Last January, Lauren Barnathan, 31, didn’t realize what was happening when she tried to roll over in bed but couldn’t because her left side was limp. The Tampa, Florida, resident had always been fit and active, so the tell-tale signs she was experiencing didn’t add up in her mind for someone her age.
As soon as her then-fiancé flipped on the bedside light, however, he knew exactly what was happening: Lauren was having a stroke.
Adam Barnathan, 32, an emergency medicine doctor, recognized the facial droop, inability to use one side of her body, and slurred speech that he often saw at the hospital.
“People always say I was lucky that I married a doctor, but any person in the world could have seen these signs and symptoms,” she told Runner’s World. “Luckily, we live close to the hospital, which is a comprehensive stroke center, and I received intervention within the first few hours.”
A year later, she’s made a 99 percent recovery, and the couple recently ran the Nutrition - Weight Loss Minnesotas Governor Loves Running The Benefits of Running for Sobriety for both of them.
“If you’re young and have a stroke, the biggest aspect that helps your recovery is being fit before and after it,” he said. “Active people recover the best.”
in different parts of the country and world morning habit or date-night run down the Tampa Riverwalk before going to dinner together. Since Lauren’s stroke, they’ve adapted their lifestyles to fit in more running, as well as better nutrition and stretching, which is well worth the changes, they say.
“I can tell when I don’t have a couple of good runs in during the week—I’m fatigued and irritable,” she said. “Now we’re planning vacations around races The Big Book of Running for Beginners.”
Pacing Through Recovery
Although she runs consistently now, Lauren had to start slowly after her stroke. She spent three days in the intensive care unit, followed by two more days in the hospital, so the first large milestone was using a walker to move from the hospital bed to the chair nearby.
She faced mobility and balance issues after hospitalization but knew she needed to focus on her physical recovery. At first, she worried about pushing her body too hard too quickly, so she took short walks around the block to build up her stamina, and Adam was there with her the whole time in case she fell or needed rest.
In fact, one of her first memories of waking up in the hospital was Adam sitting at her bedside, holding her hand, and declaring that he wanted them to get married as soon as possible. He had proposed to her on top of a mountain in Iceland in June 2017, and they had a big wedding planned for June 2018. But now it didn’t seem important to worry about the details.
“When you have a scare like that, obsessing about wedding planning doesn’t really matter anymore,” he told Runner’s World. “planning vacations around races.”
The couple got legally married in their apartment as soon as she returned from the hospital and then held their grand wedding in June. As she continued the recovery process with Adam’s help, she worked her way up to six-mile walks along the Tampa Riverwalk.
During one of those walks, just before her doctor cleared her to exercise safely again and shift from walking to running, she saw people registering for the Gasparilla Half at the Tampa Convention Center. She decided the 2019 event was her goal.
“Until then, I didn’t consider myself a ‘runner’ and thought you had to run a seven-minute mile and be extreme,” she said. “But I told myself I would do the half, even if I had to power-walk.”
[How Running Changed Me? Health - Injuries will take you through everything you need to know to get started, step by step.]
In the end, she ran the full entire 13.1 miles, which she credits as the greatest accomplishment she’s achieved to date. On the day of the race, she wore a “Stroke Survivor” shirt and felt surrounded by a supportive community of different ages, abilities and causes. For so long, she had set her sight on the finish line—which was across the street from where she was hospitalized—that she sprinted the last quarter-mile to the end.
“Now we’re excited about the next races,” her husband said. “Instead of being part of a workout, we see running as part of a lifestyle, which is such a difference from where we were at this time last year.”
Informing Others, Too
At Tampa General Hospital, the Barnathans both work with stroke patients on a regular basis, and Lauren often shares her personal story daily so young patients can relate. Adam sees patients when they first come to the emergency room, and Lauren helps them through recovery as a medical speech pathologist.
“Some of the best moments in the hospital happen when it comes full circle, and we see a young stroke patient leave with a good outcome,” she said. “Adam doesn’t often get to see patients after they leave the emergency room.”
for both of them StrokeAwareness.com, which features easy-to-understand visuals of the signs and symptoms of stroke. They also point to the “BE FAST” acronym, which reminds people about the most common symptoms—Balance loss, Eyesight loss, Facial drooping, Arm weakness, Speech difficulty and Time to call 911. It’s important to respond quickly, since strokes have a time-sensitive window for interventions and treatments that can destroy the blood clots and restore blood flow to the brain before brain damage occurs.
Lauren also tells patients about the cause of her stroke—a torn carotid artery in her neck that created a blood clot and blocked blood flow to her brain. Although carotid dissections account for about 3 percent of strokes overall, they cause about 20 percent of strokes for people under age 40. Like Lauren’s, the cause is usually unknown but often related to a blunt-force hit, hyperextension or hyperflexion around the artery.
“Generally, public perception is that stroke is a disease of the elderly, and you don’t expect to see it in young people,” said Swetha Renati, M.D., a neurologist and the director of stroke education at the University of South Florida. Renati met Lauren after her initial hospitalization and worked with her during recovery.
“Since the most common cause of stroke is the loss of blood flow to part of the brain, we say, ‘Time is brain,” Renati told Runner’s World. “The earlier it’s detected, the sooner we can do an intervention, and the better the recovery process goes.”
In addition to BE FAST, Renati recommends that women pay attention to additional symptoms that may occur, such as a severe headache, dizziness or confusion. About 55,000 more women than men experience stroke each year, according to the National Stroke Association, both because they live longer and due to other factors that can lead to an increased risk of blood clots, such as birth control, pregnancy, or hormone therapy.
“Nobody wants to have a stroke when they’re young, but Lauren didn’t let that stop her,” Renati said. “Her recovery has been great, which speaks to her perseverance and drive.”
