Feb 05, 2004

State of the City address interrupted
Mayor Ron Gonzales remains hospitalized after suffering a ‘mild’ stroke

By Kymberli W. Brady
Staff Writer

Mayor Ron Gonzales remains hospitalized a week after suffering a minor stroke last Wednesday while delivering his sixth annual State of the City address.

Shortly after introducing a pre-taped segment featuring Congressman Mike Honda on the future of Bay Area Rapid Transit in San Jose, Gonzales fell ill and fled the stage. Following the video, Vice-Mayor Pat Dando returned to the podium to inform the nearly 2,000 people in attendance that Gonzales had taken ill. Twenty minutes later, she returned again to announce that he would be unable to finish his speech and cut the program short.

Dando, 57, is also a stroke survivor and she knew within 10 minutes of his speech that something was wrong as he began to exhibit the all-too familiar symptoms. “His balance was not as good as it should have been,” she said. “He was stumbling over words and perspiring profusely. After he was off stage, I also found that he was nauseated, another symptom of a stroke. I turned to one of my colleagues and said we need to get him to the hospital.”

Backstage, the mayor reportedly slumped into a chair and vomited, but never lost consciousness. According to City spokesman Tom Manheim, he remained alert and lucid—joking with his staff while the paramedics assessed his condition.

“It was remarkably calm,” admitted Dando. “It was also very important that we proceed with the evening in a very calm manner rather than cause undue alarm.”

According to Dando, Gonzales tried for several minutes to regain his composure and finish his comments. “It was an exciting event that he looked forward to,” she said. “It’s one of those events where he had a chance to look back at the accomplishments as well as what the city has to look forward to.”

Convinced to err on the side of caution, an ambulance was called to the Center for the Performing Arts shortly after 7 p.m. where Gonzales was taken to San Jose Medical Center for further testing. According to Eric Joslin of the San Jose Fire Department, it was a nonemergency response and the Mayor’s condition was never considered serious.

Although he was originally thought to have contracted food poisoning, a magnetic imaging resonance exam [MRI] and an angiogram later revealed that 52-year-old Gonzales had suffered a mild stroke.

“I’m clearly not a doctor and what I could see as very classic symptoms could just as easily have been the flu or food poisoning,” Dando admitted. “But I felt strongly that we needed to get him to the hospital. You’re also in denial when this happens to someone. When he said it could have been something he’d eaten earlier, you want to take that recommendation because that’s what you hope it would be.”

A stroke, otherwise known as a cerebral vascular accident or CVA, occurs when blood supply to the brain is interrupted and is typically caused when a blood clot blocks a vessel to the brain or when a blood vessel breaks down. Gonzales was diagnosed with the latter known as a hemorrhagic stroke, which occurs in only 12 percent of the 700,000 stroke victims each year and is far more deadly than the more common embolic stroke.

With a hemorrhagic stroke, blood from the broken vessel flows into the brain, destroying cells in the immediate area that control functions such as speech, memory and movement. The size of the stroke and where it occurs determines which abilities are affected.

Recognizing the early warning signs of a stroke can make the difference between life and death and can limit its devastating effects. Trouble speaking or walking, along with sudden numbness of the extremities [typically on one side], severe headache and nausea are classic stroke symptoms and should be treated as a medical emergency.

Dando said getting Gonzales to the hospital immediately for treatment was critical and his chances for a full recovery are improved because of it. “He’s doing much better,” she explained on Monday. “He’s resting, which is what he should be doing the first several days following an incident like this.”

According to San Jose Medical Center spokesperson Leslie Kelsay, Gonzales did not exhibit any further slurred speech or loss of motor skills. She credited recognizing the signs and getting immediate medical attention as the key to successfully treating stroke victims like him and warns that waiting for the symptoms to go away result in approximately 170,000 stroke deaths before people even make it to the hospital.

While Gonzales recuperates, City Manager Del Borgstorf will manage the day-to-day operations, a natural function of San Jose’s city manager form of government, stipulated by policies and framework set in place by the Mayor and City Council. In Gonzales’ absence, Dando will fill in with speaking engagements, ceremonial responsibilities and discussions with regard to city policy, including the most recent civic center funding for furniture and equipment during the City Council meeting last Tuesday.

According to Dando, while hospitalized, Gonzales has undergone a repeat of several tests, including MRI’s and angiograms, which is not uncommon following a stroke. She has also been communicating with her neurologist Dr. Sachdev for advice. “He has no visible signs of loss in any bodily function,” she exclaimed. “That’s real good news and it’s certainly because he got very quick attention and very good care. It’s a blessing that it happened in a public place at a public event. If at home, he would have thought he could sleep it off and he certainly would have had far more medical challenges today if he had.”

Dando says strokes are as unique as the patient and can be brought on at any age by a number of factors, including heredity, high blood pressure, heart disease, obesity and smoking. Recuperation time varies depending on the severity of the stroke. Following her stroke in 2001, allegedly brought on by estrogen therapy, she was hospitalized at Good Samaritan for one week, followed by one week at a rehabilitation center and several weeks at home. At the same time, her mother lay dying and she was anxious to be at her bedside. “That changed my attitude and ability to just stay home and rest,” she said. “Fortunately I had good family support.”

Gonzales has been showered with flowers and good wishes and is expected to be released from the hospital by the end of the week baring any unforeseen issues. “The real challenge is to have his family make sure he rests for the next three to four weeks,” replied Dando. “There’s every reason to believe that he will have a full recovery and will return to work within a short period of time because he got to a hospital immediately and got good care.”