Meet Elliot — Stroke at age 2
I remember sitting in Elliot’s hospital room trying to gather my jumbled thoughts, grasping at anything that could right our upside-down world. Trying to push away the horror of what was happening, yet at the same time, trying to remember every foggy detail. I kept thinking, “I missed a fever? I missed something! Super-vigilant-helicopter Moms don’t miss things!”
This is what we knew: Elliot was a healthy two-and-a-half-year-old, he had a runny nose for about a week, and the evening before he had stumbled twice during playtime.
The morning of April 27, 2015, I found Elliot seizing in bed. All that follows, I would rather forget. Life has a way of bringing memories back, sometimes welcome, and sometimes like a sucker-punch to the gut. A quick trip to the hospital, and lots of meds to stabilize Elliot, and we were transferred to Akron Children’s Hospital. By evening, the meds were wearing off and he groggily woke up. The right side of his face was droopy, and his body didn’t seem to be coordinated. I remember saying, “He looks like an old person who had a stroke.” and in the same breath, “…but surely not”.
Two days later, Elliot had an MRI done that confirmed an ischemic stroke likely due to emboli from an infection. Blood cultures and an echo confirmed that he had endocarditis. A piece of the infection had broken off of his Aortic valve and embolised to his brain. (On May 15, 2015, Elliot had open heart surgery to replace his Aortic valve using the Ross-Konno procedure.) Slowly, as Elliot started to feel better and have more energy, he tried new things. Oh! How we celebrated those first wobbly steps! Things that followed, re-learning how to eat, hop, run, use his right hand, etc. Looking back, it is amazing to think how far he has come.
Elliot has since graduated from physical and occupational therapy. His speech seems to be the biggest hurdle. Much frustration has come from being unable to communicate. With therapy, he continues to extend his vocabulary and has even started stringing words together. As a mom, one of my biggest hurdles is to let Elliot progress at his own pace.
The future still looks scary and is unknown. My biggest source of comfort through everything has been Psalm 121. I am thankful for a community of support and my faith in God. We keep sharing and reaching out, knowing that somewhere someone will say, “Really? Me too!” and remember that we’re not alone.
Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls; the most massive characters are seared with scars.
–Khalil Gibran
