Dignity Health | hello Healthy| Summer 2018

6 DignityHealth.org/Bakersfield | Summer 2018 Thomas Moshier is a man you can count on. He’s always taken care of his family and friends the best way he could, says granddaughter Nicole Leishman. “Growing up, whenever I was sick, he’d bring me 7UP and crackers,” she says. “Anytime we ever needed him, he was always there and willing to help.” It’s only fitting that his family and his friends at Dignity Health – Memorial Hospital (Moshier’s son is a member of the Cath Lab team at Memorial) were there for Moshier when he faced a life-threatening stroke. A ‘saving grace’ Moshier’s story begins on Nov. 1, 2017, when his wife, Gloria Moshier, found him lying on the shower floor. She called 911, and an ambulance rushed Moshier, then 79, to Memorial Hospital for emergency stroke treatment. Most strokes—including the one Moshier had—occur suddenly when the brain’s blood supply is blocked by a clot. The longer the brain goes without oxygen-rich blood, the greater the risk of severe complications. At first, Moshier couldn’t move part of his left side. Leishman feared he might be permanently paralyzed, even if he survived. But the specialized stroke team at Memorial Hospital worked quickly to remove the clot from Moshier’s brain. Almost immediately, Moshier could move his left hand. “That was his saving grace,” Leishman says. “The stroke team at Memorial was able to get him in so quickly and get it taken care of.” Moshier’s recovery hasn’t been easy. He needed a feeding tube for a while. He also underwent extensive physical and speech therapy. The stroke has made it hard for him to speak. Still, his speech is improving. And overall, his quality of life is much better than the family thought it could be, Leishman says. “Now he can do a lot of things,” she says. Recently, Moshier fixed a car and a vacuum cleaner. Leishman expects he’ll keep getting better. You can count on Moshier for that. Meet our brain detective Giving new hope to patients with neurological disorders is one of the main reasons Dignity Health – Memorial Hospital’s lead EEG Tech Adora Calistro has devoted herself to the neuro field for the past 35 years. As the only licensed continuous long-term monitoring EEG technician in Kern County, she works with patients who have conditions such as epilepsy. Calistro administers an electroencephalogram (EEG) test to evaluate the electrical activity in the brain and pinpoint abnormalities. She likens her work to that of a detective, unraveling mini-mysteries in the brain. “Proper monitoring of brain events is vital to patient care,” Calistro says. “It helps doctors deliver a correct diagnosis and prescribe proper medications, which ultimately means more productive lives for patients. To me, that’s what it’s all about.” Adora Calistro is the only licensed continuous long-term monitoring EEG technician in Kern County. She works with patients at Memorial Hospital who have conditions such as epilepsy. “That was his saving grace. The stroke team at Memorial was able to get him in so quickly and get it taken care of.” —Nicole Leishman Care in the nick of time Surviving a stroke