Patient Experience

Boris Vern

Boris Vern knows the warning signs of stroke better than most people do. After all, before his retirement earlier this year, he was a practicing neurologist at a large medical center in Chicago. He cared for lots of stroke patients in a career that spanned more than 30 years.

That is why he still can't believe that he didn't immediately recognize the symptoms when he himself had a stroke.

"I have no neurological history, no history of hypertension, no other risk factors. I think I was in serious denial. Strokes don't happen to neurologists," Boris joked.

The stroke came without much fanfare, said Boris. "I had dozed off in front of the TV after dinner. I woke up hearing the sound of a weather forecaster's voice, and it irritated me, so I sat up. I immediately felt strange. I had trouble hearing, and when I tried to move, my body would jerk until I stopped. Then I looked at my left foot and realized I had no power in it. I couldn't lift it up. I tried to speak and realized that my speech was slurred. It was only then that it dawned on me: It has to be a stroke."

He cried out to his son who was upstairs, who immediately called for paramedics and for Boris's wife, who was visiting with neighbors. Within 15 minutes, the 62-year-old River Forest resident was in an ambulance on his way to Loyola.

Treatment moved quickly once Boris was greeted by the stroke team at Loyola's Emergency Department at 10:50 p.m. "I was asked a succinct, well-organized series of questions. The team did an excellent evaluation," he recalled.

Without delay, Boris was taken for a CT scan, which determined he was having an ischemic stroke and therefore was eligible to receive tPA, the "clot-busting" drug that can help preserve function if administered within three hours of onset of stroke symptoms. Less than one hour after he arrived at the Emergency Department, he was receiving tPA through an IV.

The emergency team didn't catch on that Boris was "Dr. Vern, neurologist" who was observing them with the practiced eye of a stroke expert, but Boris said he was treated like a VIP. "The team at Loyola is first-rate. The way I was treated was a model of stroke management," said Boris.

Boris said that he began to feel better soon after the treatment. Within two hours, he had regained his leg function and was able to wiggle his toes. By the following afternoon, he had regained his ability to speak normally and move.

Now Boris is feeling so well that he has made plans to end his short retirement and return to work part-time at a Chicago medical center. He enjoys the clinic environment but said he also hopes to pursue his research and writing.

He said he will tell his colleagues and patients about his experience. "I was surprised that I didn't recognize the symptoms at first. But the unreality of it has become real for me, and now I have a good story to tell."

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