After Rare Stroke, Old Bridge Nurse Eyes Clear Path Ahead
November 26, 2024
After years of enduring throbbing migraines, Jamie McBride was no stranger to headaches. So when an excruciating one struck the 44-year-old in April 2024, Jamie figured it was just another migraine.
As a critical care nurse at JFK University Medical Center, the Old Bridge, New Jersey, woman is accustomed to witnessing catastrophic medical events. For five days, as her head continued to pound relentlessly, her usual migraine medications did not help. Still, she downplayed what might be happening.
“I don’t shake very easily,” Jamie explains. “I think I was more dismissive than some people would have been. In retrospect, something was very wrong.”
Jamie would soon find out that her agonizing headache was due to an incredibly rare type of stroke. It took meticulous testing and treatment at JFK University Medical Center to pinpoint the threat and protect the mother of two from a devastating outcome.
Specialized Approach for Stroke Treatment
After enduring the headache for five days, Jamie underwent CT imaging of her skull—which reassured her nothing was amiss—and received an IV cocktail of medications. But nothing changed, and two days later, she could bear no more. Her neurologist, Brian Gerhardstein, M.D., Ph.D., director of headache medicine at the Hackensack Meridian Neuroscience Institute at JFK, recommended she come to JFK for its dedicated Stroke and Neurovascular Center.
“It’s often difficult to identify new causes of headaches in patients who have a history of chronic migraines, like Jamie, because they’ve had headaches their whole lives, and many things can change how those headaches show up,” Dr. Gerhardstein says. “In this case, when Jamie’s headaches were different in quality and didn’t respond to her migraine medications, that’s when we became suspicious something else was going on.”
Specialized CT testing called a venogram revealed a massive blood clot extending through three veins in and around Jamie’s brain. Called a venous sinus thrombosis, this type of stroke comprises only a handful of every 1 million strokes. Jamie’s case already stood out for another reason: Only about 15 percent of the 795,000 strokes occurring in Americans each year happen to people under age 50.
Such extensive clotting meant neurosurgery to remove the blockage would be extremely risky. Neurologist Haralabos Zacharatos, D.O., opted instead to treat Jamie with powerful blood thinners that would slowly create a hole in the clot, gradually allowing normal blood flow to resume.
Several days into her ICU treatment, however, Jamie experienced a frightening setback. While speaking with a visitor, she suddenly couldn’t speak coherently. “I was completely oriented, but I just forgot all the words in the English language,” Jamie recounts. “Within minutes, all the words came back.”
Dr. Zacharatos temporarily increased Jamie’s blood thinner dose to treat this complication—driving home the importance of being treated in a high-level stroke center. “If there was a delay in initiating the blood thinners, the fact that she developed other symptoms in the hospital demonstrates that her stroke would have progressed to a point where it would have impacted her ability to speak and understand,” Dr. Zacharatos says.
Steady Recovery After Stroke Treatment
Jamie was discharged after a week in the hospital. Her recovery wasn’t magical, but it has been steady. Months later, she still copes with a dull, persistent headache and slowly easing brain fog.
“I’m usually very well-organized, but I would forget my keys or why I walked into a room,” she says. “I had some memory issues for a while. They’re seemingly resolving, but not totally better.”
Still, the longtime nurse has been able to return to work, tackling slightly different duties. She continues to take daily blood thinners and undergo regular brain imaging. Dr. Zacharatos expects a full recovery, and Jamie is grateful.
“I was incredibly lucky. This could have gone incredibly badly,” Jamie says. “I tend to be stubborn about not going to the hospital unless I believe I’m dying. I’m so glad I actually went, because it would have been catastrophic if I hadn’t.”
Next Steps & Resources
- Meet our sources: Brian Gerhardstein, M.D., and Haralabos Zacharatos, D.O.
- To make an appointment with a neurologist near you, call 800-282-8905 or visit our website.
- Learn more about neurology services at Hackensack Meridian Health.
The material provided through HealthU is intended to be used as general information only and should not replace the advice of your physician. Always consult your physician for individual care.
