神经科医生在她工作的医院醒来——作为一名中风幸存者

Dr. Dipika Aggarwal sat in a 堪萨斯 City, 堪萨斯, 两年前的一个周二下午，他一边喝着咖啡，一边享用蘑菇煎蛋卷和烤面包.

就在一个月前, the neurologist had returned to work after going through surgery, radiation and chemotherapy for stage 4 colon cancer. 她选择放松下来，开始照顾中风后住院的人, seizures and other neurological diseases. The new work schedule had alternate weeks off.

That day in September came during her first week off, and Dipika – who was then 38 – wanted to pamper herself with a meal out.

At the table, Dipika's head started to pound. 她把这归咎于偏头痛, 吃完饭, paid her check and made her way to the parking lot.

在她的车里, she texted a neurologist friend: "I'm having a terrible headache, 我觉得我没必要去急诊室, I don't have any neurological deficits.她还分享了自己的位置. Her friend said to wait for 15 minutes to see if it got better. 如果没有，她会去接她. After that, Dipika lost consciousness.

Her friend kept calling until Dipika woke up and answered the phone. 她的演讲很混乱. 她的朋友冲到餐厅. When she saw Dipika's drooping face, she immediately called 911.

The ambulance drove Dipika to the hospital where she worked. Colleagues found a subarachnoid hemorrhage, 或者是动脉瘤破裂导致脑和周围膜之间的空间出血. 医院工作人员随后打电话给她的未婚夫和哥哥，他们被列为她的紧急联系人.

第一个, 医生试图用内窥镜固定动脉瘤，阻止血液进入受损区域. 当那不起作用的时候, they performed an emergency craniotomy, 打开她的头骨，插入一个夹子来固定动脉瘤并止血. 手术期间，迪皮卡的医生朋友们监测她的大脑活动和神经反应. 中途，迪皮卡的左脑出现了严重中风.

天后, she woke up disoriented in the neuro intensive care unit where, 就在一周前, she was taking care of her own stroke patients.

“我想，‘我为什么会在这里? 我为什么穿着病号服?’”迪皮卡说. "That is when I realized I had had a stroke."

Dipika, who's right-handed, couldn't speak or move her right arm and leg. 她在重症监护室呆了15天，然后转到奥马哈的一家住院康复中心, 内布拉斯加州, 在接下来的一个半月里, followed by a long-term rehab facility. 物理、职业和语言治疗师帮助她重新走路和说话. Four months after her stroke, she advanced from a wheelchair to a cane.

她忍受了挫折. 她因癫痫发作住院，随后又进行了两次与癌症有关的腹部手术. 再加上COVID-19大流行的停工，推迟了她的治疗. Around that time, her fiancée broke off their engagement.

“我很震惊，”迪皮卡说. "Now I was cancer survivor and a disabled person who lost her partner. I didn't know if I would ever be able to function or work again. 我的存在是个大问题."

Trapped in a swirl of emotions – depression, 否认, anger – she persevered with the support of her family.

当她的哥哥, 顾磊杰(Rajat Aggarwal, got the call that his sister was in the hospital after having a stroke, 他的妻子把衣服送到他的办公室，他立即离开工作地点前往机场, flying from California to 堪萨斯 City.

When he walked into his sister's hospital room, he found her on life support and being fed from a tube, with an incision on her swollen head.

"I could see the pain, what was happening to her," he said. "At times I thought she would never recover from this. So many times I thought I might lose my sister. But she has shown great courage and been very brave."

Their parents, Nirmal and Bhushan Aggarwal, flew in from India. They stayed with her for nine months.

"My parents were fully involved in my care," Dipika said. "My dad would accompany me to all the therapies. 他对我的治疗非常投入，他开始理解所有的练习. He would help me with exercises at home every day.

但似乎这一切还不够，去年的一天，他突然意外地去世了. 我会永远想念他的. One thing I am thankful to the stroke is, I got to live so closely with my dad for a period of nine months."

现在，迪皮卡不用拐杖走路了. 她甚至可以绕着街区慢跑. 她的语言恢复了正常，尽管有时她找不到合适的词.

"I've gained about 90% of my life back," Dipika said. "I'm living independently, I'm driving around."

今年1月，迪皮卡回到了兼职工作岗位，尽管是在离家很远的地方. 她的职责包括在脑部和脊髓手术期间监测患者的大脑活动和神经反应. 从7月开始，她每周都会有几天亲自去诊所.

她说:“时隔近两年再次穿上白大褂是无价之宝。.

她仍然每周进行三次职业和物理治疗，以继续加强她的右手和手臂，并改善她的平衡.

“我的医生救了我的命，但治疗师把我的生命还给了我，”她说. “这是我希望其他幸存者知道的最重要的事情之一:不要失去希望, 定期接受治疗, 重复是关键."

She also advises fellow survivors to take care of their mental health. Dipika sees a therapist to help with anxiety, practices mindfulness and meditation, 还加入了一个中风互助小组.

“从中风中恢复是一个缓慢的过程，没有期限，”她说. “现代科学和研究已经证明，只要继续进行正确的治疗，中风后甚至可以恢复."

发自内心的故事 记录心脏病和中风幸存者、护理人员和倡导者的鼓舞人心的旅程.

If you have questions or comments about this story, please email (电子邮件保护).