Gili Tony-Green was "forced" to become a member of the Hillel Yaffe Medical Center family, when at the age of 17 she suffered a stroke and was taken to the hospital, where she received life-saving treatment. Since then, after an especially long rehabilitation period, she still visits Hillel Yaffe from time to time for visits at the Hematology Institute with Dr. Orit Sofer, director of the institute, who was part of the team that saved her life when she was 17. She also visits the various departments and clinics in the Maternity Division.
This week, just before Family Day, Gili added a third child to her family. Her name is Roni, sister to Omri and Itamar, twins who were also born to her and her husband, Amichai, at Hillel Yaffe five years ago. They live in Hadera.
None of this was a given for Tony when she was 18, busy with an especially grueling rehabilitation process. "Nobody knew why I had a stroke," she said. In the middle of PE class, I suddenly collapsed and began having convulsions. Now they know that I had a blood clot in the brain, which created three blockages. My entire left side was paralyzed for a long time, and even today I still have trouble walking and carrying packages with my left hand. Even then I was afraid of the future, and wasn't sure that I'd be able to have children given my physical condition. When I got married in 2009, I shared my fears about having children with my husband, Amichai - both because I might not be able to care for them properly and because I was aware that I might have another stroke. After all, nobody knows exactly why it happened - no family history, problem or disease, but I was still being monitored, and who knows..."
Despite this, the love and desire for children overcame the fear, and Gili, who was initially treated by Dr. Shamiss at the clinic in Hadera and then by Dr. Adrian Ellenbogen and Dr. Nardin Assala, both senior physicians in Hillel Yaffe's Obstetrics and Gynecology Department, was blessed with twins, Omri and Itamar in 2011. "It was a high-risk pregnancy," she recalled. "The staff at Hillel Yaffe was there, right with me, the entire time - encouraging me, checking, ensuring and monitoring. I took blood thinners and was also hospitalized in the High-Risk Pregnancy Unit, where Dr. Haim David and Dr. Shmuel Anderman cared for me as if I were their daughter."
The dedicated care and the fact that the pregnancy and birth were successful gave Gili and her husband the confidence to set out on the journey towards another pregnancy and child, in this case a girl, Roni, who was born exactly during the week Family Day is celebrated in Israel. Once again, the monitoring by the Hillel Yaffe team of experts was a critical component - Dr. Sofer, Dr. Nardin and Dr. David. Gili was once again hospitalized for monitoring in the High-Risk Pregnancy Unit, and even the birth, which was by cesarean section due to the fact that Gili's condition prohibits her from having an epidural, went well.
Dr. Haim David, Director of the Delivery Room and the physician who treated Gili while she was hospitalized in the High-Risk Pregnancy Unit, explained that a stroke brings with it a concern regarding hypercoagulability, a condition that can be very dangerous during pregnancy. "There is no reason why women of childbearing age who have had strokes and recovered should not try to have children," he said. "However, they definitely need to be closely monitored before, during and after pregnancy. The physiological changes during pregnancy increase the risk of hypercoagulability, thus increasing the risk of another stroke. In Gili's case, she was under close observation so that if she did have another stroke, we would be able to assist immediately. Just this week, a woman who suffered a stroke during the advanced stages of pregnancy gave birth here. Fortunately, we were able to save both her and the baby. They are both healthy and currently recovering. But we don't take anything for granted and try to do everything for each woman under our care."
Gili Tony-Green summarizes it all in her own words, "Without a doubt, the fact that Roni was born at Hillel Yaffe, right before Family Day, is truely a reflection of my feelings towards the staff here, who became family for me long ago. They saved my life here, but also helped me and my husband bring new lives into this world, a goal which was not at all simple, but which came true thanks in no small part to them."
Gili Tony-Green with her daughter, Roni
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