“Your baby has a brain abnormality.”

Those were the chilling words my husband and I heard when I was 29 weeks pregnant with our third child. We were told by the perinatologist that our unborn baby’s brain ventricles were enlarged and she would probably have hydrocephalus, a condition that results when spinal fluid cannot leave the brain and can lead to increased pressure within the skull. He couldn’t tell us much more than that. We prepared for the worst and hoped for the best over the rest of my pregnancy.

Our daughter, Michelle, was born just shy of 36 weeks, and the neurosurgeon was at the delivery to confirm that she did, indeed, have hydrocephalus. Three days later, when the neurosurgeon placed a shunt (a “pump”) in her brain to divert the flow of spinal fluid, he came to us with “good” news. Her hydrocephalus was a result of a brain hemorrhage that she had suffered sometime during my pregnancy. Apparently, a hemorrhagic stroke was a one-time “event,” which meant she didn’t have any other underlying major medical conditions.

Or so we thought.

At three months old, we and the team of doctors following Michelle noticed that she wasn’t using her right arm. The first red flag. Babies should not show a hand preference before one year of age. Michelle was diagnosed with right hemiplegia (weakness on one side), which we later learned was a type of cerebral palsy. Three months later she started weekly occupational and physical therapy, which we were able to continue for over ten years! Our lives consisted of juggling two older children with Michelle’s therapy appointments, a leg surgery, many doctor visits, MRIs, and multiple ankle-foot orthotics as she grew.

This graphic from the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association is part of a public awareness campaign to inform the public that a person is never too young to have a stroke.

We were fortunate that Michelle’s stroke was diagnosed early so she could start therapy at a young age. It was also a blessing that we lived in the Chicago area with an abundance of medical specialists to help Michelle reach her full potential. Through these specialists, I was able to meet other families who also had a child that had suffered a stroke and start a local support group. Knowing that we weren’t alone was a tremendous benefit for us as parents and it allowed the kids to meet others just like them. We were also able to have some of these medical specialists donate their time to come meet with our parents at our local meetings.

Unfortunately, sometimes good things come to an end. When Michelle was ten we moved to the Augusta, Georgia area. Even though I thought I had done my homework and assembled a team of medical specialists for Michelle, we discovered that medical philosophies vary from state to state. Access to specialists and hospitals is also limited in rural, less metropolitan areas. I wasn’t able to meet as many families as I had in Chicago, so support became an online endeavor. Two years later we moved to Charlotte, North Carolina, and again had to start fresh with new doctors and yet another philosophy about treating children experiencing the effects of a stroke. It was also quite a task to integrate Michelle’s educational needs in each of the new schools.

After moving twice in two years I gave up trying to create local support and decided it was time to create a global community with medically-vetted information and resources. That is how International Alliance for Pediatric Stroke was conceived. I have connected with so many families worldwide and have been able to work with pediatric neurologists and incredible advocacy leaders to improve awareness and education. What I have learned over the years is first, there are thousands of children impacted by stroke worldwide and families are eager to connect. Second, the resources and research for this population are lacking. Third, the diagnosis of stroke in babies and children tends to be delayed. Michelle’s “brain abnormality” being discovered before birth is not typical. Often, the diagnosis of stroke in babies is not diagnosed until months or even years after birth. That means these babies are missing rehabilitation opportunities during that valuable time early in life when their brains are rapidly developing.

Mary Kay and Michelle Ballasiotes promote advocacy and raise awareness of the challenges presented by stroke in early childhood.

The consequences for missing the signs of stroke in children can be even more devastating. Stroke is one of the top ten causes of death in children, and unfortunately, I have heard from parents who have shared their heart-wrenching stories of their children not surviving because the signs and symptoms were initially missed. One of my organization’s recent projects was partnering with the American Heart/American Stroke Association to create fact sheets for infant and childhood stroke. The more education and awareness we can provide on pediatric stroke, the better off these children will be.

Michelle is now 19 years old, and she just completed her first year of college. She drives, swims, was in the marching band, played soccer, took ballet, babysits, pet sits, has had multiple part-time jobs, and has been a public speaker for pediatric stroke since she was nine years old. We didn’t know what our baby’s outcome would be when we first heard those devastating words. We still don’t know what caused her stroke, which is the case with most perinatal strokes in children. It has been a learning process to navigate this unchartered path, but I have met incredible, strong families over the journey, and am hopeful for the future of all children impacted by stroke.