As a junior at Notre Dame High School in Niles, Scott Chan's biggest worries should've revolved around this spring's tennis matches and his ACT score.
Instead, the 16-year-old is learning how to walk and talk again. And he's getting help from the students and teachers he used to pass in the hallways every day.
Scott suffered a stroke in February caused by a previously undetected blood vessel disorder in his brain. The uncontrolled bleeding caused serious damage, leaving the Chicago teen virtually unable to move his left arm and leg or to utter more than a few words.
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He did manage to say "thank you" earlier this month to the nearly 800 Notre Dame students who packed the high school's gym in his honor. The tennis team Scott should have played on this spring gave him a uniform with his name on it, and students handed Scott a $14,500 check to help pay for the upcoming months of intensive outpatient therapy insurance won't cover. He's scheduled to have brain surgery Friday.
"The kids were so kind," said Scott's mother, Hilba Chan, who's taken a leave from her legal secretary job to spend more time helping her middle son. "It didn't matter if they raised $5 or $140,000. They did it for all the right reasons and that's what made it so special."
Chan still can't believe how her seemingly healthy son wound up in what's become his temporary home at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago.
The two were watching the Food Network one morning in February when Scott complained of feeling sick to his stomach. Chan figured he had a stomach bug and told her husband, Phil, to keep an eye on their son while she ran to the store.
Her phone rang 10 minutes later. Scott was having a seizure.
At their local hospital, doctors told the Chans that their son's brain was bleeding uncontrollably and they'd better call their priest and brace for the worst. Scott was rushed to Northwestern Memorial Hospital for emergency brain surgery. Surgeons managed to stop the bleeding, which stemmed from a condition called arteriovenous malformation, or AVM.
Some of the tiny arteries and veins in Scott's brain were in a tangled mess, and they'd been that way since birth. Like most of the estimated 300,000 Americans with neurological AVMs, Scott had no idea he had the condition. But unlike most, his fragile web of blood vessels ruptured, causing massive bleeding in his brain.
Chan said it's too early to tell just how much damage was done or how much Scott will recover. "He has a lot to learn again but he's a driven child," she said.
Shortly after Scott had his stroke, student council President Matt Jackson talked to math teacher Tony Venetico about what the school could do to help.
"When we first started this, my goal was $5,000," Venetico said. "We raised more than that from a car wash alone."
Classmates bought $5 green and white wristbands that said, "ND for Scott." Students threw their spare change in containers in the cafeteria and library. School clubs kicked in cash. The most creative fund-raising effort of all: Selling $5 "dress down" passes that entitled students to wear pajama bottoms during finals.
All told, the high schoolers collected $14,500 and thought they'd be handing it over to Scott's family at a recent school assembly. But Venetico arranged for Scott to make a surprise visit and collect the check in person.
As an aide wheeled in a beaming Scott, classmates cheered and gave him the first of several standing ovations.
"He just kept waving to everyone," Venetico said. "The smile didn't leave his face the entire time."
AVM SYMPTOMS:
Most people with neurological AVMs experience few, if any, significant symptoms. If symptoms do crop up, they can include:
- Seizures
- Headaches
- Muscle weakness or paralysis in part of the body
- Loss of coordination
- Dizziness
- Partial vision loss
- Memory problems and confusion
Source: National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke
THE FIXER ON HEALTH
SOCIAL INSECURITY
WHY DIDN'T NURSING HOME GET CHECKS? ASK CHILDREN FROM PREVIOUS MARRIAGE
Stephanie Zimmermann
Dear Fixer: The administration at the nursing home where my mother stayed until she passed away in May 2005 says they never received her last five Social Security checks, which were supposed to go toward her care.
I have been numerous times to the Social Security office and they say the checks were sent to the nursing home. The nursing home says they never got the money.
The nursing home is suing me for $4,674.78. I have been to court two times now over this, and their attorney says he is going to ask for a trial date to be set. I don't know which way to go with this.
Janet LiVigni, Burbank
Dear Janet: This seemed easy enough to figure out: all you needed was to get copies of the canceled checks from the Social Security office and see whether the nursing home had cashed them. But when you and your family tried to get these records beginning in August 2006, you repeatedly struck out. As of March 27, the request was still "pending."
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