoms include facial drooping, arm weakness and speech difficulty. Some people may also experience vision problems, dizziness or loss of balance, confusion or severe headaches. Because a stroke often occurs without warning or prior symptoms, as it did for Calvit, he’s taken measures to be more prepared if something similar were to happen again.
“I’ve learned that it’s important to learn how to make an emergency call even if you can’t see your phone,” he says. “I encourage people to research their phone and see how to make that happen. I’m also now wearing an Apple Watch, which gives you great data on your health and can also detect a fall. It’s crucial for people to know how to reach someone, especially if you are older or spend a lot of time alone. It can make all the difference in being able to return to normal life if something happens.”
The Baton Rouge Region’s Leader in Stroke Care
Our Lady of the Lake treats approximately 2,000 stroke patients each year. It is the only local hospital to be designated as a Comprehensive Stroke Center. The hospital’s average monthly “door to needle” clot-busting treatment time is under 30 minutes, among the fastest times in Louisiana. Our Lady of the Lake also has a 20-bed neurocritical unit to specifically care for stroke patients.
