'Unbelievable'

Article from www.twincities.com
Link: http://www.twincities.com/ci_9793409?nclick_check=1

Doctors doubted Jennifer Manning would walk again after suffering a massive stroke. Barely three weeks later, the Stillwater soccer coach already has started proving them wrong.
By Brian Murphy
brianmurphy@pioneerpress.com
Article Last Updated: 07/06/2008 12:18:07 AM CDT

Jennifer Manning, the former Jennifer McElmury of White Bear Lake, was an All-American for the Gophers from 1994-97. (Pioneer Press file photo)
One moment Jennifer Manning was lacing her cleats for a soccer match, the next she was in an ambulance — paralyzed, slurring words, the left side of her face drooping horribly.

Manning, 33, the girls soccer coach at Stillwater High School and the most prolific scorer in University of Minnesota soccer history, suffered a massive stroke June 16.

Doctors feared brain damage would prevent her from walking again or using her left arm. She snubbed the grim prognosis. Three weeks later, she is walking with a cane and can bend her left elbow against resistance.

Several more weeks of rehabilitation remain before her recovery can be more comprehensively assessed. Her determination is steadfast, though.

In a telephone interview last week from Abbott Northwestern Hospital in Minneapolis, Manning vowed to resume her coaching career and compete in the sport she dominated.

"I want to be back playing soccer again. I want to be able to run. I want to be able to bike. I want to be able to move normally," said Manning, the former Jennifer McElmury of White Bear Lake. "I believe these are very attainable goals. There was no way I'm not going to be able to move my left arm or leg. It was going to happen.

"These two weeks of therapy proved that I was going to be able to move again."

THE STROKE

Jennifer never had been hospitalized. She was preparing for an elite game in Coon Rapids on June 16 when one of her teammates noticed she was slurring her words.

"I know that I was talking but it felt like when you go to the dentist and have Novocain in your mouth," Jennifer said.
The teammate knew something was wrong and told her husband, Ryan, to call 911. The sight of his wife lying on the ground devastated him.

"She was conscious but the left side of her face looked like it had melted. The right side of her body was twitching. She had lost all movement and feeling in her left side," he said.

Neurologists at Mercy Hospital in Coon Rapids saved Jennifer's life that night by unclogging an artery that starved her brain of oxygen and caused the stroke that paralyzed her left side.

Blood flow eventually was restored but doctors warned Ryan his wife of three years faced a difficult recovery and likely would need a wheelchair.

"From the beginning, we never considered it an option that she wouldn't be able to walk," Ryan said. "Anybody who knows Jen knows she will. There's just something about her. She's able to do things faster, learns things quicker. A lot of that comes from her work ethic."

She is making believers out of skeptics.

Ryan recounted a conversation he had with Abbott Northwestern neurologist Dr. Ronald Tarrel in the rehabilitation clinic 10 days after

Jennifer Manning walks with a cane during a recent rehabilitation session. The Stillwater soccer coach, 33, undergoes six hours of therapy each weekday since suffering a stroke on June 16. (Courtesy of the Manning family)
Jennifer's surgery.
"Upon seeing Jen walking with a cane, Dr. Tarrel sat down in a chair and simply uttered, 'unbelievable.' He then whispered to me, 'Ryan, after the surgery, we really did not think she would ever walk again. You told me to prepare to see something special, and you were right.' "

Tarrel said Jennifer's original CT scan showed the stroke damaged some areas of her brain permanently. Neurosurgeons were able to clear the vessel using a catheter to salvage other areas that were threatened, though they were pessimistic about a full recovery.

Tarrel said statistically stroke patients who suffer a complete loss of sensation or function in parts of their body rarely regain them, whereas those who only lose partial feeling or movement typically regain some function.

"The other statistical truth is people who have a complete loss of function who show early improvement do better also, and she is doing really well in that way," Tarrel said.

Jennifer was stabilized quickly and entered rehab within four days of her stroke. By then, she was able to move her middle finger and had movement throughout her left side.

"Dramatic changes happen," Tarrel added. "We're not always right. Sometimes people beat the odds and go against statistics."

THE RECOVERY

Last Sunday, Jennifer and Ryan left the rehabilitation clinic for the first time since her stroke. It was a two-hour furlough to the downtown Global Market, where the couple ate gyros and watched the Euro2008 championship soccer match.

Their love of the game is strong.

Besides coaching at Stillwater, Jennifer plays for the Minnesota Select Team as part of the U.S. Amateur Soccer Association elite player program. She and Ryan own and operate the Corner Kick facility in Maplewood.

Jennifer, a former All-American midfielder for the Gophers from 1994-97, ranks second all-time for Minnesota in career points (124), goals (49) and assists (26). She led the Gophers to three consecutive NCAA tournament appearances and Big Ten championships in 1995 and '97.

The school retired her No. 27 jersey in 2004.

News of her stroke shocked the Twin Cities soccer community, which has humbled the Mannings with an outpouring of support. More than 800 messages of support have been posted to Jennifer on her critical illness Web site (www.caringbridge.org/visit/jennifermanning), where Ryan provides daily updates of her recovery.

"It made me fall off my chair when I heard it," said Stillwater athletics director Denny Bloom, who hired her five years ago. "Jennifer was the epitome of healthy conditioning and strength. She was in as good of shape as any of our staff members. The whole thing takes your breath away."

Jennifer still faces a long rehabilitation that will require as much patience as diligence.

Six hours of therapy each weekday includes steadied walking on a treadmill for 30 minutes at 1-2 mph and lifting her left leg and arm against resistance. But there is considerable weakness in the muscles of both limbs and Jennifer typically is exhausted at the end of sessions.

She also plays board games such as chess and Scrabble to stimulate cognitive skills the stroke short-circuited. Performing routine tasks of everyday life such as brushing her teeth and eating breakfast and lunch provide encouragement.

"The first two weeks have been nothing but positive," Jennifer said. "Each day you look for successes. I'm just positive and upbeat and really counting my blessings that everything went as well as it could."

The stroke blindsided the young couple but Jennifer's recovery has struck a nerve among people she has touched on and off the soccer field. Their overwhelming encouragement energizes her to get better and return the love.

"There aren't enough thank yous to go around. So many people are out there praying for me. It's very uplifting, very humbling," she said. "We all are very fortunate for the family and friends and things we have in our life. That's the attitude you have to have."