WICHITA, Kan. (KAKE) - As a nursing student and nurse aide, Aubree Kerr knows the signs of a stroke. So when she woke up on May 4 with a terrible headache and tingling toes, she knew something was wrong.

In the emergency room, Aubree discovered she had been born with an arteriovenous malformation (AVM), or a group of incorrectly-formed blood vessels. The AVM had ruptured, putting pressure on her brain. At 22 years old, Aubree sustained a stroke and woke up with no feeling in her left side.

After being placed in a coma at Wesley Medical Center in Wichita, Aubree transferred to the neurology unit at the University of Kansas Medical Center.

After two weeks, Aubree’s family followed the recommendations of the neurology team and came to Madonna Rehabilitation Hospitals’ specialized stroke program in Nebraska. At first, Aubree couldn’t move her left foot or lift her left arm; she could only squeeze her left hand.

 

“We used our Armeo system as well as some bodyweight support tools to get her up and moving again,” Emily Wallman, OTD, OTR/L, CBIS, Aubree’s occupational therapist, said. “Her function on her left side came back remarkably fast.”

Aubree was also familiar with the motor planning needed to roll patients, change their clothes, and help them sit up, so her care team used Madonna’s nursing skills lab to practice those components. She believes this whole experience will make her a better nurse.

“I can reflect on my experience if they’re having a hard time,” Aubree said. “I can help talk about it because I was so young to have a stroke, and I survived.”

After less than a month at Madonna, Aubree returned home to Wichita, using just a cane for support.