In the early 2000s, while she was in college, Mary Ferguson began having issues recalling words. “I just kind of wrote it off; I didn’t really connect it with anything,” she says. However, while whitewater rafting the summer between the first and second years of her PhD program, she felt an electric sensation down the side of her face, leaving it drooped. Mary had had a stroke. “That was the first time I had a clue that there was something going on.”
Mary was diagnosed with antiphospholipid antibody syndrome (APS), an autoimmune disorder that causes the body to produce antibodies that attack healthy cells, leading to blood clots and other complications. “At the time, it was sort of a pain, because I was in a PhD program and trying to figure out my life and what the diagnosis meant for me,” she says. At the same time, Mary was seeing a cardiologist for blood clots in her aortic valve. “They told me it was high-risk to do surgery, because of this massive clotting issue. It was a process to figure out what the priorities were in terms of finding treatment.”
After experiencing a small brain bleed, Mary stopped taking anticoagulants, which resulted in an episode of catastrophic APS—which in turn led to clots forming throughout her body. “My mom thought to get a consult with hematology, and Versiti’s Dr. Lisa Baumann Kreuziger was the hematologist on call,” she says. “She initiated the treatment that saved my life; I’m so thankful.”
Mary spent three weeks in the hospital and has been seeing Dr. Baumann Kreuziger ever since. “I’m in great shape now; I’m able to work full time, and I started my own psychology practice working with people who have trauma and chronic illness,” she says. She credits Dr. Baumann Kreuziger and her team with saving her life.
“It’s miraculous. I would not have survived without the team they built,” Mary says. “With Versiti and all the knowledge they’ve built at Froedtert, I have a great team to help me with my blood disorder, which I haven’t found anywhere else. I’m very fortunate.”
People need people, make a difference in someone’s life by donating blood.
We must rely on each other for the gift of blood, and patients in your community rely on the generosity of Versiti’s blood donors to help. Please consider scheduling an appointment to donate. If this is your first time, donating blood is quick, easy and relatively painless. And, it is a great way to give back and help patients in your community.