“What is left of me?”
That was the first question Jasmine Mayes asked when she woke from a coma after suffering multiple heart attacks, strokes and brain aneurysms during childbirth.
Jasmine was 27 years old and was looking forward to being a new mom. Instead, she was fighting for her life. When she finally woke from the coma, she couldn’t move the left side of her body. She had under gone a craniotomy and was unable to care for her newborn daughter. She would need intense therapy to help her recover from the stroke she had during childbirth.
Jasmine spent two weeks in the acute care hospital prior to coming to Encompass Health Rehabilitation Hospital of Albuquerque. When Jasmine arrived at Encompass Health, she had double vision, slurred speech, swallowing difficulties and no mobility in her left side. She required substantial assistance to bathe and dress herself and to get in and out of bed. She was nervous and afraid.
Recovering from stroke after childbirth
Her primary goal was to be able to care for her daughter, so her rehabilitation team, which included included physical, occupational and speech therapists, immediately set that as goal. No. 1. Jasmine wanted to move her left arm again to hold her baby and assist in her care.
After her first day of therapy, Jasmine’s anxieties began to fade, and she finally had hope that she could be the mom she desperately wanted to be. She described her first day of therapy as “amazing” and looked forward to getting her schedule each morning.
Her care team first focused on getting Jasmine back to care for herself in order to care for her new baby. Jasmine returned to walking again with little assist. She regained movement in her arm and was able to bathe and dress again. Her speech greatly improved, as well.
Once she was able to complete those tasks, her therapies progressed and included how to care for her daughter and planning for community outings with her fiancé and daughter. Her therapies were challenging yet motivating, she said.
“They went the extra mile to ensure my mobility returned to the best it could to return to my daughter,” she said.
Finding hope
Encompass Health staff gave Jasmine hope that through hard work and determination, she could return home to her daughter. By the end of her stay, Jasmine discovered the answer to her question of “What is left of me?”
It was the 27-year-old mom she had hoped to be, the same one who had been so excited to care for her new daughter. Jasmine returned home to hold and care her daughter.
“Encompass Health is a phenomenal rehabilitation facility,” she said. “The staff there gave me hope and a second chance at life.”
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