Sara Shissias, a local optometrist and co-owner of Berlin Eyecare Associates, faced a life-altering challenge in February of last year when she suffered a post-partum stroke.
With her son only five months old at the time, Shissias’ world was turned upside down: She lost her ability to walk and experienced significant vision changes, including double vision and a condition called oscillopsia that made things in her world appear to spin.
Shissias’ condition was bitterly ironic, given that she and her husband – also an optometrist – had recently taken over the Berlin business. Suddenly, the sense she had devoted her career to safeguarding – sight – was under threat.
“When I opened my eyes,” she recalled, “the world was in a constant clockwise rotation. I kept describing it like being in a hamster ball inside a washing machine.”
Shissias’ stroke also left her with extreme double vision and an inability to look to her left without intense difficulty, making everyday tasks nearly impossible and threatening her rability to practice optometry.
“Without the ability to walk, balance, or see,” she said, “I was not sure if I would ever go back to patient care.”
Shissias spent 20 days after her stroke in the hospital, where she worked tirelessly with physical and occupational therapists to re-learn how to walk and regain her sense of balance. Even after her hospital stay, recovery was arduous.
“To this day,” Shissias noted, “I still struggle severely with balancing. I have constant neuropathy and pain in my dominant hand, and fatigue easily.”
But Shissias’ determination to get back to her practice never wavered, and the aftermath of illness has influenced her perspective as a health-care provider.
“I know what it is like to be the patient, to be in the crux of life and death,” she explained. “My husband and I have always approached being doctors as taking care of a person as a whole, not just a patient in our chair.”
Still, the impact of Shissias’ stroke on her work was significant.
“I had to cut back a lot,” she acknowledged of her pre-stroke routine. “I was in charge of not only seeing patients, but also a lot of the administrative tasks.”
The constant spinning and severe sensory overload made it difficult for Shissias to function. She sought out every specialist she could, trying tinted and prism glasses and vestibular therapy to manage her symptoms.
“The constant spinning lasted nearly four months,” she remembered. “Ironically, I see the world spinning when my eyes are closed, which is very hard for people to comprehend.”
Shissias was not alone in her recovery: Her husband Nickolas and her employees, including technician, Theresa Houck rallied around her, and Dr. Joseph Potosky – the retired owner of Berlin Eyecare Associates – stepped in to help during her recovery.
The support Shissias and her family got from patients and the broader community also was overwhelming.
“People came to help pack and unpack during a move I could not be a part of at all,” she said. “Many friends … drove me to appointments, as I was unable to drive for a long period of time.”
Shissias is also grateful to staff who kept the eye care business running without her.
“The day of my stroke was the first day for one of our employees,” she recounted. “The fact that she was capable of coming in during such a time of chaos and thriving is a testament to her character and capabilities, as well as my staff’s ability to train and provide guidance.
“No one stopped working or caring.”
Shissias maintains that her medical journey has given her a new perspective on life, both personally and professionally.
“There is no reason or ‘why’ to the struggles that occur in life,” she observed. “It can feel extremely isolating, lonely, and heartbreaking – to know that there is no ‘norm.’ There are others out there that have similar stories, and you are not alone.”
Shissias says her experience has taught her valuable life lessons.
“Time is precious,” she pointed out. “At the end of the day, learning to be flexible, refocusing your attention on the areas of life that truly make you feel alive, will bring us a lot closer to finding a purpose in life. There’s no way I can fully thank those who helped our family and practice flourish, but I am committed to paying it forward to all those we can.”
