A subtle sign, a life-changing diagnosis: Bob’s stroke story

Bob Brown is a nurse, a Navy veteran and a proud grandfather of three girls: Avalon, Kayleigh and Riley. He spent 20 years in the Navy as a sonar technician, hunting for submarines, before building a career in health care.

Bob’s also someone who believed, like many men do, that serious medical problems were something that happened to other people.

That changed one Monday morning when he learned he had a stroke.

A love like no other

Bob lights up when he talks about his granddaughters. “I try to spend time with them at least once a week — we go to the playground or the pool, the beach or the zoo,” he says.

Each one has her own personality, Bob adds. Avalon is finishing kindergarten and reading chapter books. Kayleigh is fiercely determined.

“If she sees something she wants, she goes for it,” Bob says. “And Riley, she’s still so young, I just want to be able to spend more time with her.”

His love for his family is what made the events that Monday especially frightening.

The subtle warning sign

The night before his stroke, Bob was in bed reading and getting ready to sleep. He noticed he kept dropping his phone. “I thought, ‘I’m just tired,’” he recalls.

The next morning, he was getting ready for work when he received a phone call and needed to write something down. He reached for a pen — and couldn’t pick it up.

“I had to put it in my hand with my other hand,” he says. “Then I couldn’t get a good grip. I thought, ‘Hmm, maybe I slept on it wrong.’”

At work, Bob asked a colleague to check his grip strength. They both laughed as his colleague agreed that he must have slept on it wrong. Even as a nurse, Bob brushed it off.

By late morning, his hand still wasn’t better. It was numb, and he was having trouble holding things. Otherwise, he felt fine. He looked in the mirror and didn’t see any facial drooping.

Trusting his instincts — and his team

Around lunchtime, Bob grew more concerned and headed to the emergency room at Sharp Chula Vista Medical Center. He approached Jill Downing, the ER charge nurse, and half-joked as he told her, “You know how sometimes we nurses don’t like to take our own advice that we give to patients? Well, I can’t hold my pen.”

The response was immediate. “I’m calling a Code Stroke,” Downing said.

Suddenly, a large team surrounded Bob. His vital signs were taken, and he was rushed for a CT scan. Every step was explained to him as it happened.

“The response was incredible,” Bob says. “They were so fast and so thorough. They told me I had right-sided weakness, and that you only need one sign.”

The right care, right when you need it

Sharp Chula Vista Medical Center is certified as an Advanced Primary Stroke Center by The Joint Commission and recognized by the American Heart Association and American Stroke Association for fast and effective stroke treatment practices. This includes in-person neurologists to rapidly assess patients, as well as median door-to-needle times — the crucial interval from a patient's arrival and administration of clot-dissolving medication — which are well below national benchmarks.

When the words “You’re having a stroke” were spoken, Bob says, everything else faded into the background.

“I was thinking about my grandkids,” he says. “I was thinking, I’m not ready.”

A diagnosis and a turning point

The CT scan showed a small clot in Bob’s brain. Because his symptoms had started hours earlier, he was outside the window for clot-busting treatment. Instead, doctors started him on medication to help prevent further clotting.

Dr. Thomas Ence, an emergency physician, and registered nurses Downing and Katie Rodenhaver were among the care team at Sharp Chula Vista who guided Bob through those critical hours. Later, he followed up with Dr. Kambiz Shetabi, an interventional cardiologist with Sharp Community Medical Group, as well as Dr. Paolo Guillinta, a cardiologist with Sharp Rees-Stealy Medical Group, and he began wearing a heart monitor to check for atrial fibrillation (AFib).

Looking back, Bob realizes how close he came to ignoring the signs altogether.

“I’m now aware that there only needs to be one symptom,” he says. “I don’t want to imagine what could have happened had I done nothing about it.”

A message for other men

Today, Bob is doing well, and he’s grateful — for his Sharp Chula Vista care team, for his family and for the lesson he learned.

To other men, his message is clear. “It can be something minor, or it could be something major,” he says. “We have to get checked to find out. I had to be reminded: My personal health matters.”

Even health care professionals, he notes, can fall into the trap of thinking, “This won’t happen to me.”

“Now I like to say that I’m someone who lets somebody else tell me whether it’s something to worry about,” Bob says. “No more me telling myself I’ll get better. I don’t rush in if I have a cold. But when it comes to things like this, I’ll let a doctor tell me.”

During Men’s Health Month, Bob hopes his story encourages others to do the same — to pay attention, speak up and seek care when something doesn’t feel right. It could be the decision that gives you more time for what matters most.

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