Martinez Tribune The website of the Martinez Tribune.
Martinez Tribune
MARTINEZ, Calif. – A Martinez family has undergone one of the worst trials imaginable this year with both a young mother and father suffering brain hemorrhages. Now with surgery looming, friends of the couple are hoping the community will pull together to help the family.
It all began Jan. 20 when Matt Trantham, a general contractor and father of two young boys, fell ill at a work site. Matt called his wife Angela and told her he felt dizzy and that his lips were numb. As Angela rushed to his side, others at the job site called 911. By the time the ambulance arrived, Matt was still alert but his speech was slurred, and by the time he arrived at the hospital, he was showing signs of a stroke and in critical condition, with a doctor telling Angela they weren’t sure he was going to survive.
Matt was immediately intubated to help him breathe, and a CT scan showed there was bleeding on his brain. Further testing, however, showed no signs of a suspected aneurysm, but instead that the bleeding was coming from deep within his brain.
Matt was left completely incapacitated, unable to breathe without assistance, only eating through a feeding tube. He was unable to return home, undergoing months of treatment and physical therapy at John Muir Hospital.
Then the truly unimaginable happened.
On April 10, Matt’s wife, Angela, fell ill with a severe headache. She called a friend who took her to the emergency room, thinking she was suffering from a migraine. One CT scan later and it was revealed Angela, too, had bleeding around her brain and had suffered a stroke, uncannily in the same location of the brain Matt’s stroke had occurred. She was admitted at John Muir Hospital, just two floors away from her husband. Luckily, her stroke was far less severe than her husband’s, but still of great concern to her doctors.
Angela’s online journal entries tell of her struggle to keep the news from Matt.
“PLEASE DO NOT TELL HIM. As far as he knows, I am under the weather and haven’t been able to visit,” she wrote, asking that friends, family and even hospital staff maintain that she was at home with the flu.
As April rolled on and with Matt soon transferring to the Centre for Neuro Skills (CNS), a rehabilitation facility in Emeryville, doctors urged Angela to tell her husband she too, was being hospitalized. They felt that should Matt have a negative reaction to the news, it would be safer for him to hear it at the hospital where he could receive immediate care, and a big date was planned.
And so 89 days after Matt had first been hospitalized, and nine days after his wife’s hospitalization, the two met in Matt’s room, overjoyed to see one another, but hurting as Angela revealed to Matt that she was also sick.
“It was indeed a beautiful hour, evoking the memory of a much happier September day in Gualala 17 years ago. Sickness and health, indeed,” Angela’s older brother wrote of their meeting, reminiscing over the couple’s wedding day. “On the lighter side, they were quite a spectacle, Angela in her finest hospital gown, Matt sporting his new Warriors jersey, Matt in bed and Angela hopping out of her wheelchair into his bed, both hooked up to multiple monitors, both with nurse attendants watching the monitors carefully for any sign of upset.”
A few days later, Matt was transferred to CNS as his wife remained at John Muir.
Angela was finally discharged April 25, with a new set of prescriptions she’ll likely have to renew for the rest of her life. Though amazingly, throughout the ordeal that began with the new year, Angela has been able to stay positive, as evidenced by her many journal entries.
“The reality of our new lives is starting to settle in and I have to admit it, it is pretty jarring,” she wrote. “None of this feels real – sometimes I feel like it is all a dream. It is hard to truly grasp that all of these events have really happened, but they have and life goes on. Time heals all wounds. These wounds will heal, we will learn our new normal and I look forward to much, much happier and carefree days in our future.”
Due to insurance issues, Matt’s inpatient care at CNS ended, and on June 30, he came home for the first time since his stroke more than five months earlier. He was approved for continued day treatment, however, and goes to CNS five days a week, continuing to get the therapy he greatly needs. But it does mean more time away from home, and an apartment closer to the treatment facility.
And, after having received a second opinion from neurosurgeons at UCSF and learning his chances of having another stroke are very high, Matt has decided to undergo “an incredibly risky” surgery Monday, Aug. 15. According to the family’s journal, the procedure will not return Matt to his former condition, but it will reduce the risk of him having another debilitating stroke.
Meanwhile, with two young boys to raise and both Matt and Angela unable to return to work, times have been doubly tough for the Trantham family.
“Before the stroke, the Matt we know and love was a stubborn and independent Matt. A lot of that ties into his impulsiveness and wanting to be able to do things on his own. It is a learning process for him to remember that he can’t and that as much as it bugs him, it is okay to ask for and use the help offered,” Angela wrote about his treatment.
And while they’ve never asked for help, the Trantham family sure could use all the love and support from community they can get.
A PayPal account has been set up for the family, and donations can be made at www.paypal.me/TEAMMATT. A GoFundMe campaign was also set up by family friends, and can be viewed at www.gofundme.com/tranthamfamily. For those that wish to donate by check, visit or mail checks to Bank of the West, 1969 Diamond Boulevard, Concord, CA 94520 (checks payable to Angela Trantham; reference TEAM MATT).
Angela also provides regular updates on the family at www.caringbridge.org (search Matt Trantham).
“Sitting with Matt, a different Matt, me with a foggy head, wondering what the future holds – it is very sobering. But … the fact that he is here, we are together, we are laughing with him and that he continues to improve – that is what I focus on and I am thankful for,” Angela wrote. “… The amount of love and support we continue to receive leaves me speechless. Thank you to all of you for watching out for our boys and taking such good care of them. It takes a little less worry off of me, knowing that they are loved by so many. The boys continue to do well and amaze me with their strength and grace during this difficult time. We remain hopeful, we remain strong and we remain filled with love … this bump in the road cannot break us.”
