读者文摘:他治好了自己的病(1)

It was just after Christmas 2013, and David Fajgenbaum was hovering¹ a hair above death.

2013年的圣诞节刚过，戴维·法根鲍姆正处在死亡的边缘。

He lay in a hospital bed at the University of Arkansas,

他躺在阿肯色大学的病床上，

his blood platelet count so low that even a slight bump to his body could trigger a lethal² brain bleed.

他的血小板数量如此之低，以至于身体上的轻微碰撞都可能引发致命的脑出血。

A doctor told him to write his living will on a piece of paper. David was rushed to a CT scan.

医生让他把生前遗嘱写在一张纸上。大卫被紧急送往CT扫描。

Tears streamed down his face and fell on his hospital gown.

泪水顺着他的脸流下来，落在他的病号服上。

He thought about the first patient who’d died under his care in medical school and how her brain had bled in a similar way from a stroke.

他想到了第一个在他的治疗下在医学院死亡的病人，以及她是如何因中风而出现类似的脑部出血的。

He didn’t believe he’d survive the scan. But he did.

他不相信自己在扫描后能活下来。但是他做到了。

David was battling Castleman disease, a rare autoimmune disorder³ involving immune cells attacking vital organs.

大卫当时正在与淋巴结增生症作斗争，这是一种罕见的自身免疫性疾病，患病后免疫细胞会攻击重要器官。

It wasn’t the first time a relapse had threatened his life.

这已经不是第一次旧病复发威胁到他的生命了。

Massive “shock and awe” chemotherapy regimens had helped him narrowly escape death during four previous attacks, but each new assault on his body weakened him.

在之前的四次发作中，大量的“震慑”化疗方案帮助他死里逃生，但每次对他身体的攻击都使他变得虚弱。

“You learn a lot by almost dying,” he says.

大卫说：“你可以从濒死体验中学到很多。”

He learned enough to surprise his doctors by coming up with a way to treat his disease.

他学到了足够的知识，想出了一种治疗他的疾病的方法，这让他的医生们都很惊讶。

Six years later, he’s in remission, he and his wife have a baby girl,

六年后，他的病情有所缓解，他和妻子生下了一个女儿，

and he’s devoting his medical career to saving other patients like him.

他把自己的医疗生涯献给了拯救像他一样的病人。

As a boy in Raleigh, North Carolina, David spent Saturdays watching the North Carolina State Wolfpack football team with his dad, the team’s doctor.

在北卡罗来纳州的罗利长大的时候，大卫每周六都会和他的父亲，也就是球队的医生，一起观看北卡州立狼群足球队的比赛。

At age seven, he was obsessed⁴ with becoming a Division I athlete.

七岁时，他痴迷于成为一级运动员。

In middle school, he would wake up at 5 a.m. to go running.

在中学，他会在早上5点起床去跑步。

The walls of his bedroom were covered with football play charts.

大卫卧室的墙上挂满了足球比赛图表。

He achieved his dream, making the Georgetown University football team as a quarterback.

他实现了自己的梦想，成为乔治敦大学橄榄球队的四分卫。

But in 2004, during his sophomore⁵ year, his mother died of a brain tumor⁶.

但在2004年，在大卫大二的时候，他的母亲死于脑瘤。

1 hovering   

鸟( hover的现在分词 )； 靠近（某事物）； （人）徘徊； 犹豫

参考例句：

• The helicopter was hovering about 100 metres above the pad. 直升机在离发射台一百米的上空盘旋。
• I'm hovering between the concert and the play tonight. 我犹豫不决今晚是听音乐会还是看戏。

2 lethal   

adj.致死的；毁灭性的

参考例句：

• A hammer can be a lethal weapon.铁锤可以是致命的武器。
• She took a lethal amount of poison and died.她服了致命剂量的毒药死了。

3 disorder   

n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调

参考例句：

• When returning back,he discovered the room to be in disorder.回家后，他发现屋子里乱七八糟。
• It contained a vast number of letters in great disorder.里面七零八落地装着许多信件。

4 obsessed   

adj.心神不宁的,鬼迷心窍的,沉迷的

参考例句：

• He's obsessed by computers. 他迷上了电脑。
• The fear of death obsessed him throughout his old life. 他晚年一直受着死亡恐惧的困扰。

5 sophomore   

n.大学二年级生；adj.第二年的

参考例句：

• He is in his sophomore year.他在读二年级。
• I'm a college sophomore majoring in English.我是一名英语专业的大二学生。

6 tumor   

n.（肿）瘤，肿块(英)tumour

参考例句：

• He was died of a malignant tumor.他死于恶性肿瘤。
• The surgeons irradiated the tumor.外科医生用X射线照射那个肿瘤。