For Nancy and David, June 20, 2023 started out like any other day. Nancy, who’s always been in good shape, was doing a pilates class from home when something started feeling very wrong. Sitting down on the couch, she began to lose feeling on the right side of her body. David, her husband, noticed that one side of her face was beginning to droop and realized what was happening — Nancy was having a stroke.

“It was quite scary,” said David. “Those few minutes in our living room were the beginning of a long hospital stay and rehabilitation that’s still ongoing.”

That journey began at Mackenzie Health, York Region’s District Stroke Centre, where Nancy was given a CT scan almost immediately after arriving. The test confirmed she had a stroke.

As a result of the stroke, Nancy lost the use of her right side and developed aphasia, a condition where she has difficulty finding the words to communicate verbally.

To begin her recovery, Nancy was transported to Mackenzie Health’s Reactivation Care Centre where she was cared for as her body recovered enough to begin her post-stroke rehabilitation program. A week later she returned to Cortellucci Vaughan Hospital.

Under the specialized care of Dr. Jordan Silverman, Nancy began a recovery plan that included a wide team of experts. From working with a physiotherapist in the gym to an occupational therapist and a speech pathologist, Nancy worked towards regaining the use of her body and her ability to speak – a goal she continues to work towards.

“After a stroke, it is often difficult to reconcile the idea that a person can have such a rapid and severe loss of function and independence,” explains Dr. Silverman. Often the process can be slow or incomplete but Nancy didn’t waiver.

“Along with the support of her family and the therapy team, Nancy showed extreme resilience, always challenging herself with a real ‘no pain, no gain’ attitude to regain her speech and strength,” Dr. Silverman. “I will never forget a remarkable moment when assessing Nancy alongside her son, just when small elements of comprehensible speech were starting to emerge, she uttered: ‘There's too much to live for,’ which brought tears to all of our eyes — well, except for Nancy's!"

Over the next eight weeks, Nancy was cheered on by her family, who rarely left her side, and a nursing team that had grown to love her.

“While everyone was so amazing, what really stood out to us was the enthusiasm and support we received from a lot of the nursing students,” David recalls. “A lot of them would drop by before or after their shift just to say hello, and always seemed to be nearby to call out encouraging cheers during her rehab exercises.”

Being surrounded by a team that genuinely cared and routinely went above and beyond helped Nancy and her family make the best of a tough situation. Looking back at it, still brings tears to their eyes.

“It’s still an emotional thing to talk about all these months later,” David says. “Nancy worked so hard when she was there but the support she received has been a big influence on that work. Our whole family has nothing but gratitude.”

Today, Nancy’s part of an outpatient speech therapy class organized by Mackenzie Health. She is not only back home but is regaining her ability to live with the quality of life she deserves. Her and David even recently took their first trip since Nancy’s stroke to attend a wedding.

“Getting your life back after a stroke isn’t an easy thing,” David explains. “But I don’t think we would have made the progress we have without Dr. Silverman and the team at Mackenzie Health. They didn’t just save Nancy’s life the day she had her stroke, they’ve helped her get her life back.”