Hi friends, welcome to my first official “blog post” here on Freedom Like a Song. I am going to label all my personal blogs as “A Day in the Life” and just kind of sum up what has been going on at that particular moment, a snapshot if you will. So here we go.

To say it’s been a rough last couple of months is an understatement in itself. In case you didn’t know me, you probably were unaware that my wife suffered a major stroke caused by a Cerebral Venous Sinus Thrombosis back on August 3rd. She had showed slight improvement over the following days which led to our lifted spirits until that fateful phone call I received on the morning of August 6th. It’s one of those nightmare scenarios that is truly terrible and tough to recount in your mind. Doctors told me that my wife had bleeding on the brain that would require major brain surgery and a craniectomy to remove a large portion of her skull (to alleviate pressure and stop the bleed). I was dumbfounded, shocked, and left broken. I prayed and asked God for his protection and then drove straight to the hospital. That day is still such a blur in my mind.

Over the past few months my wife has had to relearn simple tasks, learn to speak again, relearn some cognitive skills, and learn to walk around with a helmet on the head which for her as a woman, is a bit of a burden and embarrassment. It’s certainly been tough but God is good and has been truly Faithful on this journey we’ve been on. This outcome could have taken a turn for the worse on so many different levels and in so many different ways but I truly believe God was there from the very start, protecting her each step of the way and guiding all the doctors as well as hospital staff.

My wife has been enrolled in this Brain Rehabilitation program here in Orange County that has assisted her recovery process immensely. She goes from 9am – 4pm Mon-Fri and is there almost every day (minus the few days we have doctor appointments or sick days). They do speech therapy, cognitive therapy, physical therapy, and other life applications. The help and care she has received has been tremendous and I am so thankful for it. To see her progress over the past month at this program has been a rewarding experience for both her and me. She is getting back to the old Charis slowly day by day and it’s such a blessing.

Now we just wait for the skull reattachment surgery. We will have an MRI and MRA test done on Friday then the results read to us on Tuesday of next week.

Update: We were given the MRI/MRA results earlier last week from the Neurosurgeon and things are looking wonderful. He told us that he would like to wait one more month before we push forward with the cranioplasty (Reattachment) just to be safe. Yay! So that means my dear wife will have her skull placed back on probably in a little over one months time.

Dr. gave us some interesting information regarding the MRI saying that the damage to the speech cortex was permanent and pointed to it on the computer screen. Somehow (according to him), the brain was able to work around the damaged portion and repair itself because she is able to speak now which shouldn’t be happening (I call it a miracle).

Thanks to technology, the skill of doctors, the rigid work of rehab, and the healing touch of God, we are able to have Charis with us and in great spirits. She is speaking clearly and almost back to her old self. I praise God every day I see her and I am so thankful I have my wife by my side. Sure, there will be rough days ahead and it’s still a learning process but God will carry us through and will provide the necessary tools to prepare us for the journey.

Thanks friends and curious onlookers for supporting us thus far during this recovery phase of our journey. The writing has been therapeutic.

-Brandon Jones
#Freedomlikeasong