DULUTH, Minn. (Northern News Now) – Essentia St. Mary’s is crediting a newer technology to the Northland for saving a Wisconsin woman from a brain aneurysm.
Kari Budge started her day like any other in Webster, Wisconsin in late 2022.
“I just came in from outside with a cigarette,” Budge said. “And I felt it like a big something like a big head spider crawling off the back of my neck.”
Budge knew something wasn’t right, so she picked up the phone to call her daughter Erin.
“I called my daughter thank God she answered, because I said, ‘help’ and I was down,” Budge said.
Budge passed out and doesn’t remember much from that point.
She was rushed to Essentia St. Mary’s Hospital in Duluth.
She was woken up days later, not knowing why she was in the hospital.
“Dr. Vic, I remember that, yelling at me, ‘Wake up. Wake up.’ I’m like, ‘What’s going on?’ You know, very groggy,” she said.
Dr. Vikram Jadhav, an Interventional Neurologist at Essentia was at Budge’s bedside and explained to her she had a ruptured brain aneurysm.
A brain aneurysm is the ballooning of a blood vessel in the brain, which if ruptured, can cause a life-threatening brain bleed.
“Anybody who survives this ordeal has to be doing really well with all the family support they get and all the support that we can give in treating their aneurysms,” Dr. Jadhav said.
Dr. Jadhav used a technology newer to the Northland to treat Budge’s aneurysm called a Woven Endobridge Device (WEB) to contain the bleeding in her brain.
“You go in and insert it through the catheter inside the aneurysm and then opens up and then it fills up the space of the aneurysm,” Dr. Jadhav said.
The device, along with quick intervention from Budge’s family and first responders saved her life.
“If Kari’s aneurysm had not been secured there is a very good chance that she could have rebled,” Dr. Jadhav said. “And if she had rebled, then the chances of mortality, meaning her dying, were almost one in two.”
Since getting the procedure, Budge has had to relearn everyday tasks like crossing the street and eating, but Dr. Jadhav said Budge’s recovery is nothing short of a miracle.
Budge still has her sense of humor, and now takes her health very seriously.
“I don’t want to let Dr. Vic down by saying ‘yeah I’m smoking again,’ I would never do that to that man, no, he worked hard in this head,” she said.
Essentia St. Mary’s said knowing the signs of a stroke are crucial to helping someone you love.
They use the acronym BE FAST to look for tell-tale signs of a brain bleed:
Balance: Does the person have sudden loss of balance?
Eyes: Has the person lost vision in one or both eyes?
Face: Smile. Does the side of the face droop?
Arms: Raise both arms. Does one arm drift downward?
Speech: Repeat a simple phrase. Is speech slurred or strange?
Time: If you observe any of these signs, it’s time to call 911 right away.
For more information, you can visit the Essentia Health website here.
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