She Was Having a Stroke. Her Husband’s Quick Action May Have Saved Her Life.
By StoryStudio on May 16, 2025
On a recent morning, Elham Maraabh dropped her kids off at school. What used to be a routine part of the day was now a meaningful milestone in Elham’s recovery after suffering a recent stroke.
“I’d been really missing taking them to school,” she confides. “This whole ordeal has been such a strange and frightening experience.”
The fact that Elham is here at all is a testament to her husband, Dr. Mohammad El-Ghanem, a board-certified neuroendovascular surgeon and vascular neurologist at HCA Houston Healthcare Northwest. It was 10pm at night and Dr. El-Ghanem was preparing for an early morning flight when he noticed Elham’s speech beginning to slur.
"I could not understand her,” Dr. El-Ghanem recalls. “I thought maybe she's going into sleeping mode, but it was happening too quick. I turned the light on and saw she had a complete paralysis of her left side."
“My husband tried to tell me that I couldn't move my left side and that my eyes were fixated to the right, but in that moment, all I felt was this unsettling numbness in my left arm,” Elham remembers. “I had no idea anything was seriously wrong. It’s like I was trapped in my own body.”
"Timing is everything. Stroke is treatable as long as you receive treatment as soon as possible."
Dr. Mohammad El-Ghanem, neuroendovascular surgeon and vascular neurologist at HCA Healthcare
BE FAST: Understanding Stroke Symptoms and Response
"In really very easy layman description, I would say stroke happens when a blood supply to part of the brain is interrupted or reduced, which prevents brain tissue from getting oxygen and nutrients," explains Dr. El-Ghanem.
There are two main types of strokes: ischemic, which occurs when a blood clot blocks a blood vessel to the brain, and hemorrhagic, which happens when a blood vessel bursts in the brain. Ischemic strokes are the most common type.
The symptoms of stroke vary depending on which part of the brain is affected, but there's a helpful mnemonic that Dr. El-Ghanem urges everyone to remember: BE FAST.
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The Critical Role of Time
When it comes to stroke response, Dr. El-Ghanem emphasizes one message above all others: “Time loss is brain loss.”
"Stroke is a treatable disease, but the issue with stroke is it's time sensitive," he says. "It's not something where you can wait hours. You have to come within the time window for the actual clot-dissolving medicine and for removal of the clot in the brain mechanically."
Unfortunately, according to Dr. El-Ghanem, only about 20% of stroke patients arrive at the hospital within the treatment window. This isn't primarily because they live far from hospitals, but because they don't recognize the symptoms.
For clot-dissolving medication to be effective, patients must typically arrive within 4.5 hours of when symptoms began. For mechanical thrombectomy — a procedure where doctors physically remove a clot from the brain — timelines can vary but earlier is always better.
Mechanical Thrombectomy: A Revolutionary Treatment
This year marks the 10th anniversary of the approval of mechanical thrombectomy, a minimally invasive treatment for large vessel occlusion strokes. Before this procedure was available, many patients with large clots had poor outcomes even with clot-dissolving medication. As an expert on the procedure, Dr. El-Ghanem calls mechanical thrombectomy "the most powerful medicine or invented procedure since medicine itself was invented" — a bold claim he backs up with statistics. Using a measure called "number needed to treat" (NNT), which indicates how many patients need to receive a treatment to see a positive outcome in one patient, mechanical thrombectomy stands out dramatically.
"With thrombectomy, the number needed to treat is only 1.5 to 2," he says. "I only have to perform it on two patients to show that it works.”
Despite its remarkable effectiveness, access to this procedure remains limited. According to Dr. El-Ghanem, only about 3% of the global population has access to mechanical thrombectomy. To make a difference in stroke survival rates and outcomes, Dr. El-Ghanem hopes access to this powerful intervention increases. For now, raising awareness is an important tool.
"It's so important to recognize the symptoms of a stroke and share this knowledge with your kids, family, and friends using the BEFAST method."
Stroke risk factors fall into two categories: modifiable and non-modifiable. Non-modifiable factors include age, gender, ethnicity, and family history, especially if strokes occurred in young family members.
The modifiable risk factors mirror those for heart disease: high blood pressure, diabetes, high cholesterol, smoking, lack of exercise, and poor diet.
"Those diseases long-term affect the blood vessel lining from inside and makes them not healthy," Dr. El-Ghanem explains. "Imagine that you have a pipe and the pump is just constantly pushing... the high blood pressure and diabetes make the wall not healthy. Then at some point the wall would be irregular, not smooth, and you'll build up plaque."
To lower your risk, Dr. El-Ghanem recommends quitting smoking, monitoring blood pressure and blood sugar levels, exercising regularly (30-40 minutes, three times a week), and following a Mediterranean diet with less processed food.
"It's not rocket science," he says. "Just avoid processed food, avoid fried food. Just grill more, eat more salad, use more olive oil."
SPONSORED BY: HCA HOUSTON HEALTHCARE
At just 37 years old with no known risk factors, Elham was experiencing a stroke. As a neuroendovascular and vascular neurologist specializing in stroke treatment, Dr. El-Ghanem recognized the symptoms immediately. Yet despite his medical expertise, the emotional weight was overwhelming.
"I cannot describe the feeling," he says, still visibly shaken. "I was like, I'm going to lose her."
Following stroke protocol, Dr. El-Ghanem called 911 immediately. Elham received clot-dissolving medication, known as tissue plasminogen activator (tPA), at the hospital. After three months of rehabilitation, including physical therapy and relearning to drive, Elham has recovered remarkably well, recovering 99% of her pre-stroke mobility function. Her husband’s quick response most likely saved Elham’s life.
“Timing is everything,” says Dr. El-Ghanem. “Stroke is treatable as long as you receive treatment as soon as possible.”
It’s advice stroke experts champion, yet too often, patients ignore stroke symptoms or wait until it’s too late to get treated. In honor of Stroke Awareness Month, here’s everything you need to know about stroke symptoms, risks factors, and the revolutionary treatment that’s saving lives.
S
for speech problems. Like Elham, you cannot produce your words, you're slurring your speech, or you cannot even bring the thought to your brain to bring it out to the people.
B
for balance issues.
E
for eye problems, either loss of vision or half vision.
F
for facial droop, when one side of your face is droopy than the other, or not symmetric.
A
for arm or leg weakness, usually focused on one side of the body. Elham experienced weakness on her left side.
T
for telephone. Do not drive yourself or use a rideshare app. Call 911 immediately!
Risk Factors and Prevention
Dr. Mohammad El-Ghanem, neuroendovascular surgeon and vascular neurologist at HCA Healthcare
Women and Stroke: A Special Concern
While stroke can affect anyone, Dr. El-Ghanem notes that women face some unique risks.
"Women, because of the hormonal characteristics that they have and also the external hormones that they take, which is oral contraceptives, those hormones carry higher risk for clotting than men," he explains.
Half of all strokes happen in women, and they tend to experience more severe strokes with more complications. The postpartum period after childbirth is also a high-risk time for stroke.
A Call to Action
For Dr. El-Ghanem, the message is clear: we need greater awareness of stroke symptoms and faster access to treatment.
"I would love to have a big speaker that can go up to space and transmit this to the whole world: time is brain," he says. He urges everyone to learn the BE FAST acronym and to act quickly if symptoms appear.
Speaking from experience, Elham readily agrees. “It's so important to recognize the symptoms of a stroke and share this knowledge with your kids, family, and friends using the BEFAST method. Remember, some strokes can strike without the person feeling anything wrong at all, leaving it up to those around them to notice the signs. By being vigilant and educated, you could help save a life.”
As we recognize the 10th anniversary of mechanical thrombectomy and Stroke Awareness Month this May, Dr. El-Ghanem's dual perspective as both physician and family member offers a powerful reminder: stroke can affect anyone. Treatments are remarkably effective, but time is of the essence.
Dr. Mohammad El-Ghanem, neuroendovascular surgeon and vascular neurologist at HCA Healthcare