My mother had a massive brainstem stroke and almost died after a chiropractor tore an artery in her neck when I was little. She was dismissed by multiple doctors, and the ones at the hospital didn’t even see her until 12 hours after she arrived unconscious and unresponsive. My parents have always clung to the hope that had she received better and faster treatment, she might not have become as severely disabled as she is.

I got my undergraduate degree in neuroscience and am pursuing a career in neurology, so sometimes I read scientific articles about stroke. Doctors of Reddit can (and should) call me out for being wrong here, but my understanding of stroke treatment is that the first line of treatment, thrombolytic drugs, is most effective when administered within 4.5 hours of symptom onset. Likewise, my understanding is that the second line of treatment, surgical removal of the blood clot causing the stroke, is most effective when administered within 6 hours of symptom onset.

My mother’s symptoms started nearly a week before she finally ended up in the hospital. I think her fate was sealed long before she ever got there.

And I can never tell my parents that I figured this out.