Stroke Care & Recovery with TidalHealth

SALISBURY, Md. – In this week’s Health Beat, brought to you by TidalHealth, WMDT spoke with Dr. Sophia Shakur, a physician specializing in neurological and neuroendovascular surgery.

Dr. Shakur spoke with us about TidalHealth’s Stroke Program — the only of its kind on the entire Delmarva Peninsula that is able to treat all stroke patients. Services are multi-faceted, ranging from clot busting medications to surgeries.

“The fact that we can provide these services right here in our backyard means that patients in our community don’t always have to travel far away for stroke care,” Dr. Shakur said. “Stroke care is really a team effort.”

At TidalHealth, doctors have a series of steps that we go through for every stroke patient. It starts with a code stroke alert, and within minutes, patients receive treatment.

“They start recovering from their stroke, in the hospital. And then they either get discharged home or to a local rehab center to continue physical therapy,” Dr. Shakur explained.

A lot of stroke prevention can be done daily. Dr. Shakur said the best place to start is with your primary care physician, where they can manage stroke risk factors like blood pressure, diabetes, cholesterol.

And for those recovering from a stroke, TidalHealth has partnered with Encompass Rehab to provide a free stroke support group, meeting.

“You can get support through that stroke support group,” Dr. Shakur said, encouraging patients to attend. “Obviously, physicians and providers through the neurosurgery and neurology office at TidalHealth are more than happy to help as well.”

If you’re having any signs or symptoms of a stroke, remember F.A.S.T.: facial droop, arm weakness, speech difficulty. Then it’s time to call 911 immediately.