Support group complements strong rehab program

ROME — Chad Byrd thought a tick had bitten him. It was July 5, 2017, and the Calhoun resident was on vacation in South Carolina. That morning when he awoke his hands were tingling, but that didn’t keep him from cooking breakfast for his family.

By about noon he told his wife, Heather, something wasn’t right. She took him to the hospital in Beaufort and by the next day he was hospitalized in Charleston. At the age of 44, he had a stroke. He initially thought the tingling in his hands was due to a tick or sleeping on his arms wrong. Instead, it was because of blood clots in his brain.

Two weeks later a Floyd Medical Center ambulance took him to the Rome hospital, where he underwent inpatient rehabilitation.

“They were absolutely amazing,” he said of Floyd’s rehab team. “They were very positive, and they had a huge impact on how I started my recovery because starting positive just made a huge difference. I couldn’t have asked for better therapists at all, in any of it, occupational, physical and speech therapy. Initially. I couldn’t even pronounce certain words.”

A crucial step in recovering from a stroke is rehabilitation. Fortunately, Byrd was in the right place.

Atrium Health Floyd Medical Center is recognized as a Primary Stroke Center by The Joint Commission. The certification recognizes hospitals that have the critical elements to achieve long-term success in improving outcomes for stroke patients.

Byrd also played a role in getting a stroke support group started at the hospital, which started meeting recently.

He said stroke survivors go through a lot. Many, like Byrd, can’t do everything they could do before, even if the rehabilitation goes well. Sharing that experience with someone who understand really helps.

“Having a stroke survivor support group, even if it was just for a month, would have been huge when I first had my stroke,” Byrd said. “I went down a deep, dark rabbit hole with depression, just not knowing what to do. I had never been through anything that traumatic.” He said he still enjoys fishing and camping.

 During the first support meeting he attended at Atrium Health Floyd, he said he almost cried because of another man’s reaction. “The guy actually cried a little bit, and I was so glad to know something like that was available for him,” Byrd said.

The group, which includes stroke patients and caregivers, meets the first Thursday of each month from noon to 1 p.m. at in the Inpatient Rehab Solarium on the sixth floor of the hospital. Anyone who needs help getting to the location should visit the front desk in the hospital lobby.

Registration is encouraged but not required. For more information or to register, call 706-509-5994 or email breanna.merrell@atriumhealth.org.