World champion lives with effects of stroke
Sharif Khan used to slay his opponents on the squash court with a devastating backhand drive and piercing volleys. In the 1970s, at the height of his career, he won every major North American hardball squash title. As the eldest son of the late squash champion Hashim Khan, it seemed nothing could stop him. His rivals never stood a chance.
Even after retiring from professional competition, he was in excellent shape. In his sixties, Khan continued to play squash and coach young players at Toronto’s Balmy Beach Club. Despite warnings from his doctor about high blood pressure, it seemed Khan would advance into his senior years with the same robust health he enjoyed as a younger man.
Then, in February 2014, everything changed. His wife Karen remembers her husband wasn’t himself when he came home in the evening from work. That night, he suffered a massive stroke and heart attack.
“The stroke felt like pancakes flapping in my chest,” Khan remembers. “It was this huge energy and I was trying to fight it. I was trying to push it away.” He describes his wife Karen as one of the heroes who saved his life. She swiftly called an ambulance and within 20 minutes of having the stroke, Khan was in the care of doctors.
Despite that quick action, the stroke had serious effects. It paralyzed the left side of Khan’s body, making it difficult for him to speak without slurring his words, and to move his left arm and leg. Years later Khan, who is now 71, has a hard time keeping his balance. He can walk with a cane, but one of his biggest fears is falling down.
Khan also suffers from spasticity, and he is one of hundreds of people being treated for that condition at the West Park Healthcare Centre in Toronto. The adult spasticity management program, launched in 2003, is headed by physical medicine and rehabilitation special- ist Dr. Farooq Ismail and his colleague, Dr. Chris Boulias. About half of the patients they see for spasticity management have developed spasticity after having a stroke, and most are referred by their family physician or the attending physician at the hospital.
Spasticity also develops in people with brain and spinal cord injuries, cerebral palsy and multiple sclerosis.
“The patient typically develops muscle tightness in the affected areas of the body, making it difficult for them to move a limb, or someone else to move it,” Ismail explains, noting that the symptoms of spasticity are highly variable. In some cases, he says, patients cannot move a limb because muscles are so tight. Their elbow or wrist may be bent to 90 degrees, or their fingers may be clenched into t he palm of t heir hand. Other patients walk with a scissoring gait pattern, where the legs tend to cross over in front of each other.
In the first months after his stroke, Khan experienced extreme muscle tightness around his l eft shoulder that led to sharp pain. His wife has noticed that Khan’s spasticity symptoms on the shoulder, and elsewhere on the body, are usually more pronounced in the morning or after a nap.
“When Sharif wakes up in the morning, he will have almost like a seizure,” Karen Khan notes. “His hand claws up and gets really, really tight. For a patient, that tightness and stiffness will eventually cause pain.”
The t reatment he receives every few months from Ismail makes a big difference, she adds, by helping to ease the symptoms of spasticity and alleviate any discomfort. The muscle targeting therapies he receives at West Park make it easier for Khan to do the stretches and strengthening exercises that are so important to his recovery.
After decades of good health and remarkable accomplishments, living with the effects of a stroke represents a formidable challenge. While speech therapy is helping, it still takes effort for Khan to speak and be understood. His wife has taken on the role of caregiver. She helps him with everyday tasks such as getting dressed, and she drives her husband to medical appointments.
Khan has come to realize that life is fragile. The patience and discipline that proved so helpful to his victories on the squash court are now guiding him through a difficult time.
Still, his progress is encouraging. Just recently, the squash champion was recognized by the Balmy Beach Club with an honourary membership. With the same perseverance he brought to his matches, Khan delivered a speech in front of a hall packed with guests. And when the music started, he got up, shakily, and shared a dance with his wife.
Talk to your doctor for more information on the management of spasticity and available treatment options.