Steven's Story

Seventy-two-year-old Steven Weber remembers two events from May 31, 2022: watering his wife’s flowers in the courtyard of their Jupiter home…and waking up the next morning in the stroke unit at Jupiter Medical Center.

“I saw my wife in the room, and everyone was surprised when I remembered her name,” says the veteran biology, chemistry and physics teacher at Village Academy in the Palm Beach County School District. “I said to her, ‘Hi, how are you doing? What happened to me?’”

What had happened was an ischemic stroke so severe that his doctors at Jupiter Medical Center told him the clot they removed from a blood vessel in his carotid artery was one of the largest they had ever encountered.

“They were shocked, first of all, that I had survived the stroke, and they were more surprised that I had nothing wrong with me,” Steven explains. “I’m a science guy, so Dr. Gomez showed me pictures of the clot, and it was pretty cool to see. I was amazed, the doctors were amazed, and my wife was shocked.”

A triumphant return to the classroom
Weber, now in his 46^th year of teaching science, credits his recovery to a neighbor’s quick call to 911 after noticing Steven face-down in his wife’s flowerbed — and the comprehensive, speedy care he received at Jupiter Medical Center Stroke Center, where specialist Dr. Juan Gomez is Director of Neurointerventional Radiology.

Because he experienced no post-stroke deficits with memory, language, mood, balance, comprehension or movement, Steven was released from the hospital after several days of observation. He then checked into a stroke rehabilitation center in Stuart for what was to be a four-week stay.

“I was signed in on June 7 and signed out on June 10,” he points out. “They told me they couldn’t find anything wrong and that I didn’t need any help, and even I was very, very surprised.”

Next, therapists of Jupiter Medical Center’s outpatient rehabilitation program helped him realize his dream: to return to the classroom so he can reach his 50^th anniversary teaching milestone in 2029.

First, Jupiter’s stroke rehab specialists set up a mock classroom for him and put him through the paces of teaching a biology lesson. He aced it.

“The therapist sat there with a stare on her face and said, ‘You know more than I do,’” he recalls. “Then they gave me another lesson plan for physics, and I blew them away. They all signed off so I could go back to teaching.”

“…A great job saving my life”
With the Palm Beach County School Board’s follow-up approval, he returned to his Village Academy classroom in early October of 2022.

“Village Academy is a great place, and I love teaching here,” he says. “I kid the Jupiter doctors that if they ever need help with information about how the body’s biological and metabolism system works, they know who to call.”

Steven’s follow-up care includes regular visits to his cardiologist and regular testing at Jupiter Medical Center.

He particularly credits the expertise of Dr. Gomez and his team for his quick treatment and for a lack of post-stroke symptoms and neurologic damage.

“Dr. Gomez is so laid back and easy-going, and he also mentioned several time that he had help from someone above” Steven says. “He’s a really nice person and an amazing doctor who does all kinds of incredible things. He and his team at Jupiter Medical Center saved my life, and every single one of them was great. I want to thank my wife for all the prayers and the Jupiter team for the great job they did in saving my life.”

For information about the Jupiter Medical Center Stroke Center, call 561-263-5972.