Mineral Wells Area News

By Gary Norman / Special to Mineral Wells Area News / ~A Four-Part Series~ Part 1

PART 1: THE IRON WOMAN FALLS ILL

In 2023, Brooke Barnett, 41, woke up every day in Mineral Wells, Texas as an iron woman.

Having served in the military doing one tour in Iraq in 2005, she had battled back Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder along with physical injuries from the experience.

Originally on pain and other medications after her time in the military, she had embraced a healthy lifestyle including diet, exercise, physical therapy, chiropractic treatments, and yoga.

Through these changes, she was able to lose weight and improve her health to the point that she was able to come off most of her medications.

Community Leader

She now was raising her three children, supporting her husband Russell’s business, and involved in the community through the Rotary Club, Animal Shelter, and the Chamber of Commerce.

Her volunteer work was formally recognized for its excellence by the Mineral Wells Chamber of Commerce when she was awarded the Chamber Ambassador Award.

“She was the most productive woman in town. If you gave her a week’s worth of things to do, she got it done in a day,” said Russell.

The Day Everything Changed

All of that changed on March 7th of 2024.

Brooke and Russell, along with their children, rose early and went to Jimmy’s Café, a local landmark eatery in Mineral Wells, for breakfast.

As they were getting in Russell’s truck to leave, Brooke, who had known something was off with her health that morning, stopped, looked with concern at Russell.

“There’s something wrong. My arms are feeling heavy and my chest hurts,” stated Brooke.

Brooke knew this was nothing like a panic attack or anything else she had experienced. This was different and this was serious.

In thirty minutes, she could not use her arms, she could not use her legs, and she was in tears on her way to the Palo Pinto General Hospital Emergency Room.

The First Emergency Visit

As he hurriedly drove her to the emergency room, Russell thought it was a side effect of the Covid viral infection she had experienced or maybe a panic attack.

That’s when he noticed the left side of Brooke’s face began to take on a drooping appearance.

With stroke being a foremost concern, once at the emergency room, Brooke was taken almost immediately for a CT scan.

Unexpectedly, the scan came back clear with no indication of a stroke.

With the paralysis ongoing, Brooke was transferred to the Intensive Care Unit for observation and given a nitro pill for chest pain.

Once she had taken the nitro pill, Brooke’s condition worsened with the first of what would become ongoing seizure-like episodes.

“The pain was worse than childbirth, my body seized up, and it went on for thirty minutes,” said Brooke.

She was given morphine which eased the symptoms and calmed her condition down.

After additional observation and tests, Brooke was diagnosed with Bell’s Palsy, degenerative disk disease, and a urinary tract infection.

She was then released with prescriptions for antibiotics, muscle relaxers, and antianxiety medication.

Two days later Brooke was back in the same emergency room with more serious cramps, paralysis, and tremors.

Once again, the CT scan found nothing amiss, and she was sent home.

A New Theory

Thinking it may be a reaction to an environmental exposure, Russell made the decision to move the family from a house on the old Fort Wolters army base to a house he had recently renovated in Mineral Wells.

“At this point, I wondered if she had gotten into a fungus, or mold, or got a parasite or had gotten into contaminated water,” stated Russell.

Being proactive regarding Brooke’s condition would soon prove to be an ongoing characteristic for Russell.

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Tomorrow: Part 2 A Medical Mystery…. As Brooke’s condition worsens, the Barnetts encounter frustration in their search for answers through the medical system.