one of the hospital’s ongoing clinical trials. This allowed doctors to do a small incision just above the collarbone to access the carotid artery and successfully extract Robert’s clot.
Although the procedure was a success, a day later another clot formed. “He was in the hospital after his first successful thrombectomy. He made a very good recovery but unfortunately, during his hospital stay, he had a second stroke where blood clots traveled to the right side of his brain,” Dr. Ooi adds.
Fourtanetly, nurses in the stroke unit and ICU caught the change in Robert’s neurologic exam “very quickly”, which is key to preventing brain damage.
After suffering back-to-back strokes, Robert underwent another successful surgery.
Following surgery, the former basketball player spent three months in rehab. He is now getting back to his regular routine. The “walking miracle” (as Priscilla describes him) has already made amazing progress.
“Robert did have a very long recovery process. He was in the hospital for close to a month and had to undergo two thrombectomy procedures within one hospital stay, which is not common at all for our patients, but we’re all extremely excited and happy for him and his family for the remarkable recovery he’s made and that is in no small part due to the love and support that he got from his wife and his family,” Dr. Ooi says. “…It takes a village to take care of patients like Robert…He wasn’t able to speak at all– didn’t understand speech – he now speaks well. He actually recently went back to work, so we are all very very excited and very very proud of him.”
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The road to stroke recovery isn’t linear. It’s a constant ongoing process. Throughout his journey, Robert has relied heavily on his faith to get him through.
“I just want people to know if you look at me, I’m still here… but you have to believe in God and give it all to him,” Robert shares.
Naturally, Robert has days where he may feel down, but Priscilla quickly reminds him of how far he’s come.
“Sometimes I get there and I think I should be further along with my health and my wife says