I have much sympathy for your wife - and for anyone affected by a CVA directly or indirectly. My father died as a result of a series of haemorrhagic CVAs (so in his case, tPA wouldn't have been relevant) and although his illness was relatively short (10 days) it was harsh enough seeing him reduced to a shadow of himself. But I would also stress that there is a relatively large proportion of the medical profession who don't regard tPA as being the wonder treatment that it was initially thought to be, and that the risks usually outweigh the benefits. Until the risks are either reduced or specialist stroke teams are developed to monitor and treat any resulting negative responses, then doctors simply aren't going to be comfortable in using tPA on a wide scale, no matter how speedily they arrive in A&E. Not that I want to argue or anything - but just mentioning it as the other side, playing devil's advocate and all that. From my own experience, and that from those caring for stroke patients long term, I can totally agree that it is definitely something that can destroy lives, and preventing or minimising the resulting debilitation. Similarly, if a CVA is suspected, then the patient definitely needs to be taken to hospital ASAP.