After Stroke, Vivistim Implant Provides Hope and Renewed Movement

Getting dressed. Eating a meal. Signing your name.

Most people move through these moments without thinking. For Paula Adams, each one became a reminder of what her strokes had taken and how much determination it would take to get her life back.

Paula worked as an executive secretary until her stroke. She was left with weakness on her left side that never fully resolved. Despite months of traditional therapy, her left arm and hand did not return to normal. But she would not give up on recovery.

“I have places I want to travel,” Paula said. “I want to live my life. And I don’t want somebody to have to care for me.”

For four years, long after formal therapy ended, Paula continued pushing forward. She trained with a Pilates instructor three times a week and refused to accept that her progress had reached its limit. Like many stroke survivors, she eventually hit a plateau, a point where improvement slowed and frustration set in.

Then Paula learned about a new option at Tampa General Hospital called Vivistim, an innovative therapy designed to help stroke survivors improve arm and hand function, even years after a stroke.

Vivistim pairs specialized rehabilitation therapy with gentle stimulation of the vagus nerve, a major communication pathway between the brain and body. That stimulation helps the brain relearn movement during therapy, strengthening the connection between intention and action.

“The idea is that stimulating this nerve with electricity will then send that electricity up to the brain, where it can activate different parts of the brain to help people to normalize circuits that aren’t working the way they should be,” said Dr. Yarema Bezchlibnyk, a Tampa General neurosurgeon and assistant professor in the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine Department of Neurosurgery, Brain and Spine. In essence, “it helps to change the wiring of the brain," he said.

For many stroke survivors who have exhausted traditional options, the possibility of renewed progress is rare. With Vivistim, stroke patients are eligible for up to 10 years.

“When I learned I’d been approved, I had a brief moment of doubt,” Paula said. “Then I thought, if I don’t try this, I’ll never know what it could have given me.”

Paula’s Vivistim device was implanted in February 2025 during a minimally invasive outpatient procedure. Recovery from surgery was straightforward. The real work came afterward.

Three times a week, Paula committed to 90-minute occupational therapy sessions. She trained again and again to retrain her arm and hand for daily tasks. At home, she practiced while cooking, writing and showering.

Some days were emotional.

But Paula kept showing up. Because recovery, she learned, is not passive.

Measuring Progress and Hope

Paula noticed progress in tangible ways.

She tracks improvement using the nine-peg test, a common rehabilitation tool that measures fine motor control. Before Vivistim therapy, the test took her four and a half minutes. After just a few weeks, it dropped to a minute and a half. Today, she completes it in 60 seconds.

While results vary, studies show many Vivistim users experience clinically meaningful improvements in daily activities. Those gains can continue long-term with continued use.

For Paula, the most important change has been more than that.

“It gave me hope,” she said.

A Future That Feels Possible Again

Today, Paula continues building strength and independence. She is doing things that once felt out of reach. She encourages other stroke survivors not to count themselves out, even years after their stroke.

“The procedure is easy,” she said. “You just have to be willing to do the work.”

At TGH, innovative therapies like Vivistim are redefining what recovery can look like. They offer stroke survivors not just improved function, but renewed possibility. For Paula, that possibility means something simple yet profound. Living life on her own terms.