Kristy DeCastro, 39, of Canton, Mich., has many reasons to be thankful for her first Mother's Day, but most important is the opportunity to experience it at all after surviving a stroke a little over a year ago.

One morning in the fall of 2006, DeCastro awoke with what she called an "ice cream headache" - one that didn't go away. With no record of prior health issues, DeCastro shrugged it off as a problem that would eventually resolve itself. But while on the phone with a friend, DeCastro experienced an inability to focus on the conversation, and didn't respond correctly to a funny story. The friend, cued in on DeCastro's symptoms, told her to go to the hospital -- she believed DeCastro was suffering from a stroke.

Instead of dialing 911, DeCastro drove herself to the University of Michigan Emergency Room, approximately a 20-minute drive. Once there, DeCastro had difficulty answering questions, and was only able to respond to inquiries about her name and birthday.

"I'm like ... I don't understand, I don't understand what you're saying," DeCastro said, "and I started crying. They knew what was going on."

More than three hours had passed since the onset of DeCastro's symptoms, meaning that the "golden window" for treatment had passed. When caught in time, doctors typically treat a stroke with intravenous tPA, a drug that breaks up the clot causing the stroke.

"Time is critical," said DeCastro, "because every minute, part of your brain is gone."

Fortunately, the doctors at the University of Michigan Hospital were able to perform a procedure known as intra-arterial tPA, which delivers the medication via a catheter threaded from the groin into the area of the brain suffering the stroke. This minimally invasive procedure gives doctors an additional three hours to provide treatment to the patient, increasing the window of opportunity from three hours to six hours. Yet few hospitals in Michigan and throughout the country perform intra-arterial tPA.

DeCastro was fortunate to live in an area with a major medical center, and knows that on her first Mother's Day, she has the doctors of the University of Michigan Stroke Program Team to thank.

"I think they walk on water," DeCastro said. "Every single person was fantastic to me."

DeCastro stressed the importance of of paying attention to sudden brain-related changes, and of going to a major hospital like the University of Michigan. One week after suffering her stroke, DeCastro returned to her teaching job.

"I think I'm the luckiest girl alive."

To learn more about the causes, symptoms and treatment of strokes, click here.