Deena Hanke- Stroke Survivor

My name is Deena Hanke and I am a stroke survivor.  I have actually survived two strokes. My first stroke was in 1998 when I was only 50 years old.  I was paralyzed on my left side, but my symptoms reversed when I was given IV heparin at Harborview Medical Center.  While I was in Harborview they discovered that I have a calcified aneurysm deep in my brain.  They believe the stroke was caused by bits of calcium breaking off and clotting with my platelets and these clots blocking off arteries in my brain.  They decided that my aneurysm is so deep in my brain that doing surgery for it would not be worth the risk.  They sent me home on aspirin antiplatelet therapy.  I was lucky enough to have no residual symptoms and the aspirin therapy prevented my having another stroke for 15 years.

In April of this year, I had another stroke.  I was paralyzed on my left side again and I was taken to Harborview Medical Center.  They think this stroke had the same cause. They said I had failed aspirin therapy and gave me a big bolus of  Plavix which is more effective antiplatelet therapy than aspirin.  I was lucky enough to have very few residual problems again and have almost completely recovered from that stroke, too.

I retired from my 26 year career as Technical Supervisor of the Molecular Hematopathology Laboratory for the University of  Washington Department of Laboratory Medicine at the end of  May 2013.  The Molecular Hematopathology Laboratory uses DNA and RNA testing to diagnose patients with leukemia and lymphomas; and follow their therapy by looking for minimal residual disease.  I was lucky enough to get in on the ground floor of molecular testing for our department and had a very interesting and fulfilling career developing and performing molecular testing for hematologic diseases.


Original Published Link Deena Hanke- Stroke Survivor

#DNA, #HematologicDiseases, #LeukemiaAndLymphomas, #RNA, #Stroke #Others

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Breast Cancer Survivor Uses Her Experience to Help Other Women

Image
On a typical day at  Johns Hopkins Medical Imaging at Green Spring Station , patients coming in for imaging tests such as  MRIs ,  ultrasounds  and  mammograms have a comforting advocate available in the waiting room. Kate Pisano is a patient liaison — there to meet the needs of the patients by providing resources and support. With Kate’s smile and cheerful attitude, it’s not obvious that recently she too was a patient sitting in the waiting room confronting her own major health challenges. Two years ago Kate was fighting breast cancer and facing it alone as a single working mother of two teenaged sons. Months after a painful divorce, Kate noticed a lump in her breast while getting undressed. “I was afraid of what the lump might mean, so I waited several weeks before finally making an appointment with my doctor,” she said. That appointment led to a mammogram followed by a  biopsy . In April of 2012, Kate’s greatest fear was confirmed: She had breast cancer. “The diagnosis was a complet
Read more

Having pancreatic cancer a suspicious tumor on your pancreas

Image
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=15&v=QDwctWY-DOQ Joseph “Cook” Edens III doesn’t let pancreatic cancer get in the way of living a full life. Edens was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and underwent a Whipple procedure at The Johns Hopkins Hospital. Unfortunately, a bout of pancreatitis returned, and in 2015, surgeon Christopher Wolfgang and his team performed a total pancreatectomy on Edens, removing his entire pancreas and spleen. The Arlington, Virginia, resident is now cancer-free and back to a busy lifestyle of work, sports and family time. About Johns Hopkins Pancreatic Cancer Care Having pancreatic cancer — or a suspicious tumor on your pancreas — is a frightening diagnosis. Johns Hopkins experts, some of the most experienced pancreatic specialists in the country, are working to dispel fear and create hope in patients with pancreatic disease. Pancreatic cancer, tumors and cysts are being treated with dramatic success at Johns Hopkins. The first step when dealing w
Read more

Howard's Weight Loss Journey

Image
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XfmgTU6L524 HOME››ABOUT LAHEY TEXT SIZE | SHARE | PRINT Howard's Story “I thank them for helping me get to where I’m at, and they keep telling me that it was all me doing the work. But, I know that if I wasn’t coming every two weeks to see them, I wouldn’t be this way.” They say timing is everything, and in April 2011, Howard Jardine was eager to change his life. Weighing in at 405 pounds, he decided it was finally time to join Lahey’s Medical Weight Loss program. Looking back, Howard says it was one of the best decisions he has ever made, as he found support from a team that encouraged and motivated him throughout his weight loss journey. At 405 pounds, Howard was the heaviest he had ever been, and the heaviest that he wanted to be. He was starting to feel the strain that the weight was causing on his relationship with his five-year-old daughter, and he didn’t want to miss out on her milestones. Howard’s mother was overweight and suffered a stroke a
Read more