For those of you who don't know, Curt Cardman is one of our Physical Therapists in our Erie clinic. He has completed 12 Ironman Triathlons, 37 marathons, and played Division I football. Anyone who knows Curt is familiar with his outgoing personality, passion for helping his patients, and staying very active. Unfortunately, his presence has been absent from the Erie clinic for about 4 months. On Friday, October 8, Curt began experiencing numbness and weakness in his left arm and leg and was having slurred speech. He knew he was having a stroke. He was transported to the hospital by ambulance where he underwent surgery to remove blood clots from his vertebral arteries. After surgery, a clot remained in one vertebral artery, which was not able to be fixed with surgery. After several days of intensive care and continuous improvement, he moved to the Neurological unit with hopes of transitioning to a rehabilitation facility. Within hours of moving, Curt leaned over in his chair to pet the therapy dog, and had another stroke. The stroke affected his left-side vision, but did not impact any other parts of his body.
After bed rest and receiving 3 types of clot medications, his clogged arteries started to improve. By Saturday, October 16, Curt had full movement of his arms and legs, no neurological deficits, and only minor speech issues. On Wednesday, October 20, Curt was able to go home from the hospital. After a few days of rest, he began therapy for his vision and came to FYZICAL for balance and coordination treatment. By early November, Curt's clot had reduced in size by 40% and he passed his driving exam. With Curt's steady improvement over the last few months he has returned to work part time and we could not be happier! We are extremely thankful for his recovery and the overwhelming support from our patients and friends of FYZICAL gave Curt and his family. Curt is now seeing patients on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings.
