Back in the swing of things after a stroke

One gloomy day in December 2024, Won Hi Lee was golfing with friends when he fell after hitting a second shot at the ninth hole.

One friend whose mother had a stroke suspected that Lee was having one, too. The group loaded him onto a golf cart and rushed him to the clubhouse to meet paramedics.

“I thought I lost my balance because of the weather,” the Fullerton resident recalls. “But my friends insisted that I receive immediate care at a hospital.”

Within the hour, he was at the UCI Health — Orange emergency room, where his stroke was quickly confirmed. Every minute counts during a stroke because the brain is actively being damaged.

“I never expected anything like that,” Lee says. “Before the stroke, I was healthy and strong.”

Quick treatment

The UCI Health Comprehensive Stroke & Cerebrovascular Center team began emergency treatment with a clot-dissolving medication called tenecteplase.

Lee also needed a thrombectomy to remove one extremely large clot blocking blood flow to the entire right side of his brain. All told, the clot placed half of his brain at risk of massive cell death.

“The stroke team informed my family promptly, including my wife and daughters,” who were out of state at the time.

Lee was in the hospital for four days, including Christmas.

While there, his doctors discovered that the stroke had been caused by a small, flap-like opening called a patent foramen ovale (PFO) between the upper two chambers of the heart.

Typically, a PFO doesn’t cause issues. In Lee’s case, however, it was inadvertently allowing blood clots to pass from the right side of his heart to the left side, which is responsible for pumping blood throughout the body, including the brain, causing his stroke.

“I am grateful for the UCI Health care team,” Lee says. “Without the fast action of the emergency, stroke and interventional radiology teams, the outcome would have been completely different.”

Back on the links

Thanks to his commitment to physical therapy and exercise, Lee has regained 60% of his pre-stroke function and is happily back on the golf course. He’s also preparing to throw the first pitch at the UCI Athletics baseball game on April 28.

“While it can be discouraging to notice differences before and after the stroke, I am staying optimistic and appreciating every milestone,” Lee says, noting that his recovery would not be where it is without the support of his wife, Julie, and their three daughters.

The life-changing experience also has shifted his priorities: He no longer works as many hours as he once did at his importing business.

“I am now living my ‘second life’ with less work and more appreciation for my family and simple pleasures.”

Recognizing the signs

Lee wants others to know how to recognize the signs of a stroke, including balance loss, vision changes and difficulty with speech.

“I thank God each day that my friends noticed my lip drooping and sent me immediately to the hospital.”

The UCI Health Comprehensive Stroke & Cerebrovascular Center, the only academic comprehensive stroke center in Orange County, sets the highest standards for providing rapid, quality treatment for patients with acute stroke and complex cerebrovascular diseases, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The center is the first in Orange County to be certified by The Joint Commission, a designation reserved for hospitals able to receive and treat the most complex cases.