Stroke specialist, patient featured in TV program

Western Baptist Hospital stroke specialist Jacqueline Carter, M.D., and one of her first Paducah patients, Talley Holshouser, are featured in “Healthy Living: Stroke, What You Need to Know,” a one-hour program airing on Paducah Channel 2.

Produced by the West Kentucky Community and Technical College television department, the show will debut at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 7. It also will air at 10 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 8, and 10 a.m. Friday, Oct. 9, and will continue to run at those times throughout the month, said producer Tammy Thompson. The show is available in live streaming and download on the college’s Web site at paducah2.org.

Holshouser, 69, a Paducah retiree, recovered fully in days after an August stroke paralyzed his left side. Within the required three hours, he received the intravenous clot-busting medication, which reversed his symptoms. “Dr. Carter saved my life,” he said. “I owe her everything.”

Dr. Carter, a neurologist, said Holshouser’s quick, successful treatment is “what we strive for, not putting people in nursing homes or out of work because of a stroke.  He is proof that if strokes are treated quickly, people can go on to lead normal lives.”

She outlines the simple acronym F.A.S.T. to remind people of stroke symptoms:

F=FACE. Does one side droop?

A=ARM. Raise arms; does one drift down?

S=SPEECH. Is it slurred or odd?

T=TIME. Call 911 as soon as symptoms start.

Western Baptist partners with the University of Louisville in a telemedicine stroke network and on a $300,000 state and federal grant to improve stroke recovery through community education. Western Baptist nurses answer a 24-hour Chest Pain & Stroke Hotline at 1-800-575-1911.

For more information, see westernbaptist.com/stroke or contact Baptist Health Line at (270) 575-2918.