On the surface, Kristin McChesney looks like the example of perfect health: She is in her 30s and is a mother of two girls under the age of 10. You would never guess that she recently suffered a stroke and almost lost her life. However, the fast actions of CoxHealth's Stroke Center made all the difference. Now, Kristin has recovered and is able to share her story.

Kristin is a registered nurse in CoxHealth’s Radiology Care Unit and is familiar with identifying the signs of stroke as a part of her job.

“The night before, I felt like I had a pinched nerve in my neck and my balance was off,” says Kristin. “My husband did a stroke assessment and it came back negative, but things got worse the next day.”

At the beginning of her shift the next morning, Kristin lost her peripheral vision, felt like she was going to lose consciousness and sensed weakness on the right side of her face. Her team quickly identified that she was having a stroke and immediately transported her to the ER.

“I was very fortunate to be at a hospital when it happened. Timing is critical and the stroke team immediately took action,” Kristin says.

Cox South is the region's only Comprehensive Stroke Center, which is a designation reserved for hospitals that provide highly advanced therapies and are equipped to treat even the most complex stroke cases. We also have Level 3 Stroke Centers at Cox Branson and Cox Barton County. Cox Monett is a Level 4 Stroke Center, the highest level available for a hospital of that size.

“I work with the stroke center team frequently and knew they were good, but being on the patient side, it was reassuring to see just how phenomenal they are,” says Kristin. “Their team is required to communicate to departments across the hospital system, and they do so seamlessly to get patients the care they need quickly.”

Thanks to the fast-acting stroke team, Kristin is now healthy and able to continue being a mom to her girls.

“I think a lot of people assume strokes only happen to old people, but I’m an example that it can happen to anyone. It’s important to be educated on stroke warning signs to save lives,” says Kristin.

Learn more about stroke warning signs at this link: https://www.coxhealth.com/.../stroke-warning-signs/...

Kristin McChesney: A stroke survival story