LARGO, Fla. — A Tampa Bay Area woman made a remarkable recovery and is sharing a message to listen to your body ahead of World Stroke Day this week.
As an ICU nurse, Susan Cardillo loves helping people.
“I love seeing people get better,” said Cardillo.
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But one day this past February, everything changed, and she went from helper to patient.
“I lost part of my vision in my left eye,” she said. “I didn’t have the massive headache like everybody classifies as a stroke, worst headache of your life. I had a neck ache.”
Later, when her husband realized how serious her condition was, Cardillo was rushed to HCA Florida Largo, the hospital she had worked at as a nurse for a decade.
“I was intubated,” said Cardillo. “They had put a drain in my brain to drain the blood out of my brain. I don’t remember any of that.”
Cardillo was diagnosed with a ruptured aneurysm and was in the hospital for a little over three weeks.
“Ruptured aneurysms can present as almost a stroke-type syndrome, but they’re also associated with headache, nausea, and vomiting,” said Dr. Carrie Shulman, the Director of Neurosciences at HCA Florida Largo and Cardillo’s neurosurgeon.
With acute onset of stroke, Dr. Shulman pointed to warning signs spelled out in the word FAST: Face drooping or twisting, Arm weakness, Speech difficulty, and Time to call 911.
“We’re most worried about onset of face weakness. The loved one may see a facial droop or droop in the lip even, and especially if that’s accompanied by arm weakness or difficulty speaking or change in your speech. We’d want the patient to call 911 or come right to the ER,” said Shulman.
As for Cardillo, she’s up on her feet, back working as an ICU nurse at another HCA hospital.
“To anyone that does have any type of symptoms, and they normally don’t have massive neck aches, they don’t have a headache like that, do something, say something,” said Cardillo. “I’d rather see someone walk in an ER saying hey I’ve got a headache, and everything’s fine because it is a pinched nerve than walking into an ER like I did and don’t remember anything, and the outcome could have been a lot worse.”
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