Like most 27-year-olds, 艾丽卡·钱恩(Erica Chain)忙着过自己的生活——在一家她喜欢的初创公司工作, doing yoga and running, and hanging out with friends. 当她在街上晕倒后被诊断出患有脑瘤, 她突然发现自己在与重大的健康决定和不确定的未来作斗争.
Reawakening the Brain After Aneurysm Surgery
Neurosurgeons told her the tumor was inoperable. She opted for a wait-and-see approach, 每年都做核磁共振,而不是脑部活检, a prospect that frightened her. 但几周后,一位朋友发现她躺在床上没有反应,于是拨打了911, 钱恩住进了加州大学旧金山分校医学中心的神经重症监护室.
手术治疗了动脉瘤并切除了肿瘤, Chain在“活昏迷”状态中度过了两个月——醒着,努力重新学习说话和咀嚼等基本技能, but with no memory of her ordeal.
在你晕倒之前,你知道出事了吗?
Not at all. I thought of myself as a healthy young adult. 但与此同时,我头痛得很厉害,我睡了两天就不疼了. 我会在周六睡觉,周一醒来. I had no idea it was anything serious, 而是在上海的十大赌博平台排行榜(当时我住在那里), 我发现我得了脑积水,我进入了一种迷你昏迷状态. 脑积水阻碍了我所有的脑脊液排出, 让我睡了很长时间, and I was having short-term memory loss. 我会在谈话中一遍又一遍地重复自己的话.
Did you have surgery in Shanghai?
Yes, brain shunt surgery. 他们需要释放所有的压力,排出液体,在我的头部放一个分流器. They did a great job; I'm alive.
Then you went back to the U.S.?
After I recovered, I flew back to the U.S. 继续寻求意见和治疗方案. 几位神经外科十大赌博平台排行榜诊断我患有无法手术的脑瘤. It looked benign but they didn't know yet. 对它进行癌症检测并没有紧迫感. 唯一一家反对所有人的十大赌博平台排行榜实际上是加州大学旧金山分校.
所以你一开始选择了另一家十大赌博平台排行榜因为你不想做手术?
加州大学旧金山分校想给我做个脑部活组织检查,因为他们说我的脑部扫描结果不确定, 但在向我描述了脑活检是什么之后, it sounded scary, and I said, "Thanks but no thanks," and I chose the other medical institution. 我喜欢另一家十大赌博平台排行榜的声誉,它是国内最好的十大赌博平台排行榜之一, great neurosurgery program, 我喜欢他们的回答:“你会没事的。. Nothing is wrong." That is what I wanted to hear at that point.
How did you end up having your surgery at UCSF?
我在动脉瘤破裂后在睡梦中陷入了昏迷. 我一个人住,但奇迹发生了,我有个朋友来镇上看我,她打了911. 救护车来了,他们说我没有呼吸了. 我必须插管,然后他们把我送到加州大学旧金山分校.
Describe your post-operative recovery:
I had brain surgery on June 21, 2011, 不久之后,我醒了过来,十大赌博平台排行榜们称之为“活昏迷”——这是我以前从未听说过的——在这段时间里,我醒着,重新学会了走路和说话, but I wasn't aware of anything going on.
Can you describe what a living coma is?
他们向我的家人解释说:艾瑞卡不是药物昏迷, she is awake, she is starting to walk, she is starting to talk, she is breathing on her own, but she is not aware of anything. 我必须被教导如何测试炉子是否热,如何拨打911,以及如何打开电脑. 当他们问我住在哪里时,我说,“廷巴克图”,所以至少我在昏迷状态下是有创造力的. 我妈妈说我就像一个长得很快的婴儿. 我说话的第一天,她甚至写下了我说的第一个字. 在我能说话之前,他们会让我用眼睛回答问题,比如眨眼,或者用大拇指朝上或朝下.
失去两个月的生命让你迷失了方向吗?
I have no memories of being in the hospital. 我开始从康复中心收集照片快照,然后我开始形成记忆. 康复中心的十大赌博平台排行榜告诉我,当你的大脑遭受严重创伤时它就会停止记录, so if my brain wasn't recording, 我没有形成新的记忆,所以我不知道发生了什么.
描述一下你意识到发生了什么的那一刻.
So, I woke up on August 6 and called my mom. I said, "Mom, I think I know what happened." She goes, "What happened?" I said, "I had brain surgery." And all my mom said was, "Well, welcome back." Then she started crying.
How was rehab?
Recovery sucks. You get pushed to the limit and you're exhausted. After rehab I would just sleep for hours. I needed 24-hour supervision. I was so confused. 感谢上帝赐予我的朋友和家人,他们在整个过程中一直支持着我. 每个病人的情况都不一样,但我恢复得很快. Take that, three-year-recovery!
How are you feeling these days?
我感到幸福,感到幸运,感到伟大,感到健康. 作为一个年轻的成年人,我从来没有想过我是不可战胜的, 但我知道我认为我的健康是理所当然的,因为我以前从未有过健康问题. 现在我明白了健康意味着什么,今天我感到健康、快乐、非常、非常幸运.