The Transit Lounge Podcast

Long-Term Effects of Brainstem Stroke: The Hidden Deficits No One Talks About Ty Hawkins was taking engagement photos with his wife the same day he was admitted to the ICU. That sentence alone captures something essential about brainstem stroke, and about the particular cruelty of its long-term effects. On the outside, Ty looked like a young man in love, celebrating a milestone. On the inside, his vision was blurring, his balance was failing, and one side of his face had begun to droop. By nightfall, he was in the hospital being told they had found a mass on his brain. That was June 2019. Ty was in his mid-twenties, working in sales at Verizon, playing competitive basketball, and building a life with the woman he was about to marry. The stroke caused by a bleed from a cavernous malformation in his brainstem carried a 25% survival rate. Of those who survived, only 10% made a significant recovery. Ty is now approaching year seven. He returned to work. He speaks publicly. He shares his story with a global audien