10/24/2026
Aly Bobulsky always knew she wanted to work in healthcare. She liked helping people. Her favorite high school class was chemistry.
After graduating from Marquette University in 2010 with a bachelor’s degree in biomedical sciences, Aly moved to California. A national service program had placed her in a one-year position in Oakland, teaching health education to high school students. While there, she met a couple nurse practitioners. Their work influenced her next move.
By 2014, Aly had returned to Ohio and earned her bachelor’s degree in nursing from Ursuline College. She met Greg Cortese, a co-worker. They were both ICU nurses in Cleveland.
In 2018, Aly earned a master’s degree in nursing and became a Certified Nurse Practitioner. That year, she and Greg married.
A few months before their wedding, Aly’s doctor had ordered an MRI to find out why she was having bouts of dizziness. The MRI revealed a benign 4-cm tumor that was pressing on the nerve that starts in the brain stem.
To preserve her ability to control her facial expressions, surgeons removed part of the tumor.
After the birth of her son in 2021 and daughter in 2023, the tumor started growing again. Doctors treated Aly with targeted radiation to her brain.
A couple years later, Aly’s face started to droop. Greg took Aly to the emergency room near their home. Doctors discovered that the remaining piece of tumor was bleeding, causing swelling in the brain.
Aly took steroids for a month, but the facial droop didn’t go away.
In March 2025, during surgery to remove the tumor, Aly had a hemorrhagic stroke – a brain stem stroke that affected the right side of her body and her ability to speak.
After three weeks in the ICU, Aly arrived at the MetroHealth Rehabilitation Institute – bedridden, with a feeding tube and needing a wheelchair – for inpatient physical and occupational therapy. She chose it specifically because of its stellar reputation.
It wasn’t Aly’s first experience with MetroHealth; In 2022, she had joined the Cancer Center staff as a gynecologic-oncology nurse practitioner. But she had never been a MetroHealth patient.
For four weeks, Aly had OT with Liz Arlia and PT with Jen Nagy and speech therapy with Larisa Roth until a cerebrospinal fluid leak (a hole in the membrane that surrounds the brain and spinal cord) sent her back to the hospital.
After having that treated, Aly resumed inpatient therapy at MetroHealth a few days later – until her headaches started up again. She was in the hospital for three weeks before doctors could insert a shunt to drain the fluid from the brain.
Aly returned to MetroHealth and worked hard for the next six weeks to improve the significant upper extremity weakness and spasticity that affected movement on the right side of her body.
“She consistently came to every occupational therapy session with determination and a willingness to work hard, even on her most difficult days,” Liz said.
By the time Aly finished inpatient rehab at the end of July 2025, she was on a regular diet and speaking more clearly. She had a 10-day break at home before beginning outpatient OT with Lexi Emerick and PT with Nick Pederzolli at MetroHealth.
After recovering from Achilles tendon release surgery at another hospital in late 2025, Aly was able to place her right heel on the floor again, which helped her PT progression.
Aly’s last session with Lexi was in March 2026. She had regained her ability to perform daily activities (getting dressed, bathing, etc.) on her own. She was more independent but still dealt with spasticity and weakness in her right arm and hand.
In May, Aly began using a new device at home on a trial basis to help strengthen the grip of her right hand. The device delivers contralaterally controlled functional electrical stimulation (CCFES) therapy to the hand.
Using CCFES therapy invented 20 years earlier by MetroHealth researchers, Oberlin, Ohio-based Synapse Biomedical Inc. developed and marketed the Synchrony System. In early 2026, it became the first device commercially available in the United States to deliver CCFES therapy.
Following a list of exercises and tasks given to her by Liz and Lexi to help strengthen the grip of her right hand, Aly used the wireless and wearable device for one hour each day.
In June, Aly, her husband and their children spent 12 days in France with several other family members. The “recovery” trip had been a year in the making. The device came along on the trip.
At the end of August, Aly’s three-month trial of using Synchrony was up. A company representative asked Aly if she wanted to keep the device for another three months. She said yes.
“The improvement has been gradual,” Aly said. “What I think Synchrony does the best is to connect my brain to do functional movements with my right hand. I couldn’t do that for over a year.”
Aly continues physical therapy with Nick every week, working on balance and walking unassisted.
“He’s been with me through it all,” Aly said of Nick. “We’ve worked together well on finding ways to make me more independent with mobility. He kicks my butt.”
Wearing a Bioness functional electrical stimulation (FES) device instead of an ankle-foot orthoses brace, Aly can flex her knee enough to go up the stairs but still needs to hold onto the rail.
In addition to therapy, Aly has sought other treatments at MetroHealth. She recently had tendon lengthening surgery on her right arm to help keep her hand in a more relaxed position.
Aly gets Botox shots every three months in her leg and travels beyond Northeast Ohio for cryotherapy and neurotherapy.
“She has always remained positive and proactive in her care, seeking out opportunities on her own,” Lexi said.
Although her recovery often seems slow, Aly says she knows how much progress she’s made.
“Last summer I was in a wheelchair,” she said. “This summer I was back to more of me – cooking meals again for my family, which I love to do, and marching my 5-year-old up to his room for time outs. All thanks to Metro Rehab and hard work.”
Aly is looking forward to a family trip to Florida in November. She also hopes to work with cancer patients again at MetroHealth.
“I had to do a lot of grieving, but I’ve learned to let go of the past,” she said. “Now I have the opportunity to build a new life.”
