A 39-year-old mother quit her pain ’10 to 15 mini-strokes’ per day three months after giving birth

A mother who had up to 15 mini-strokes a day and was scared to death wrote a suicide note for her son, claiming that the surgery saved his life.

Kate Sippel, 39, from Ohio, initially erased the first signs of non-compliance after pregnancy. However, just three months after the birth of her son, John David, she went to the emergency room after collapsing at home and being ’30-second paralyzed’.

Doctors initially attributed her condition to the stress of being a new mother after cesarean section. But Sippel, who works as a veterinarian, sought out other doctors who diagnosed the rare condition of moyamoya, in which narrowing or blockage in the arteries at the back of the head restricts blood flow to the brain and causes paralysis.

Her mini-strokes finally stopped this year after she underwent surgery to increase blood flow to her brain through an artery in her scalp.

Doctors at the Cleveland Clinic, where she was treated, said it was “unlikely” that pregnancy caused her condition. But patients can worsen their condition with pregnancy.

The mother was so afraid she would have a stroke that she wrote her son a letter to read when he grew up.

But now that he’s had surgery to bypass the blocked artery at the base of his skull, the vet says he hasn’t had a stroke since (pictured after the surgery)

They said that when Sippel first went to the doctor, she probably just had a minor stroke because she was experiencing the stress of being a new mom. But she refused to take that as an answer.

Only one in millions of Americans has moyamo, which is more common in women, says baby John Hopkins Medical Center.

Doctors aren’t sure what causes the blockage of the artery to cause this condition, but it may be related to genetics.

Patients tend to regularly experience minor paralysis in addition to headaches, difficulty speaking or understanding others, and involuntary movements.

In most cases, it can be treated by taking blood-thinning medications to help blood flow to the brain easier.

However, some patients, including Sippel, can only be treated surgically.

Sippel said the first mini-stroke occurred when she rode the mother’s horse, Norwin, in a competitive jumping competition.

WKYC said: ‘It was like someone punched me in the face all of a sudden.

“I was about to jump and lost all movement or feeling of the left side of my body.”

When his horse had made three more jumps before, he was so stuck that he suddenly relapsed.

Sippel felt out of shape after the pregnancy and initially dismissed the event as if it were a fluke.

But after a few weeks he collapsed at home and couldn’t “get up” for up to 30 seconds.

It struck again just 24 hours later when her husband, Fred, toured the family.

TODAY he said: ‘The only thing that came out of my mouth was a crippled voice. I couldn’t speak, I couldn’t move my mouth, my tongue, whatever.’

Shocked by the events, the duo went to an ER doctor in July 2021, who said it was likely due to the stress of motherhood, and fired her.

However, Sippel was so worried about strokes that he had never felt stressed before that he feared he might die, and asked him to write a letter to his son when he was older.

He read the message with tears in his eyes and said: “I want to be there to give you lots of advice and hug and kiss you every day. Sorry, I can’t.

“I hope it’s all in vain and I can grow old and tell you all this myself. I love you. Your mother.’

He then went to a neurologist and after an MRI diagnosed him with mini-strokes or transient ischemic attacks caused by moyamoya.

Sippel said the first hit occurred while he was riding during a show jumping competition. She initially attributed this to losing her condition by becoming pregnant.

The mother is pictured above shortly after surgery. The blood flowing from the occluded artery was diverted to pass through the scalp.

Initially prescribed anticoagulant but still received up to 15 mini-strokes per day.

Doctors said that two to three of these strokes a day, which rarely cause brain damage, are safe, but will recur within six months.

However, Sippel began looking for another doctor and was eventually admitted to the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio for treatment.

There, doctors performed brain bypass surgery, where they made a small incision on the left side of the head and isolate the clogged part of the artery. It was then routed through another artery in the scalp.

He was discharged two days after surgery and has not had a stroke since.

Dr. Mark Bain, the neurosurgeon who performed Sippel’s surgery, explained that milder forms of moyamoya can be treated with candidates and other anticoagulants.

But since Sippel had frequent strokes and associated symptoms, he was faced with the possibility that the blockages could worsen, leading to a complete paralysis.

“If there is enough blood flow to the brain, the number of thin, immature blood vessels in the brain that can cause bleeding is reduced,” he said. It’s truly incredible what the brain can do.’

When asked by DailyMail.com whether Sippel’s condition was related to the birth, she said, “It is unlikely that the condition is pregnancy-related.”