GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. -- Emily Bodenschatz was at her home in Grand Rapids doing her dishes when she started feeling week and fell to the floor.
Her husband rushed her to the hospital where doctors conducted tests to determine that Bodenschatz was suffering from a blood clot in her brain which caused her to have a stroke.
" [I] was just in total disbelief I just and then a range of emotions you know obviously very relieved that I felt as good as I did I was speaking clearly," Bodenschatz said. "I knew that earlier that evening I just had not been you know my speech was slurred and I knew that wasn’t right and it was a little terrifying obviously you start to go through what could have happened or where we could be right now verses honestly feeling pretty much like myself again fairly quickly."
Not only did this clot pose a threat to Bodenschatz's health but she was also pregnant.
"We offer intervention very commonly to patients who have an NAH stroke scale of 6 or higher hers was a 13," said Justin Singer, Director of Vascular Neurosurgery at Spectrum Health. "She was paralyzed on the left side of her body she was able to talk but very slurring in her words because patients who have a blocked artery on their right side of their head have what we call neglect and they really don’t even necessarily know they are having a stroke and they sometimes and they can be none cooperative because they don’t know they are having a stroke or whats going on."
In less then an hour and a half doctors at Spectrum Health were able to remove the clot.
Bodenschatz is now sending a warning to other mom's to be vigilant.
"Honestly the best thing I can tell people is to pay attention to yourself," Bodenschatz said. "I think we have big tendency to down play especially to something who is pregnant I think there's a lot of like 'well I don't know what pregnancy necessarily feels like so maybe this is just a weird pregnancy symptom' but I think it is really important that you pay attention to your doctors."
