At 30, mother of three marks Mother’s Day as stroke survivor

A 30-year-old Morris resident and mother of three never dreamed she’d spend Mother’s Day recovering from a stroke.

Kristin Walls, a second grade teacher at Jones Elementary School in Minooka, had a vertebral artery dissection on Thanksgiving Day 2023. She discussed her experiences April 23 at her alma mater Joliet Junior College in honor of is American Stroke Awareness Month, Women’s Health Month and Mother’s Day.

Walls said she was happy to raise awareness of stroke prevention and how her children, particularly her 1-year-old daughter, motivated her during “this big life change.”

I try not to waste time anymore. I was given a second chance. I want to use it as best as I can.”

—  Kristin Walls, 30, of Morris, mother of three and stroke survivor

“If it helped anyone in some way, that was worth sharing,” Walls said.

What is a vertebral artery dissection?

A vertebral artery dissection is when the vertebral artery in the neck tears and blood collects between the layers of the artery, said Dr. Megan Parkes medical director of the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab at Silver Cross Hospital in New Lenox, where Walls completed outpatient rehabilitation.

It is an uncommon cause of stroke but the most common cause in adults younger than 45, although it can occur at any age, Parkes said. Vertebral artery dissections happen spontaneously or due to trauma.

“Anything that causes extension of the neck and stretches the artery puts you at risk,” Parkes said.

According to the Cleveland Clinic, traumatic causes can include car accidents, cardiopulmonary resuscitation, chiropractic adjustments and wrestling. But they can also include weightlifting, yoga, painting a ceiling, sneezing and vomiting.

“There is also a higher risk with contraception use and in the postpartum period after pregnancy,” Parkes said.

She said symptoms can include nausea and vomiting, severe headaches, neck pain, sensory changes, dizziness, slurred speech, problems with vision and persistent hiccups. Intensive rehabilitation may be necessary, especially in the areas of speech, physical therapy and occupational therapy.

Parkes was pleased with Walls’ progress.

“She had typical symptoms, a typical course and a nice outcome,” Parkes said.

‘She needs her mother’

Up until Thanksgiving Day, Walls was having a wonderful 2023. She loved teaching, had married her husband, Robbie, in July and was happily parenting her two stepsons – Cameron, 6 and Kayden, 2 – as well as her 1-year-old daughter, Mila. The family loved taking walks with their 5-year-old border collie, Vivi.

Walls said she had a miscarriage in October and resumed contraception soon afterward because she was afraid of another miscarriage. The night before Thanksgiving, Walls worked out in the garage with 15-pound weights and went to bed with “a stiffness in my neck,” she said, and had difficulty getting comfortable.

“But I didn’t really think a whole lot about it,” Walls said. “Sometimes that happens after a workout.”

Walls said she awakened at 5 a.m. with “an excruciating, pounding headache.” She paid no attention to what she assumed was her husband’s arm laying across her as she ran through reasons in mind: Had she eaten enough and drank enough the previous day?

Suddenly Walls realized it wasn’t her husband’s arm laying across her. It was her arm.

“It was dead weight,” Walls said. “It wasn’t tingling, like it was sleeping. I couldn’t feel it at all, which was very strange. I convinced myself it was a pinched nerve.”

Walls decided to get up for a drink of water and her leg collapsed, she said. Robbie woke up and they called an ambulance. She was taken to Morris Hospital, where a CT scan showed the vertebral artery dissection, and she was flown to Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago.

She spent one week in the neurology intensive care unit and two weeks at the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab in Chicago. The week in ICU “felt like an eternity,” Walls said. Her children couldn’t visit, she’d lost movement in her left leg, arm and hand, her peripheral vision was gone, and her brain was swelling, she said.

Doctors felt if the swelling continued, Walls might have needed a craniotomy, a procedure that involves making a small hole in the skull to expose the brain for surgery. Fortunately, the swelling decreased on its own and Walls never had surgery on either her brain or the dissected artery, she said.

“It [the artery} should heal on its own,” Walls said. “I get another set of scans in July.”

But Walls also needed to recover for the sake of her family. So when she went to in-patient rehab, she kept two framed photos in her view — one of her family and one of Mila to serve as a reminder. “She needs you. She needs her mother,” Walls said.

After Walls was discharged, she completed 19 outpatient physical and occupational therapy sessions at the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab at Silver Cross Hospital in New Lenox. Debbie Jacob-Maas, Walls’ outpatient occupational therapist, said Walls finished her therapy March 30.

Since Walls said her goal is to return to work for the 2024-25 school year, Jacob-Mass said she “tried to facilitate that,” and Walls is glad of it.

“I have a master’s degree in teaching,” Walls said. “I think if I weren’t a teacher anymore, I’d lose a part of myself.”

During therapy, Walls worked on bearing weight, fine motor skills, controlling her arm movements and strategies for compensating for her vision deficits.

“She made some wonderful gains,” Jacob-Maas said. “She had a lot of things working against her, but she was a hard worker, really dedicated.”

Because a stroke causes a part of the brain to die, therapy helps to require the brain to perform a function it typically doesn’t perform, Jacob-Maas said. She likened this remapping of the brain – called neuroplasticity – to a GPS rerouting a driver when a road is closed, Jacob-Maas said.

“The brain is amazing,” Jacob-Maas said. “We do not use the whole brain and it has so many possibilities.”

Life after stroke

Walls said she’s less active due to varying spasticity in her left arm and leg, but she can cook, clean, lift Mila and even exercise a little. However, she must not lift more than 10 pounds and lift nothing over her head. Laundry is challenging one-handed, so Robbie handles that chore, she said.

Still, Walls said she is more “intentional with her time,” especially with her children and gives them her full attention. The TV no longer drones on in the background, she said.

“We’re getting outside, going on walks,” Walls said. “I’m letting them help me do things to make sure those moments are really special. I try not to waste time anymore. I was given a second chance. I want to use it as best as I can.”