It was like a scene out of a Michael Bay movie.
Krista Figari woke up in her Manhattan apartment and made her bed like she did every morning — then disaster struck.
“After I turned around after making my bed, I just type of fell towards my dresser and fell down onto the ground,” Figari, 39, told The Post. “Then I couldn’t move my arm and my leg. And at that time, I used to be like, that is weird.”
Figari couldn’t rise up, but she could reach her phone. She dialed her cousin, who lives nearby, then her super and 911.
Her super didn’t have a key for the highest lock of her front door, which made Figari very nervous because she knew something was really fallacious.
Then, finally, a breakthrough — the super realized he could reach Figari’s place via the hearth escape. He painstakingly crawled through her window and let emergency responders in in order that they wouldn’t should break down her door.
At NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center, the Bronx teacher learned that she had experienced a wake-up stroke.
“It was definitely scary,” Figari said. “Once they said ‘stroke,’ it didn’t even register to me. I associate a stroke with someone who’s old, in order that was the final thing I ever thought it was going to be.”
It’s been nearly a yr since Figari had her life-changing stroke. She’s sharing her story — and her nanny cam footage that captured the harrowing episode — within the hopes of inspiring awareness of stroke symptoms since they have gotten more common amongst people under 50.
Inside wake-up strokes
One in 4 adults over the age of 25 is expected to have a stroke in some unspecified time in the future.
There are two important kinds of stroke — ischemic and hemorrhagic.
Ischemic, which accounts for about 87% of all strokes, occurs when a blood clot or other blockage restricts blood flow to the brain. Roughly 20% of ischemic strokes are wake-up strokes.
The defining characteristic of a wake-up stroke is that the time of the stroke just isn’t known. Symptoms are discovered because the patient awakens.
On the hospital, Figari’s medical team determined her stroke had “happened very recently.” She was given medication to dissolve the clots, which is referred to as thrombolysis.
“At NYP-WC we’re very fortunate to have the resources and infrastructure to acquire [an] emergent MRI to try to help these patients who would otherwise not be eligible for treatment,” Dr. Nicholas Janocko, a neurologist who treated Figari, told The Post.
“Had she not come to the hospital in time, or had she gone some other place without these capabilities,” Janocko continued, “she may not have been treated with thrombolysis and could be living with disability and left-sided paralysis.”
The drugs helped restore her movement in under quarter-hour. The excellent news is that she didn’t require physical, occupational or speech therapy after her five-day hospital stay.
Doctors delivered the bad news — Figari had a typical congenital heart condition called patent foramen ovale (PFO), which is when a hole between the upper chambers of the guts stays open after birth.
How a hole in the guts raises stroke risk
About 25% of adults have PFO. Like most individuals with it, Figari had no symptoms.
“I used to be actually a really energetic kid, I played every sport, I danced,” Figari recalled. “I had asthma, but that was it.”
PFOs are thought to have a causal role in 55% of strokes in patients younger than 60, Janocko said.
The opening allows clots to bypass the lungs and travel to the brain, potentially causing a stroke.
Figari had a very large PFO, a grade 4 on a scale of 0 to five.
She briefly returned to NYP-WC in July to undergo a minimally invasive procedure to shut the outlet. A small device was placed in her heart so no clots could get through.
It’s a everlasting reminder of her traumatic incident. Now, a yr later, she’s back to Pilates and Orangetheory Fitness — almost at full strength. She has slight weakness on her left side.
“After I write or once I’m typing or once I’m figuring out, once I’m doing things where I even have to be dominant on my left side, it’s weaker and far harder for me to do,” Figari explained.
She takes aspirin to stop a subsequent stroke and has devised a plan in case of one other medical emergency. More people near her have keys to her apartment.
She now knows the importance of quick motion if symptoms arise — and encourages others to maneuver fast as well.
“When you feel like something is fallacious, then trust your gut and be certain you test it out,” Figari advised. “Or call someone and let someone know, because when you don’t do something about it quickly, then you might have long-term effects.”
Stroke symptoms to know
While stroke is usually related to older people, strokes in adults younger than 50 account for about 10% to fifteen% of cases.
“The incidence and prevalence of stroke within the young is increasing over time, mainly because of a rise in vascular risk aspects like obesity, hypertension, high cholesterol, diabetes, sleep apnea and smoking/substance use,” Janocko said.
Experts recommend the “BE FAST” acronym to acknowledge stroke signs.
B is “balance.” Is the person suddenly combating balance or coordination?
E is “eyes.” Is there blurred or double vision or a sudden lack of vision in a single or each eyes without pain?
F is “face drooping.” Does one side of the face droop or feel numb when smiling?
A is “arm weakness.” When the person raises each arms, does one arm drift downward? Is one arm weak or numb?
S is “speech difficulty.” When the person repeats a straightforward sentence, are they easy to know or is their speech slurred?
T is “time to call 911.” Get to the hospital when you notice any of those symptoms.
It was like a scene out of a Michael Bay movie.
Krista Figari woke up in her Manhattan apartment and made her bed like she did every morning — then disaster struck.
“After I turned around after making my bed, I just type of fell towards my dresser and fell down onto the ground,” Figari, 39, told The Post. “Then I couldn’t move my arm and my leg. And at that time, I used to be like, that is weird.”
Figari couldn’t rise up, but she could reach her phone. She dialed her cousin, who lives nearby, then her super and 911.
Her super didn’t have a key for the highest lock of her front door, which made Figari very nervous because she knew something was really fallacious.
Then, finally, a breakthrough — the super realized he could reach Figari’s place via the hearth escape. He painstakingly crawled through her window and let emergency responders in in order that they wouldn’t should break down her door.
At NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center, the Bronx teacher learned that she had experienced a wake-up stroke.
“It was definitely scary,” Figari said. “Once they said ‘stroke,’ it didn’t even register to me. I associate a stroke with someone who’s old, in order that was the final thing I ever thought it was going to be.”
It’s been nearly a yr since Figari had her life-changing stroke. She’s sharing her story — and her nanny cam footage that captured the harrowing episode — within the hopes of inspiring awareness of stroke symptoms since they have gotten more common amongst people under 50.
Inside wake-up strokes
One in 4 adults over the age of 25 is expected to have a stroke in some unspecified time in the future.
There are two important kinds of stroke — ischemic and hemorrhagic.
Ischemic, which accounts for about 87% of all strokes, occurs when a blood clot or other blockage restricts blood flow to the brain. Roughly 20% of ischemic strokes are wake-up strokes.
The defining characteristic of a wake-up stroke is that the time of the stroke just isn’t known. Symptoms are discovered because the patient awakens.
On the hospital, Figari’s medical team determined her stroke had “happened very recently.” She was given medication to dissolve the clots, which is referred to as thrombolysis.
“At NYP-WC we’re very fortunate to have the resources and infrastructure to acquire [an] emergent MRI to try to help these patients who would otherwise not be eligible for treatment,” Dr. Nicholas Janocko, a neurologist who treated Figari, told The Post.
“Had she not come to the hospital in time, or had she gone some other place without these capabilities,” Janocko continued, “she may not have been treated with thrombolysis and could be living with disability and left-sided paralysis.”
The drugs helped restore her movement in under quarter-hour. The excellent news is that she didn’t require physical, occupational or speech therapy after her five-day hospital stay.
Doctors delivered the bad news — Figari had a typical congenital heart condition called patent foramen ovale (PFO), which is when a hole between the upper chambers of the guts stays open after birth.
How a hole in the guts raises stroke risk
About 25% of adults have PFO. Like most individuals with it, Figari had no symptoms.
“I used to be actually a really energetic kid, I played every sport, I danced,” Figari recalled. “I had asthma, but that was it.”
PFOs are thought to have a causal role in 55% of strokes in patients younger than 60, Janocko said.
The opening allows clots to bypass the lungs and travel to the brain, potentially causing a stroke.
Figari had a very large PFO, a grade 4 on a scale of 0 to five.
She briefly returned to NYP-WC in July to undergo a minimally invasive procedure to shut the outlet. A small device was placed in her heart so no clots could get through.
It’s a everlasting reminder of her traumatic incident. Now, a yr later, she’s back to Pilates and Orangetheory Fitness — almost at full strength. She has slight weakness on her left side.
“After I write or once I’m typing or once I’m figuring out, once I’m doing things where I even have to be dominant on my left side, it’s weaker and far harder for me to do,” Figari explained.
She takes aspirin to stop a subsequent stroke and has devised a plan in case of one other medical emergency. More people near her have keys to her apartment.
She now knows the importance of quick motion if symptoms arise — and encourages others to maneuver fast as well.
“When you feel like something is fallacious, then trust your gut and be certain you test it out,” Figari advised. “Or call someone and let someone know, because when you don’t do something about it quickly, then you might have long-term effects.”
Stroke symptoms to know
While stroke is usually related to older people, strokes in adults younger than 50 account for about 10% to fifteen% of cases.
“The incidence and prevalence of stroke within the young is increasing over time, mainly because of a rise in vascular risk aspects like obesity, hypertension, high cholesterol, diabetes, sleep apnea and smoking/substance use,” Janocko said.
Experts recommend the “BE FAST” acronym to acknowledge stroke signs.
B is “balance.” Is the person suddenly combating balance or coordination?
E is “eyes.” Is there blurred or double vision or a sudden lack of vision in a single or each eyes without pain?
F is “face drooping.” Does one side of the face droop or feel numb when smiling?
A is “arm weakness.” When the person raises each arms, does one arm drift downward? Is one arm weak or numb?
S is “speech difficulty.” When the person repeats a straightforward sentence, are they easy to know or is their speech slurred?
T is “time to call 911.” Get to the hospital when you notice any of those symptoms.
