JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Lisa Foster, of Ponte Vedra Beach, is in better shape than most women half her age. This wife and mother is also a nurse with a serious workout routine. But in November of 2008, a day at the gym changed her life forever.
"The only way I can describe it is it felt like my head was being ripped from my body," said Lisa.
Her blood pressure went through the roof. Thinking it was just the effects of a hard workout, Lisa went home. A few weeks later she collapsed at her desk at work.
"I remember saying, 'can you give me a Kleenex? I feel like I'm drooling,' and I didn't know why."
Lisa was having a stroke, she woke up in a hospital bed.
"The doctor was telling me I have Fibromuscular Dysplasia, and I'm thinking, 'I've never heard of that and I've been a nurse a long time.'"
"The FMD, in most cases, is asymptomatic," says Doctor Kevin Barrett is a Neurologist at Jacksonville's Mayo Clinic.
"The majority of people who have it don't have symptoms. It's identified because they have a blood vessel study for some other reason."
FMD effects the Renal Arteries, or as in Lisa's case, the Carotid Artery. It can block blood flow and lead to Aneurisms and Stroke. Doctor Barrett showed us what Lisa's artery looked like during her stroke.
"The wall of the artery [is] smooth and as we come up to the interior artery we can see we develop this irregular beaded appearance," said Dr. Barrett.
FMD hits mostly healthy women ages 30 to 50, and doctors really don't know why.
For Lisa, living with the disease has meant slowing down. She's recovered from her stroke with few side effects. Lisa may not be as strong as she once was, but she's found a new inner strength. With each breath comes a new blessing.
"It's frustrating because I still have that drive, but I try to take a deep breath and be thankful for the things I can do," said Lisa.
Symptoms include headaches, dizziness or hard to treat high blood pressure.
For more information go to
www.fmdsa.org
