Neurologist wakes up in the hospital where she works – as a stroke survivor

Dr. 迪皮卡·阿加瓦尔(Dipika Aggarwal)坐在堪萨斯城, 堪萨斯, diner on a Tuesday afternoon two years ago sipping coffee and enjoying a mushroom omelet and toast.

就在一个月前, 那位神经科医生做完手术后又回到了工作岗位, 4期结肠癌的放疗和化疗. She chose to ease back in and started taking care of people admitted to the hospital after stroke, 癫痫和其他神经系统疾病. 新的工作安排是隔周休息.

九月的那一天正好是她休假的第一个星期, 当时38岁的迪皮卡想出去吃顿大餐.

在饭桌上，迪皮卡的头开始砰砰作响. 她把这归咎于偏头痛, 吃完饭, 付了支票，然后去了停车场.

在她的车里, 她给一位神经学家朋友发短信说:“我头痛得厉害, 我觉得我没必要去急诊室, 我没有任何神经缺陷.她还分享了自己的位置. 她的朋友说等15分钟，看看情况是否好转. 如果没有，她会去接她. 之后，迪皮卡失去了知觉.

她的朋友不停地打电话，直到迪皮卡醒来接了电话. 她的演讲很混乱. 她的朋友冲到餐厅. 当她看到迪皮卡垂头丧气的脸时，她立即拨打了911.

救护车把迪皮卡送到了她工作的医院. 同事发现蛛网膜下腔出血, or bleeding in the space between her brain and surrounding membrane caused by the rupture of an aneurysm. The hospital staff then called her fiancée and brother who were listed as her emergency contacts.

第一个, doctors tried to secure the aneurysm and block blood from reaching the damaged area with a scope. 当那不起作用的时候, 他们进行了紧急开颅手术, opening her skull and inserting a clip to secure the aneurysm and stop the bleeding. During surgery, Dipika's doctor friends monitored her brain activity and nerve responses. Halfway through, Dipika had a massive stroke on the left side of her brain.

天后, 她在神经重症监护室醒来时迷失了方向, 就在一周前, 她在照顾自己的中风病人.

“我想，‘我为什么会在这里? 我为什么穿着病号服?’”迪皮卡说. “那时我才意识到我中风了."

Dipika, who's right-handed, couldn't speak or move her right arm and leg. She stayed in the ICU for 15 days before transferring to an inpatient rehab facility in Omaha, 内布拉斯加州, 在接下来的一个半月里, 然后是长期的康复中心. Physical, occupational and speech therapists helped her walk and speak again. 中风四个月后，她从坐轮椅变成了拄拐杖.

她忍受了挫折. She was hospitalized for a seizure and then had two abdominal surgeries related to her cancer. 再加上COVID-19大流行的停工，推迟了她的治疗. 大约在那个时候，她的未婚夫解除了他们的婚约.

“我很震惊，”迪皮卡说. “现在我是癌症幸存者，也是失去伴侣的残疾人. 我不知道我是否还能正常工作. 我的存在是个大问题."

被困在情绪的漩涡中——抑郁, 否认, 愤怒——她在家人的支持下坚持了下来.

当她的哥哥, 顾磊杰(Rajat Aggarwal, 接到电话说他妹妹中风住院了, his wife brought clothes to his office and he immediately left work for the airport, 从加州飞往堪萨斯城.

当他走进他妹妹的病房时, 他发现她靠呼吸器维持生命，正在用管子喂食, 她肿胀的头部有个切口.

“我能看到她的痛苦，看到她身上发生的一切，”他说. “有时我以为她永远不会从这一切中恢复过来了. 很多次我都觉得我可能会失去我的妹妹. 但她表现出了极大的勇气，非常勇敢."

他们的父母Nirmal和Bhushan Aggarwal从印度飞来. 他们和她在一起待了九个月.

“我的父母完全参与了我的照顾，”迪皮卡说. “我爸爸会陪我去所有的治疗. He got so involved with my therapies that he started understanding all the exercises. 他每天在家帮我做运动.

"But as if all this was not enough, one day last year he passed away suddenly and unexpectedly. 我会永远想念他的. 我对中风有一件事很感激, 有九个月的沙巴足球体育平台，我和爸爸住得很近."

现在，迪皮卡不用拐杖走路了. 她甚至可以绕着街区慢跑. Her speech is back to normal, though sometimes she has trouble finding the right word.

“我恢复了90%的生活，”迪皮卡说. “我独立生活，我开车到处转."

In January, Dipika returned to work part-time, albeit remotely from home. Her duties included monitoring brain activity and nerve responses of patients during brain and spinal cord surgeries. Since July, she has been going to the clinic in person a couple of days a week.

"Wearing the white coat again after almost two years is priceless," she said.

She still does occupational and physical therapy three times a week to continue strengthening her right hand and arm and to improve her balance.

"My doctors saved my life, but the therapists gave my life back to me," she said. "That's one of the biggest things that I would like my fellow survivors to know: Don't lose hope, 定期接受治疗, 重复是关键."

她还建议其他幸存者注意自己的心理健康. 迪皮卡去看心理医生，以缓解焦虑, 练习正念和冥想, 还加入了一个中风互助小组.

"Recovery from stroke is a slow process which does not have an expiration date," she said. "Modern science and research have proven that stroke recovery can occur even years after the stroke as long as correct therapies are continued."

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