When Kevin’s pinky finger shot into the air, he just stared at it. Kevin had been visualizing his fingers moving for nearly five years, ever since a stroke in 2020 left his right hand and arm immobile. But despite his best efforts, nothing ever happened — until one afternoon during occupational therapy at Atlantic Health Newton Medical Center, when his right pinky finger moved.
“We can have tea now,” joked his therapist Paige. But for Kevin, this was no joke. With the help of an innovative technology called Vivistim, which harnessed his vagus nerve to improve his arm and hand mobility after his stroke, this was proof he was regaining function.
The perfect storm
“A series of unfortunate events triggered my stroke,” says Kevin, who lived in Franklin, New Jersey, at the time. “I was outside and got two tick bites. This led to infections, feeling awful for weeks and tests that revealed I had lupus.”
It seemed the tick-borne illnesses had triggered an autoimmune condition, and the lupus was attacking Kevin’s brain. It caused him to lose function in his right arm, leg and impeded his speech.
“At first I thought it was heat exhaustion,” he says. “My arm felt weak, and I was fatigued, and then I fell when I tried to climb the stairs. That’s when I knew I had a problem.”
Relearning life with the experts
Atlantic Health Newton’s emergency medical team stabilized Kevin and started an intensive course of treatment. After several days in the hospital, he was transferred to Atlantic Rehabilitation Institute to spend the next month learning to walk, speak and move again.
“My entire rehab team was incredible,” says Kevin. “My occupational therapist taught me how to lift my foot to walk. My physical therapist reminded me that progress has no deadline. There were so many acts of kindness along the way. It all made an enormous difference.”
A new option called Vivistim
Kevin worked tirelessly for three years, but his arm and hand’s fine motor skills had stalled. Then, a new idea crossed his path in 2023.
Ronald Benitez, MD, a neurosurgeon at Atlantic Health Overlook Medical Center, was using an innovative procedure to improve arm and hand function following a stroke. The treatment, known as the Vivistim system, pairs an implantable vagus nerve-stimulation device with specific rehabilitation tasks to regain movement.
“Once I was approved, Dr. Benitez implanted the device that helped me do more work in therapy — and nobody outworks me,” says Kevin. “Shortly after starting Vivistim in therapy, my pinky moved.”
Measuring life in goals
Improvements came gradually. First his fingers, then his arm. Then enough function to return Kevin to the activities he thought were forever gone.
“I appreciate the little things now,” says Kevin, about his family, his investment business, and his hobbies. “Recovery for me is being able to grip a golf club, shake hands, hug my wife and kids and even cut my own steak, which I can finally do. This is what Dr. Benitez, and my therapy team gave me. They pushed me. They believed in me.”
The power of a support system
Now living in Delaware with his lupus under control, Kevin drives back monthly to see his favorite occupational therapist, Paige, and his Atlantic Health Newton team.
When asked what made the difference, he doesn’t start with the Vivistim technology. He starts with his wife, Deanna, who sat in the hospital parking lot at 3:00am waiting for a call. He credits his daughter, who put her teaching career on hold, and his son who took a month off from school. He thanks his longtime business partner and friends who always showed up. And he gushes about the medical team who pushed him through.
“It’s been five years since my stroke and I am still progressing and still setting goals,” says Kevin. “Life can sure surprise you. The stroke nearly stole everything from me. But instead, it’s given me something even greater in return.”
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