Two Weeks After 中风 and Back on His Bike

苏珊·利(Suzanne Leigh)撰写

2024年4月出版

那是早上五点半。.m. when Claudia Sims awoke to the sound of wheezing. "Odd," she thought; her husband, Gary Seifer, hadn't had an asthma flare-up for years. 拼命地听, she realized that he was gasping as he struggled to pull himself up from a fall next to the bed. 奔向她丈夫的身边, she found him partially paralyzed, his mouth drooping and lopsided – a hallmark of a stroke.

Sims拨打了911.

At 75, Seifer was healthier than many of his peers, still taking on small construction projects and working out several times a week on an exercise bike. But he had a history of atrial fibrillation (A-fib), an irregular heart rhythm that raises the risk of blood clots and strokes. Years earlier, he had undergone two surgeries to correct his A-fib and reduce his stroke risk.

移除血凝块

当救护车到达时, Seifer was taken to nearby Sonoma Valley Hospital, 是加州大学旧金山分校健康中心的附属机构, where he underwent a CT扫描 to confirm the stroke. The Sonoma team transferred him to UCSF, which has a 综合冲程中心, the highest certification awarded to hospitals that can treat the most complex cases. "We deliver outstanding innovative care, from the emergency department to the in-hospital setting, 提供急症治疗, 促进中风预防, and enhance recovery and rehabilitation,” the center's medical director, Dr. 安东尼金, who would oversee Seifer's care.

When Seifer arrived at UCSF Helen Diller Medical Center at Parnassus Heights, a plan for his care was already in place.

By then, it was too late to use clot-dissolving drugs, explained Dr. 史蒂文Hetts, co-chief of neuro-endovascular surgery. "Too many hours had elapsed between the time when he was last seen well. Generally, you have to get those medications within three to four-and-a-half hours of symptom onset."

而不是, 塞弗接受了栓子切除术, 其中导管(细), flexible tube) was threaded from an artery in his thigh to the clot in his brain. The clot was then removed using a device inserted into the catheter. "This was a life-threatening stroke or one that could have left Seifer with serious disabilities,” Dr. Luis Savastano, Hetts' co-chief of neuro-endovascular surgery, who performed the procedure. "Early recognition and transfer to our center changed his life."

We deliver outstanding innovative care, from the emergency department to the in-hospital setting, 提供急症治疗, 促进中风预防, and enhance recovery and rehabilitation.

A consistent team, from ER to discharge

多于1,000 embolectomies are performed each year by UCSF doctors, between 加州大学旧金山分校健康 hospitals and its public partner, Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center. "This high volume of specialized interventions means we can take on the most challenging cases that other hospitals don't accept,” Dr. 学历Sreekrishnan, director of the stroke clinic and a vascular neurologist.

加州大学旧金山分校被美国大学认可.S. 新闻 & World Report as a top hospital for stroke, ranking second in the nation for neurology and neurosurgery. It is part of a network of 25 regional centers recognized as leaders in stroke prevention, 治疗和康复.

"One unique feature is that patients see the same physicians on admission as they do during their stay in critical care and on the floor, as well as in the outpatient center,Sreekrishnan说. "This means they are more attuned to the [individual] patient's recovery and more likely to flag any decline."

Sims noted that her husband's team worked "in sync and fast" to get the procedure started.

“后来, I was told that he would probably recover mobility and his cognition wouldn't be affected,她回忆道.

回归简单的快乐

Fortunately for Seifer, his recovery was impressive and faster than most. After spending two days in the hospital with his wife and son, 杰森, 在他身边, Seifer was discharged with instructions to start a new blood-clot prevention medication – no follow-up hospital appointments required.

那天回到家, he went on a 1-mile walk with Sims and his loyal sidekick, 托比, 这对夫妇的腊肠犬, who had raised a ruckus when EMTs came into the house and seemingly kidnapped his favorite human.

Just two weeks later, Seifer was back on his exercise bike.

“我并不在意自己的健康,赛弗承认道, 谁喜欢品酒?, making paella on the grill and trips to Europe with his wife. "But the stroke made me realize that I have to continue to take good care of myself. 现在的生活很有趣."