A LESSON IN DETERMINATION: GRADUATING SOUTHEAST STUDENT OVERCOMES THREE STROKES, COMA

SCOTT CITY, Mo. -- Leslie Menz is lucky to be alive, let alone a successful college student.

But the 24-year-old Menz will graduate from Southeast Missouri State University Saturday, having overcome three strokes from a blood clot in her brain that put her into a coma last year.

Doctors at St. Francis Medical Center thought she would die. A priest performed last rites before she was taken by helicopter to Barnes Jewish Hospital in St. Louis in September 1999.

But with the help of blood thinner medication, Menz recovered.

"It is just a big miracle," said her father, Charlie Menz, as he and his daughter sat in the living room of their Scott City home Tuesday.

These days, Leslie Menz can smile through talk of her ordeal. But she realizes her life was once hanging by a thread.

Menz was 22 when she took a writing test Southeast students must pass to graduate. It was Sept. 18, 1999, and she had a terrible headache and an upset stomach. "I had been having headaches for a while, but I passed the test," she recalled.

Initially, she thought she had the flu, but over the next few days, her condition worsened. "I was so sick. I was throwing up. My head hurt. I could barely see," she said.

On Sept. 22, 1999, her father took her to the emergency room at St. Francis Medical Center. In the hospital, she suffered two more strokes that paralyzed her right side and put her into a coma. She had a blood clot in her brain.

Death a possibility

After she had been in a coma for 12 hours, doctors told her parents that she could die. They weren't sure she would survive the helicopter flight to Barnes Jewish Hospital. But after four days of treatment, she awoke in her hospital bed.

"There was this great feeling," said Leslie Menz. "Death was right there, and he got bored with whatever I had."

Menz said doctors discovered that her problem was caused by a rare genetic mutation that makes her susceptible to blood clots. She must avoid dehydration or eating too much of certain foods, including lettuce, for fear it could lead to blood clots.

Menz said dehydration from a bout with the flu earlier in the fall 1999 semester may have led to the blood clot forming.

After she came out of the coma, she initially suffered from paralysis on her right side. She couldn't move her right arm. She went through physical therapy at Barnes, and after only three weeks was able to walk using only a cane.

Baby on the floor

"I was the baby of the floor because I was on the stroke ward," said Menz. "People thought I was in high school."

Her boyfriend brought her favorite stuffed animal to the hospital. She kept the worn, blue Grover at her side. She still has the doll, a Sesame Street character that has been her favorite since she was 3.

She finally returned to her Scott City home on Oct. 20, 1999, 28 days after being hospitalized. Even then she continued to go through hours of physical therapy. Her recovery included two surgeries to correct colon-rectal problems caused by the strokes.

She celebrated her 23rd birthday on Nov. 25, 1999, by going to a movie.

She started driving again last December. In January she returned to school, intent on getting her degree.

She will graduate Saturday with a bachelor's degree in criminal justice. She wants to be a probation or parole officer, or maybe a juvenile officer.

A speech therapist at Barnes suggested she might need tutoring to make it through school. Menz said she may be a little slower at comprehension than before the strokes but hasn't had any difficulty with her course work. "My biggest problem is I repeat myself," she said.

Menz said she survived because of her friends and family. Her ordeal has changed her outlook on life. "I used to get mad at people and stay mad at them a long time," she said.

These days, she is at peace with herself and others.

Said a smiling Menz, "It's all warm and fuzzy."