Yes, "Loss is Part of Life" as my book says. It was not what I wanted to hear as I sat by my husband in the Accident and Emergency Department of the local hospital.

That day had started normally. He went off to work and I got on with some housework. Mid-morning I got a phone call. The minute I heard Tim's boss's voice I knew it had to be something bad. All he knew was that Tim was in an ambulance on the way to hospital and would I meet him there. I was so shaky I had to get a friend to drop me at the hospital because I did not think I was fit to drive. I knew I was in shock.

When the ambulance delivered my husband he was quite cheerful even though in a wheelchair. He was cracking jokes with the nurses and I started to calm down. Surely it was nothing too serious.

Tim said he had been out in his van and stopped to ask directions from a Water Board man in another van. All he could say was that he had been told he collasped into the other man's arms: mid-sentence. Tim remembered nothing for himself, except that he thought the van was rolling over and over. I still was not particularly worried as he seemed ok and himself.

Twenty minutes later Tim started to vomit and felt like the room was turning upside down. This at least got us out of the waiting area and into a cubicle!

Blood tests were ordered and it was thought by the first Consultant Physician that Tim was suffering the effects of an ear infection so medicine was given for that. The medicine did not work.

The episodes of vomiting foam and feeling like the world was turning moved from coming on every twenty minutes to every fifteen minutes and then ten minutes apart. By this time Tim was visibly weaker. His eyes started to roll uncontrollably and he ceased to joke around. I was watching my husband of ten weeks disappear in front of me.

After around five hours a CT scan of his brain showed nothing of concern. More time in a side ward in Casualty and more episodes and Tim stopped talking.

Now it was late evening and seven hours in Accident and Emergency. Another Consultant had Tim admitted on to a hospital ward for observation and ordered an MRI scan for the morning.

Once we got on to the ward Tim did not know me or where he was as far as I could tell. I eventually went home to wait for a call from the hospital expecting that he might not make it through the night since the medics did not seem to know what was wrong or how to treat him.

Needless to say I did not sleep and was back at the hospital at dawn. Later that morning he had the MRI scan and THEN they discovered he had had a stroke. It was in a part of the brain that affects balance. He was moved to the Stroke Ward.

It's my understanding that if a bleed or a blockage is diagnosed within 4 hours there is a lot that can be done to treat a stroke. Not so for Tim as he was not diagnosed until 22 hours later.

It's been a slow recovery and we are both just grateful he can walk and talk and function on a daily basis. He may not be able to work again as he is a highly skilled technician working with gas and electricity.

Stroke can happen at any age - Tim was only 56. Stroke is not just what happens to old people. Various parts of the body can be affected. When someone has a stroke and is left with a disability,that other people can see, it may just be a bit easier for them to get a sympathic response. Tim does not appear,at first sight, to have anything wrong and thus struggles with people not understanding why he is not back at work.

Yes, we have both lost a lot - his self-confidence has been shredded and we have both been terrified of it happening again. Life has to go on and we are just grateful that it was not a worse ordeal.

Do you know anyone in similar circumstances? Have you adjusted your lifestyle and adopted healthy eating to try to ensure you do what you can to avoid a stroke?