Stephen had a stroke while he was talking on the phone with his brother in the grocery store. Somewhere between the dairy aisle and the produce section, his speech turned to word soup.
He was rushed to Virginia Hospital Center (VHC) where skilled Emergency Room physicians and staff saved his life. But his speech and motor skills were left temporarily impaired, and while in the hospital, he learned he had high blood pressure and diabetes.
Stephen had worked as an accountant in the area since his Georgetown University days. But his company made cuts, so he was out of work and without insurance at the time of his stroke. This meant that he couldn’t afford the ongoing care he needed after he was released from the hospital.
Dr. Manesh Nachnani, the hospitalist who cared for Stephen at VHC, has been an Arlington Free Clinic volunteer since 2011. He served on our Board of Directors, is a member of the committee that oversees our clinical procedures and policies, and he sees patients here one night a month. Three days after his stroke, Stephen left the care of Dr. Nachnani and his staff in a cab bound straight for AFC and a team ready to support him here. Stephen had appointments as often as twice a week when he first became our patient. As he healed, he began the hard work of cutting the sugar and fatty food from his diet and incorporating exercise into his life. This morning, Stephen had his best blood pressure and glucose readings since he became a patient at AFC – both in the normal range!
These days, he is actively job hunting and devoting spare time to volunteering. He serves as the Patient Representative on AFC’s Board of Directors. Additionally, he’s been working with Clinic staff, the team at Arlington Food Assistance Center (AFAC) and representatives from Arlington farmers markets, to begin exploring ways for increasing our patients’ access to fresh, nutritious food.
That day in the grocery store was June 13, 2014 – Friday the 13th to be exact. It was an unlucky day, but right now Stephen feels very lucky and extremely grateful.
Patient consented to their name and story being shared. Read more about AFC’s commitment to ethical storytelling here.
