Most people who know her might consider Alexia Isaak a very lucky person, but she doesn't see it that way. She just considers herself very blessed.
A former Greenwood resident and 22-year old student at Carnegie-Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Isaak had a very close call several months ago that she will not soon forget.
The daughter of Elaine and Yianni Isaak, who recently moved from Greenwood back to Greece, Isaak woke up on the morning of Sept. 28 and was preparing to attend her 9 a.m. class. She was about to get into the shower, when she was hit with an instant massive headache on the right side of her head.
"I immediately got back into bed and was crying," Isaak said. "That's how bad it hurt."
Her roommate, who normally would have already left for class, just happened to skip class for the first time that day. It's a good thing she did.
"My roommate woke up, and she brought me an ice pack," Isaak said. "She then called health services at the school, and they asked me if I could walk over to their office. I said I could try."
When Isaak got out of the bed and tried to stand up, she immediately fell to the floor, and her left side became paralyzed.
"We knew then something was terribly wrong," Isaak said. "So my roommate called for an ambulance. Then, she helped me back into bed, and I could only use the right side of my body. The paramedics came, and I remember two big men carrying me outside and putting me on a stretcher, then I don't remember anything else until I was in the ambulance."
In the ambulance, the paramedics went over the basic series of questions with Isaak, such as her name and Social Security number, and they began asking her questions such as "Who is the president of the United States?" to see if her memory had been altered.
When they asked for her parents phone number, she apparently got one digit wrong, and they had some problems contacting her family right away.
"The next thing I remember I was in a CAT-scan machine at the University of Pittsburgh Presbyterian Hospital," Isaak said. "They kept telling me to be still and that they might have to do surgery.
"At that point, all I could think of was, 'I've got to make it through this for two reasons,'" Isaak said. "My mom's birthday was the next day, and I hadn't gotten her a present, and I wanted to see my boyfriend again."
Isaak said she suddenly felt a pinch and then was placed in intensive care.
"They tried to reach my parents, and, of course, they were in Greece," Isaak said. When the doctor finally reached them, he explained to them that their daughter had a "bleed" in her brain and that surgery was imminent if she was to survive.
"We stayed on the phone constantly during her surgery, which took about four hours," said Isaak's father. "They told us she was very serious and the first 48 hours were critical. We were in Greece and couldn't get home right away. We just felt so horrible and so helpless. We couldn't get a flight out until the next morning."
After surgery, Isaak awoke and noticed the heart monitors surrounding her. She had a tube in her throat, and she remembers telling the nurses not to mess up her vocal chords because she was a singer.
"Nancy and Steve Fortenberry, who used to live in Greenwood, lived about an hour from Pittsburgh, and they came to the hospital," Isaak said. "And my brother Leo flew in from Houston, Texas, and then my grandparents and my good friend, Kate Person, and her mom Betty Person, all from Greenwood, came as well. People started coming constantly. My voice teacher from Cleveland, Ohio, and many of my friends came, too."
Isaak also remembers her boyfriend, Arturo Chancon from Boston, took all his money to buy a plane ticket to come and see her.
Her parents finally arrived on Saturday night, almost 36 hours after the incident began.
Isaak was in intensive care for three days, and then in a step-down unit for a few days, until she was released to a rehabilitation center, where she participated in therapy to regain the peripheral vision she lost as well as learning to walk and get movement back into the left side of her body again.
"I could feel the prayers," Isaak said. "I could almost feel the hands of God on me healing my body."
"We had huge love and support," Isaak's father said. "All the prayers, cards, flowers, food, phone cards, and so much of it came from Greenwood. We thank them."
Isaak spent about five days in rehabilitation, and she was then released to her parents, who had rented an apartment in Pittsburgh. She kept attending rehabilitation on a regular basis, and she took a medical leave of absence from school for the semester.
"I did continue to attend my voice lessons," Isaak said with a smile. "After I got out of the hospital on Tuesday, I was back at it on Thursday."
The Isaaks kept the apartment until the end of November, when they returned to Greenwood with Alexia for an extended holiday vacation.
They have been staying with Elaine's parents, Mike and Deomi Ballas.
Isaak had been diagnosed with having ruptured capillaries (blood vessels) in her brain, and in many cases, there is really no way to tell that one even has this condition until something serious happens. And, the likelihood of it happening to Isaak again is very small.
"There was another girl from my school that had brain surgery as well," Isaak said. "I thought that was very coincidental. Her name was Kristen Hannah. We shared stories and became really good friends. We formed a kind of support group."
Isaak will return to Pittsburgh on Tuesday. Her parents will go with her, but she plans to return to her own apartment to see how she will make the transition. "I have to visit the doctor again and retake my driver's test," she said.
"After we think things are okay, we will go back to Greece," Isaak's father said. "Even though this was a really scary thing that happened to our daughter, things just worked out perfect. Everything was in place when this occurred. You know, her roommate being there and all."
"This changes a lot in my life," Isaak said. "I have decided that friends, family and loved ones come first. People dropped everything to be there with me. Also, I say, go do something - enjoy life."
