Melissa Reiman
From caregiver to patient
Melissa Reiman is a flight nurse, she takes care of patients in transport on helicopters. She makes sure that critical patients get the care they need and get it quickly. So, imagine her surprise when she became the patient in need of immediate care.
Reiman, 33, had suffered from severe migraines as long as she could remember, but she noticed that they were getting worse. “All the things that I used to treat my migraines with was no longer working,” says Reiman. She was actually waiting to get into the Migraine Clinic at UCLA. On March 21, 2019, Reiman was home. She had just been assigned a new territory in the Imperial Valley that week—all the while dealing with a severe migraine. Before settling down to a nap with the hopes of getting rid of the migraine, Reiman glanced in the mirror. She noticed that her left pupil was dilated, the left side of her face was constricted and her tongue was pointed to the right. She knew she needed to get to the hospital. The Antelope Valley resident went to the nearby hospital and learned that she had a left carotid artery dissection and a clot associated with it. “Before I knew it, my coworkers were flying me to Los Robles.”
Within moments of her arrival, the physician on call performed a brain perfusion study—a type of brain test that shows the amount of blood taken up in certain areas of the brain. The study provides information on how the brain is functioning. A stroke occurs when the supply of blood to the brain is either interrupted or reduced. When this happens, the brain does not get enough oxygen or nutrients, and brain cells start to die.
That morning, Dr. Asif Taqi took Reiman to the interventional radiology suite, found a large dissection and placed 4 stents in Reiman’s brain and neck blood vessels. “Essentially, I inserted a catheter into Melissa’s artery through the groin and threaded it through her body to the site of the blockage,” says Dr. Taqi. Reiman spent 7 days in the ICU (Intensive Care Unit) post-surgery.
Since her procedure, she continues to have follow-up appointments and CT scans to make sure that the stents hold. “Recently they found another dissection with a small aneurysm but we’re just watching it now to make sure that nothing develops,” says Reiman.
In July, just 3 months after her surgery, Reiman was back at work doing the job she loves. “I’m back at work and that would not have been possible if the system was not working perfectly on that March day,” she says. It has taken her a bit of time to get back up to speed with her co-workers, but she says the support she has received from them has made all the difference. Her goal now is to focus on bringing health to all aspects of her life—her body, sprit, finances and family. “I definitely minimized the symptoms and was in denial. I didn’t want it to be what it was,” she says. Her advice is simple, “Seek help and be honest with yourself in order to prevent missing a sign of something bigger.”
