MUSC neurosurgeon stops by NMBHS; explains teacher's illness
Posted: 12.11.2010 at 12:19 AM

Dr. Alex Vandergrift spoke to a group of students at North Myrtle Beach High School Friday about his job as part of career awareness month.

He went over parts of the brain and gave an account of what it's like to work in his field.

Part of his presentation involved Patrice Riggins, an anatomy and physiology teacher, who's also his patient.

Four months ago, she suffered a subdural hematoma, which is a collection of blood on the surface of the brain

She went to the hospital for treatment of a migraine and had to be rushed to MUSC where they had to, "Get the blood drained off my brain. If I would have went home taken Tylenol and went to sleep, I wouldn't have woken up," Riggins told us.

Riggins says 60 percent of her brain was covered with blood, and she had to have three surgeries.

She was also seven months pregnant and also suffers from multiple sclerosis.

Despite her condition, Patrice hopes to return to the classroom after several more months of rehabilitation.