Renee's Story: Stroke

When 33-year-old high energy mother Renee Young became ill with the flu in November 2007, the last thing she expected was she was about to suffer a stroke. But that was exactly what happened. As she tried to swallow medication and couldn’t, she realized something was drastically wrong. After two missed diagnoses, she was put in the hands of the physicians with the Greater Cincinnati stroke team and the University of Cincinnati Neuroscience Institute (UCNI) at University Hospital. They immediately recognized her condition and admitted her to the neurointensive care unit. Thankfully, she recovered and was discharged seven days later. But that’s when the real work began. Renee began the slow process of recovering full mobility in her left side and learning to swallow and use her paralyzed vocal cord again. Her voice had become breathy and much lower. Thanks to rehabilitation and innovative treatment of her damaged vocal cord by Dr. Lee Zimmer, an otolaryngologist with the UC Neuroscience Institute, Renee is almost completely recovered and back to life with her family.