We thought my husband’s stroke was a snake bite
By Rebecca
It was a hot January day. I was heavily pregnant, taking it slow inside our Ballarat home while my husband Aaron was moving wood in the backyard with my father.
I looked out the window and could see my dad trying to shift a heavy log and I wondered why Aaron wasn’t helping. He was just standing there quietly. Then he slowly walked a few awkward steps before collapsing to the ground.
Dad and I ran to his aid, but he was not responding. I called triple zero (000), while my daughter ran down the street to try to get some help. A neighbour, who was a doctor, arrived before the ambulance did. We took off Aaron’s gardening gloves and saw a small cut in his hand, which looked like a snakebite. That’s what we thought we were dealing with.
Aaron was taken to our local hospital and treated with anti-venom, but something did not add up. His right side was drooping. Aaron is only 30 years old, so the thought of a stroke had not crossed my mind until this point. He was given a brain scan and a doctor confirmed he had indeed suffered a stroke. I couldn’t believe this was happening.
Aaron was sent to a Melbourne hospital for blood clot retrieval treatment. The surgery happened seven hours after the triple zero (000) call, but thankfully it was a success. I was so incredibly happy he was alive.
When I visited Aaron the following day, I showed him some photos on my mobile phone of our two daughters. I was shocked when he was not able to tell me their names. I went home distraught and hastily made a photo book of all of the important people in his life and attached labels with their names. I presented it to him the next day, but he looked at me strangely like “of course I know who these people are!” That was a huge relief.
It was so encouraging to see Aaron making gains in his recovery each day, but the reality was we had another major life event to think about – the impending birth of our baby. It was not something we could put on hold! I thought it would make sense if I had the baby in Melbourne near Aaron and started re-organising the birth plans, but at the same time his medical team was making plans to move Aaron back to Ballarat to be with me. After a bit of juggling, it all worked out in the end. Aaron was not only able to attend much of our darling daughter’s birth, but he also helped deliver her. It was a joyous celebration of life in more ways than one.
It’s been two months now since Aaron’s stroke. He has made a great recovery physically but is struggling with aphasia. He can string words together but is unable to read or write at this stage. He has good days and days where he is really frustrated. We do our best to get out and about to boost his spirits and give him things to look forward to – including watching his beloved Bulldogs train.
Aaron is not ready to go back to work yet. He is a truck driver who works in a mine. We are hoping a role will be found for him above ground when he is ready to return.
While 2022 has been quite the rollercoaster, I am so thankful for all that I have. Our kids have been incredible. The older girls have adapted well and try to help Aaron finish his sentences, while our baby is amazing. It’s like she can sense we have been through a lot this year already and is doing her best to slot into our lives and our new routine without fuss.
Despite everything Aaron has been through, he wants people to know that stroke can happen to anyone at any age. We were not aware of aphasia before Aaron’s stroke, so it has been a bit of a learning curve. Aphasia is difficulties with communication. It certainly does not mean a loss of intelligence. I know it is challenging for Aaron at the moment, but we are finding comfort in the improvements he is making and are giving him plenty of love and support.
