Connellsville couple recounts infant’s stroke
CONNELLSVILLE – A couple of days before her first birthday, little Alexzandra (Alex) Gonzales of Connellsville was a happy-go-lucky baby who was walking, talking and having the time of her life at her very first birthday party. She had a smile on her face for family and friends and she loved watching her brothers, Logan and Camden, 5 and 3, play in the house or in the backyard while being supervised by their parents Amanda and Juan Gonzales.
However, one hot July night, while nursing at her mother’s breast, little Alex had a stroke, and as unlikely as that may sound, doctors at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh said they see three to four children every month who have fallen victim to a stroke.
Dr. Raymond Pitetti, associate director of emergency medicine at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, said that’s why he created an acute cerebrovascular incident (stroke) clinical practice guideline for his department.
Amanda Gonzales said she is thankful that he did because she had no clue that an infant could have a stroke before that night. She also said that she had only heard of older people having strokes.
“My grandfather (the late Vernon Hall of Bear Rocks) had a stroke, but he was in his 70s,” said Gonzales. “I had never heard of a baby having a stroke and it shook me and my husband Juan to the core.”
Gonzales said the first sign that something was wrong with Alex was after she finished nursing and she appeared to be having a seizure.
“I tried to get her attention or to get a reaction from her but I couldn’t get anything,” said Gonzales. “I took her to the kitchen and wiped her face with a cool cloth and as I walked back to the bedroom I noticed that she was taking very shallow breaths.”
Gonzales said her husband immediately got up out of bed and tried to get her attention and when that didn’t work he began CPR. In the meantime he also called 911 and Alex was taken by ambulance to Highlands Hospital where the staff continued breathing for her until she was transported to Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh by medical helicopter.
At Children’s, Alex was given a brain scan and several other tests and that’s when doctors discovered that she had had a stroke. Gonzales said although she and her husband didn’t find out right away when they did discover that she had the stroke on her right side, which caused damage to her left side, they were stunned.
“The stroke affected her left arm and leg,” said Gonzales “and took away all of the milestones she had achieved during her first year of life.”
Gonzales said her daughter was reduced to a newborn who could not walk, talk or hold her head up. She additionally said that many tests were completed to assess the damage and she said Alex remained in Children’s Hospital from July 24 through Aug. 12.
“Alex had a second stroke on her first birthday on July 27,” said Gonzales, “which they believe was from her brain swelling. They did an emergency right hemisphere craniotomy in which they removed a portion of the bone in her head to allow the swelling to come out so it would not compress her brain and kill her.”
Gonzales said the surgeons told her and her husband that this was the first time the procedure had ever been done at Children’s Hospital. She also said that since the surgery is common in adults, who have had strokes, the doctors felt pretty confident that it would work on a child.
“We agreed that we would rather take a chance on saving her life than doing nothing and loosing her,” said Gonzales. “The one thing that we learned that night was that our faith is very strong.”
Gonzales said she and her husband actually had a conversation during the surgery that they would donate Alex’s organs if she didn’t make it. She said she and her husband are firm believers in organ donation so they did accept the fact that there was a very strong chance that their daughter would not make it through the surgery.
“We were thrilled that she made it and the doctors said there was a strong chance that they would have to leave the bone out of her skull for six months,” said Gonzales. “But, a week and a half later they put the bone back in.”
Gonzales said when the doctors did the craniotomy they removed 20 percent of the dead brain tissue from the stroke. She said that Alex has some soft spots on her head where it grew due to the swelling and the bone doesn’t completely cover her skull.
She said Alex’s age is the best thing she has going for her because her brain is so elastic.
“The doctor’s think that other areas around that portion of the brain will pick up and compensate for what she lost,” said Gonzales. “There is no guarantee that will happen but the last brain scan that she had showed that her brain started growing, which is phenomenal news.”
Gonzales said Alex has a shunt that drains excess brain fluid from her head into her stomach. She also said that the almost two-year old is relearning to walk so she and her husband have to be very careful that she doesn’t fall and bump her head.
“The doctors said they would do reconstructive skull surgery on her second or third birthday,” said Gonzales “but I think it will probably be around her third birthday because I don’t want to have it done this year.”
Gonzales said she was told that underlying medical conditions such as sickle cell anemia or heart problems increase the chance of stroke, but Alex had neither.
Although the doctors never figured out what caused her stroke, Gonzales said they did discover that she has a condition call Moya Moya disease.
“In the center of your brain there’s an area that is call ‘The Circle of Willis’ with four main blood arteries that come out of that and go to each portion of your brain,” said Gonzales.
“Instead of having a large top right ventral that goes to the top portion of the brain and feeds blood and oxygen to that portion of the brain she has little ones that branch off like roots of a tree.”
Gonzales said that might have helped to keep the damage minimal.
She said Alex has some weakness in her left arm and leg and she wears a brace on her left foot to stand and walk. She also said that so far she has beaten the odds.
“She is very determine to do things by herself,” said Gonzales. “I think she will be alright. I don’t see her becoming a head cheerleader or a surgeon because of that left arm but I think but I think she will be pretty close to what people consider normal.”
In conclusion, Gonzales said she want to make sure that parents are aware that stroke can happen to children. She said if they have the slightest concern that there is something wrong with their infant they should call their pediatrician immediately or take their child to the nearest hospital.
In the meantime Alex is getting ready to celebrate her second birthday on July 27.