A little over a year ago, Julie Tomaino had a stroke that affected both sides of her brain, leaving her “locked in” — conscious but unable to speak or move — for about 10 days.

The former professional dancer who works in theatre directing and choreographing plays was just 38 years old.

“I couldn’t respond to anything and I could just move my eyeballs,” the Toronto resident recalled Monday from Vancouver Island, where she is in rehearsals for a production of the musical Grease.

Tomaino had been having daily headaches for two weeks and knew there was something seriously wrong. But after examining her earlier that day at the hospital, doctors had sent her home with a diagnosis of migraine and anxiety.

That evening, she started vomiting uncontrollably and began experiencing double vision. Her husband called an ambulance and she remembers being put into the vehicle.

“And then it’s all black for 12 hours.”

Tomaino had suffered a major stroke, the result of the inner carotid arteries on both sides of her neck dissecting, or tearing, which caused blood to pool in the vessels and send clots to her brain.

While stroke at her age isn’t all that common — the average female victim is close to four decades older — her story illustrates a message the Heart and Stroke Foundation is trying to bring to public awareness with a report released Tuesday showing how stroke can affect women differently than men.

“A lot of women don’t realize that they’re susceptible; they tend to focus on cancer, breast cancer and other diseases,” said spokesperson Patrice Lindsay.

Worse prognosis for women

As the report outlines, one-third more women die from having a stroke than do their male counterparts, and women are 60 per cent less likely to regain their independence afterward, with a worse prognosis for recovery than men. Less than half of stroke patients who participate in rehabilitation programs are female.

Women are also less likely than men to return home after being treated: twice as many women go into long-term care following a stroke.

Elderly women have the highest rate of stroke, with the risk increasing gradually after menopause; pregnant women have a slightly higher risk of suffering a stroke than non-pregnant women of child-bearing age, in particular if they experience elevated blood pressure or gestational diabetes.