>> It was New Year's Eve, a time of celebration for Ted Laukemann and his wife.
It turns out, the couple never got a chance to celebrate.
Here's Ted's journey.
[music] determination is what best describes 56-year-old Ted Laukemann.
>> We workout every day, seven days a week, my wife and I.
>> Ted's goal is simple.
He wants to get his life back.
>> I think he's doing amazing.
I think he is well beyond what he should be doing right now.
>> Ted has made significant progress in the last four months.
It was New Year's Eve four months ago; a night Ted and Debbie will never forget.
>> We were sitting at the slot machine, and he started feeling nauseated.
He said, "I don't feel right."
>> I got blurry vision and I got all numb and said to my wife, "Please get help."
>> Somebody came, put him in a wheelchair; got him to the office, started doing blood
pressure.
He's going; he's got his eyes squeezed shut -- he's going, "I need to get to the hospital."
They said, "Someone's coming."
>> Everything happened so fast, but I was in back on a gurney and I could hear them
talking, but I could not respond.
I thought I was checking out.
>> The EMS crew promptly brought him to Hershey, and it's pretty common for the ambulance crews
to call ahead and say they're bringing a suspected stroke patient.
Based on the evaluation, he was felt to have a severe stroke at the time when we first
met him.
He had significant problems with speech and his entire right side, his arm and his leg,
were flaccid; he couldn't move them at all, as well as completely numb.
So, a very severe stroke.
>> When I got there they had like 8 people in this little room all just fluttering about
him with tubes and just doing things.
And that's when I got scared.
I had no idea what -- what was happening.
I just thought he wasn't feeling well.
>> Under 90 minutes from when he had the initial symptoms, we gave him an IV clot-buster, it's
called TPA.
That is still the standard for most stroke patients, particularly the ones to where we're
concerned a clot is blocking up a blood vessel.
And that was his case. he had a blockage in the major back artery.
It's called the Basilar artery.
If you have a blockage in that artery, that is usually devastating.
About 80% of people will die.
>> Doctors took Ted into surgery to remove the clot.
>> They came out.
Said the clot started breaking up, so they backed up.
He's doing fine.
We went to see him; he started talking.
Everything was good.
This was New Year's Eve.
>> The initial procedure was largely successful, and he was dramatically better after the procedure.
Unfortunately, the next day he deteriorated again.
>> New Year's morning, I'm going to go with 5:00-ish.
>> I was going numb.
I slurred my words.
I couldn't talk.
I knew it was -- I was stroking again.
>> And he stroked again.
That scared me, because I thought, I got the miracle the first time; I can't ask for another
one.
And then the surgery took twice as long, so now we were scared.
>> We re-imaged him and the artery re-blocked, so he was taken back for a second procedure,
and again, very, very successful that they got, essentially, all of the blood vessels
open.
>> They said, with the stroke that he had, that he lost his coordination, his balance,
and then his speech and swallowing.
>> So, you feel nice and balanced?
>> Yeah.
>> Good.
>> Ted had his work cut out for him.
>> I want you to start off raising your arms straight out in front of you, and then put
it down.
>> He worked with physical, occupational, and speech therapists at Penn State Health
Rehabilitation Hospital.
>> The primary center of his brain that was affected by the stroke was his balance center.
So, today we worked a lot on his balance; his core strength.
>> Ted is proud of his accomplishments.
>> He came to me and said, "I want to do pushups before I leave."
And in my 11 years of practice, I have never had a patient in the hospital do pushups.
>> I was the only person here to do pushups ever.
>> He's doing great.
He has exceeded all of the expectations I would've ever had for him.
>> All right.
And go ahead.
>> Ted exceeded the expectations of therapists in other areas too.
>> So, we were using the BIOMES Integrated Therapeutic System, which we call BITS for
short, and basically, what we were working on is his visual scanning skills, also his
fine-motor coordination and accuracy of hitting the targets on the screen.
>> Breathe and relax.
>> With Ted, I had him hooked up to something called vital stimulation.
The vital stimulation machine is something that targets muscle movement and muscle contractions
to improve patient's swallows.
>> I couldn't swallow whole food, but I went from eating pureed food to whole food in one
week.
>> So, I want you to take three small sips in a row.
He is doing great.
Good strong, squeeze and swallow.
He's going out to eat steak dinners and he's drinking water completely fine without any
difficulties.
So, there's been a huge improvement since he was here.
>> We got out of here the very first -- [inaudible] put my walker to the side and said, "It's
time to walk by yourself with no help."
So, since then I've been walking by myself.
>> He's learned to jump.
He's learned to run.
He does jumping jacks.
He just wants to go, go, go until he gets it.
>> Ted wants to share his struggles and achievements with others, so he attends the Stroke Support
Group.
>> [Background laughter] my name's Ted Laukemann.
I had two strokes, one New Year's Eve; one New Year's Day of this year.
>> Wow.
>> So --
>> On this day, the stroke survivors introduce themselves and then played BINGO.
>> You can load her up there.
>> Come on John.
>> I think it's fun, and I think we'll come back every month for it, because we do enjoy
getting to meet other people and to be able to talk about it.
>> [Inaudible] because I'm so new to this.
>> N-32.
>> Everybody else is a veteran.
>> B-1.
>> Ted may be new to this, but he has a message that he wants everyone to hear.
>> It is so tough.
The hardest thing I have ever done.
Just work hard; don't give up.
>> He's doing great.
He could've died.
I don't forget that every day.
We're very blessed, and I'm thankful that I have him.
>> And Ted is making progress every day.
He wanted to share his story, so he can help others.